Editing Tammany Hall (section)

==Tammany Hall in the 20th century==

=== Machine politics versus the reformers ===
{{main|Charles Francis Murphy}}
The politics of the consolidated city from 1898 to 1945 revolved around conflicts between the political machines and the reformers. In quiet times the machines had the advantage of the core of solid supporters and usually exercised control of city and borough affairs; they also played a major role in the state legislature in Albany. Tammany, for example, from the 1880s onward built a strong network of local clubs that attracted ambitious middle-class ethnics.<ref name = peel/>{{sfn|Shefter|1978|p=263-298}}

In times of crisis however, especially in the severe depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s, the reformers took control of key offices, notably the mayor's office. The reformers were never unified; they operated through a complex network of independent civic reform groups; each focused its lobbying efforts on its own particular reform agenda. The membership included civic-minded, well-educated middle-class men and women, usually with expert skills in a profession or business, who deeply distrusted the corruption of the machines.<ref>Richard Skolnik, "Civic Group Progressivism In New York City," ''New York History'' (1970) 51#5 pp. 411–39.</ref> The [[City of Greater New York|consolidation]] of Brooklyn, western Queens County and Staten Island with Manhattan and the Bronx in 1898 multiplied the power of these reform groups, so long as they could agree on a common agenda, such as consolidation itself.<ref>David C. Hammack, ''Power and Society: Greater New York at the Turn of the Century (1982) pp. 308–13</ref>

There was no citywide machine. Instead, Democratic machines flourished in each of the boroughs, with Tammany Hall in Manhattan the most prominent. They typically had strong local organizations, known as "political clubs", as well as one prominent leader often called the "boss". [[Charles Francis Murphy|Charles Murphy]] was the highly effective but quiet boss of Tammany Hall from 1902 until his death in 1924.<ref name = huthmacher65/> "Big Tim" Sullivan was the Tammany leader in the Bowery and the machine's spokesman in the state legislature.{{sfn|Czitrom|1991|p=536-538}} Republican local organizations were much weaker, but they played key roles in forming reform coalitions. Most of the time they looked to Albany and Washington for their sphere of influence.{{sfn|Jackson|1996|p=914, 999, 1149–51}}{{full citation needed|date=June 2022}}<ref>Marvin G. Weinbaum, "New York County Republican Politics, 1897–1922: The Quarter-Century After Municipal Consolidation", ''New York Historical Society Quarterly''  (1966) 50#1 pp. 62–70.</ref> [[Seth Low]], the president of Columbia University, was elected the reform mayor in 1901. He lacked the common touch and lost much of his working-class support when he listened to dry Protestants eager to crack down on the liquor business.{{sfn|Jackson|1996|loc=Seth Low|p=695}}<ref>[[Steven C. Swett]], "The Test of a Reformer: A Study of Seth Low, New York City Mayor, 1902–1903", ''New-York Historical Society Quarterly'' (1960) 44#1 pp. 5–41</ref>

Murphy wanted to clean up Tammany's image and sponsored progressive era reforms benefiting the working class through his two protégés, Governor [[Alfred E. Smith|Al Smith]] and [[Robert F. Wagner]]. [[Edward J. Flynn|Ed Flynn]], a protégé of Murphy who became the boss in the Bronx, said Murphy always advised that politicians should have nothing to do with gambling or prostitution and should steer clear of involvement with the police department or the school system.{{sfn|Golway|2014|p=186}} A new challenge to Tammany came from [[William Randolph Hearst]], a powerful newspaper publisher who wanted to be president. Hearst was elected to Congress with Tammany support, was defeated for mayor after a bitter contest with Tammany and won Tammany support for his unsuccessful quest for the governorship of New York. Hearst did manage to dominate Tammany mayor [[John F. Hylan]] (1917–25), but he lost control when Smith and Wagner denied Hylan renomination in 1925. Hearst then moved back to his native California.<ref>Ben Proctor, ''William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863–1910'' (1998) ch 11</ref>

=== Power vacuum and the Seabury Commission (1925–1932) ===
After Charles Francis Murphy's death in 1924, Tammany's influence on Democratic politics began its wane. Murphy's successor as the Boss in 1924 was [[George W. Olvany]], the first Tammany Hall Boss to have received a college education. When Tammany's [[Jimmy Walker]] became the city mayor over Hylan in 1925, the hall was poised for advantage. Olvany was not an overbearing Boss, and the familiar Tammany Hall schemes from a pre-Murphy era began. Police received protection money from shopkeepers, rackets surrounded the fish and poultry markets, as well as the docks, and licensing fees for various professions were increased with Tammany Hall middlemen reaping the benefits. This bright period of influence for Tammany Hall was short-lived. The population of Manhattan, Tammany's stronghold, no longer represented the population of the city as other boroughs such as Brooklyn and the Bronx made gains. [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s election as New York State Governor in 1928 further reduced Tammany Hall's power. Although Al Smith guided Roosevelt to the governorship, Roosevelt did not request Smith's advice once there and instead appointed Bronx Boss [[Edward J. Flynn]] as New York's Secretary of State. The [[stock market crash of 1929]] and the increasing press attention on [[organized crime]] during the [[Prohibition]] era also contributed to the hall's decline. Olvany resigned as the Boss in 1929, and John F. Curry was tapped to fill the role. Curry beat Eddy Ahearn for the role, Al Smith's choice and often considered to be an abler man. Although he looked the part, Curry was not considered smart enough to fill the role and proceeded to make a series of poor decisions on behalf of Tammany.<ref name="Allen pp. 233-250">Allen pp. 233–50</ref>

The organized crime robbery of a city judge and leader of the Tepecano Democratic Club, Albert H. Vitale, during a dinner party on December 7, 1929, and the subsequent recovery of the stolen goods from gangsters following a few calls from Magistrate Vitale, prompted the public to request a closer look at the ties of organized crime, law enforcement and the judicial system within the city. Vitale was accused of owing $19,600 to [[Arnold Rothstein]] and was investigated by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for failing to explain how he accrued $165,000 over four years while receiving a total judicial salary of $48,000 during that same period. Vitale was removed from the bench. A further investigation by U.S. district attorney [[Charles H. Tuttle]] discovered that Brooklyn Judge Bernard Vause was paid $190,000 in return for obtaining pier leases for a shipping company, and that another city judge, George Ewald had paid Tammany Hall $10,000 for the replacement seat of Judge Vitale. FDR responded by launching three investigations between 1930 and 1932, headed by [[Samuel Seabury (judge)|Samuel Seabury]], called the [[Seabury Commission]]. Another Tammany Hall associate, state Supreme Court Justice [[Joseph Force Crater]], disappeared in August 1930, after the start of the first investigation, in what would become an unsolved case. Crater was president of a Tammany Hall Club on the Upper West Side.<ref>Allen p. 242</ref>

During questioning, Tammany associate and New York County Sheriff Thomas M. Farley denied that gambling took place in his political clubs and could not account for the frequent presence of associates of Arnold Rothstein. Other questioning focused on the combined police, court, and bail bonding scheme surrounding the improper arrest of prostitutes and innocent women. The outcome of these investigations included the dismissal of several corrupt judges, including the city's first female judge, [[Jean H. Norris]], the resignation of Mayor Jimmy Walker, the indictment of Deputy City Clerk James J. McCormick and the arrest of State Senator John A. Hastings. Sheriff Thomas M. Farley was removed from office by Governor Roosevelt.<ref name="Allen pp. 233-250"/>

=== La{{nbsp}}Guardia in, Tammany out: 1933 to 1945 ===
In 1932, the machine suffered a dual setback when mayor [[Jimmy Walker]] was forced from office by scandal and reform-minded Democrat [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was elected president of the United States. Tammany Hall leader John F. Curry and Brooklyn political boss [[John H. McCooey]] had joined forces to support [[Al Smith]]'s candidacy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/07/03/archives/curry-and-mccooey-to-support-ticket-roosevelt-held-luckiest-man-in.html|title=Curry and McCooey to Support Ticket; Roosevelt Held 'Luckiest Man' in Nation|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 3, 1932|page=10|access-date=June 8, 2012}}</ref> Roosevelt and his lead campaign manager [[James Farley]] stripped Tammany of federal patronage, which had expanded under the [[New Deal]], and passed it instead to [[Edward J. Flynn|Ed Flynn]], boss of the Bronx, who had kept his district clean of corruption.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward Flynn (1891–1953)|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/flynn-edward.cfm|access-date=2023-01-21|website=George Washington University|author=((The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project))|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219021507/http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/flynn-edward.cfm |archive-date=December 19, 2006 }}</ref> Roosevelt also helped Republican [[Fiorello La Guardia|Fiorello La{{nbsp}}Guardia]] become mayor on a [[Electoral fusion (New York)|Fusion]] ticket in 1933, thus removing even more patronage from Tammany's control.<ref name="ihhovz" /> After becoming mayor, LaGuardia reorganized the city cabinet with non-partisan officials and sought to develop a clean and honest city government.<ref name="ihhovz" /> Tammany alderman Alford J. Williams died in December 1933; when the Board of Aldermen reconvened in January 1934 it defied party leadership and elected an ally of La{{nbsp}}Guardia as his successor.<ref name="Williams-Pierce">{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Dick |title=Aldermen smash Tiger rule; shock kills Bronx boss |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/416478952/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 March 2020 |work=New York Daily News |volume=15 |issue=176 |page=2 |date=January 17, 1934 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The shock from this decision caused Tammany Bronx leader [[Augustus Pierce]] to collapse and die of a heart attack in the aldermanic chambers.<ref name="Williams-Pierce" />

As mayor, {{nowrap|La Guardia}} successfully led the effort to have a new city charter adopted which would mandate a proportional representation method of electing members of the City Council. The measure won on a referendum in 1936.<ref name="ihhovz" /> After the new charter went into effect in 1938, the ward system which had allowed only a small number of people to serve on the City Council since 1686 ceased to exist, and the new 26-member New York City Council now had certain functions governed by the [[New York City Board of Estimate|Board of Estimate]].<ref name="cityqctrade">{{Cite web |url=http://council.nyc.gov/html/about/history.shtml |title=About the City Council|website=New York City Council |access-date=June 8, 2012 |archive-date=February 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209095233/http://council.nyc.gov/html/about/history.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> La{{nbsp}}Guardia's appointees filled the board of magistrates and virtually every other long-term appointive office, and the power of Tammany Hall had now been reduced to a shadow of what it once was.<ref name="ihhovz" /> La{{nbsp}}Guardia also greatly increased the number of city jobs awarded by the civil service system: roughly three-quarters of city positions required job seekers to take an exam in 1939, compared to only about half in 1933.<ref>Allen p. 256</ref> In 1937, La{{nbsp}}Guardia defeated [[Jeremiah T. Mahoney]] to become the first anti-Tammany "reform" Mayor to ever be re-elected in the city's history<ref name="ihhovz" /> and was again re-elected in 1941 before retiring in 1945.<ref name="ihhovz" /> His extended tenure weakened Tammany in a way that previous reform mayors had not.<ref name="ihhovz">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/09/21/archives/la-guardia-is-dead-city-pays-homage-to-3time-mayor-body-lying-in-st.html|title=La Guardia Is Dead; City Pays Homage To 3-Time Mayor|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 21, 1947 }}</ref>

Tammany depended for its power on government contracts, jobs, patronage, corruption, and ultimately the ability of its leaders to control nominations to the Democratic ticket and swing the popular vote. The last element weakened after 1940 with the decline of relief programs such as the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] and [[Civilian Conservation Corps|CCC]] that Tammany used to gain and hold supporters. Congressman [[Christopher D. Sullivan|Christopher "Christy" Sullivan]] was one of the last "bosses" of Tammany Hall before its collapse.

=== Criminal issues ===
Tammany had close ties to street gangs throughout the 19th Century, who provided services to Tammany on Election Day in return for legal protection the rest of the year.<ref name="Stolberg">{{cite book |last1=Stolberg |first1=Mary M. |title=Fighting Organized Crime: Politics, Justice, and the Legacy of Thomas E. Dewey |date=1995 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston |isbn=1555532454}} pp. 10-11</ref> Those relations largely collapsed with the rise of newer crime organizations that flourished during Prohibition; Tammany came to depend on figures such as [[Arnold Rothstein]] to maintain some measure of control, however limited, over them.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=National Affairs: Tammany Test |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732626,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 8, 1929 |access-date=July 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105175953/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732626,00.html |archive-date=January 5, 2012 }}</ref> Rothstein's murder in 1928 weakened Tammany; it also contributed to the election of Fiorello La Guardia in 1933 and the appointment of [[Thomas E. Dewey]] as Special Prosecutor, appointed by Governor [[Herbert H. Lehman]], in 1935. Dewey obtained the conviction of powerful mobster and strong Tammany ally [[Lucky Luciano]] on racketeering charges in 1936. Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years.<ref name="tammob">{{Cite web|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/harlem_gangs/8.html|title=truTV – Reality TV – Comedy}}</ref> While Luciano was still able to maintain control of the powerful [[Genovese crime family|Luciano crime family]] from prison until his sentence was commuted to deportation to Italy in 1946,<ref name="frankcost" /> his conviction gave Dewey the prestige required to continue prosecution of organized crime figures and their political allies, particularly in Tammany Hall. In 1939, Dewey, now [[New York County District Attorney|Manhattan District Attorney]], prosecuted longtime Tammany Hall boss [[James Joseph Hines|Jimmy Hines]] on bribery charges.<ref name="google/books=YU8EAAAAMBAJ">{{cite magazine |title=Jimmy Hines Trial |magazine=Life |date=29 August 1938 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YU8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=hines&pg=PA9 |access-date=11 October 2022  |language=en}}</ref><ref name="tamboo" /> Hines was convicted and sentenced to 4 to 8 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/5/resources/4512 |title=Hines, James J.: Newspaper Clippings from the Trials, 1938–1940
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716194217/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~law00151 |archive-date=July 16, 2010|website= [[Harvard Law School]] Library | id= HOLLIS4380869 }}{{pb}}{{cite court 
|litigants=	The People of the State of New York v. James J. Hines
|vol=284
|reporter=N.Y. 93
|opinion=258
|pinpoint=466
|court=App. Div.
|date=1939
}}</ref> The loss of Hines would serve as a major blow to Tammany, as he had given the political machine strong ties to the city's powerful organized crime figures since the 1920s.<ref name="tammob" /> Several Tammany Hall officials affiliated with Hines and Luciano were also successfully prosecuted by Dewey.<ref name="tammob" />

In 1943, Manhattan District Attorney [[Frank Hogan]] provided a transcript of a recorded phone message between [[Frank Costello]] and Judge Thomas A. Aurelio, a Tammany associate running for the state Supreme Court—the trial-level court within New York's judicial system—on both the Republican and Democratic tickets, in which Aurelio pledged his undying loyalty to Costello.<ref>Allen p. 258</ref> When Costello was called as a witness in Aurelio's disbarment proceedings he freely admitted that he had used his influence to make [[Michael J. Kennedy (politician)|Michael Kennedy]] the new head of Tammany and to secure Aurelio's nomination.<ref name="Maeder">{{cite news |last1=Maeder |first1=Jay |title=Tammany Hall scandal: Crime boss Frank Costello and the judge |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/tammany-hall-scandal-crime-boss-frank-costello-judge-article-1.788925 |access-date=July 17, 2022 |work=New York Daily News |date=August 14, 2017}}</ref> While Aurelio avoided disbarment and even won reelection to his position on the bench, Kennedy resigned his position within Tammany in January 1944.<ref name="Maeder" /> Costello and Tammany went on to help elect former [[Brooklyn District Attorney]] [[William O'Dwyer]] to the mayorship in 1945.<ref name="Maeder" /> O'Dwyer was reelected in 1949, then resigned the following year due to a bribery scandal that implicated both O'Dwyer and Costello and that led to the resignations of hundreds of police officers accused of protecting gambling operations and the replacement of all 336 members of the [[New York City Police Department]]'s [[Plainclothes law enforcement|plainclothes]] division.<ref name="Samuels">{{cite journal |last1=Samuels |first1=David |title=The Mayor and the Mob |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |date=October 2019 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mayor-william-odwyer-new-york-city-mob-180973078/ |access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref>

=== Indian summer, 1950s ===
Although the [[United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce|Kefauver hearings]], an investigation into organized crime, did not directly impact Tammany, it did not help its image regarding its apparent connection to organized crime.<ref>Allen p. 271</ref> O'Dwyer, now Ambassador to Mexico, returned in 1951 to testify about the bribery scandal and sought to deflect any accusations of wrongdoing, but was unable to offer any persuasive explanation for his visit to Costello's apartment in 1941, when he first sought Tammany's support in his campaign for Mayor.<ref name=Maeder /> O'Dwyer resigned as ambassador the following year, following the conviction of one of his close associates for accepting bribes.<ref name=Maeder /> Tammany never recovered from prosecutions of the 1940s but staged a small-scale comeback in the early 1950s under the leadership of [[Carmine DeSapio]], who succeeded in engineering the elections of [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.]], an outspoken liberal Democrat,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/13/obituaries/robert-wagner-80-pivotal-new-york-mayor-dies.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|first=James F. |last=Clarity |title=Robert Wagner, 80, Pivotal New York Mayor, Dies |date=February 13, 1991}}</ref> as mayor in 1953 and [[W. Averell Harriman]] as governor in 1954, while simultaneously blocking his enemies, especially [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr.]] in the 1954 race for state attorney general. Unlike previous Tammany bosses, however, DeSapio had promoted himself as a reformer and always made his decisions known to the public.<ref name="uoqpz">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/28/nyregion/carmine-de-sapio-political-kingmaker-and-last-tammany-hall-boss-dies-at-95.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820214848/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/28/nyregion/carmine-de-sapio-political-kingmaker-and-last-tammany-hall-boss-dies-at-95.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |url-access=subscription |archive-date=August 20, 2013 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Jonathan |last=Kandell |title=Carmine De Sapio, Political Kingmaker and Last Tammany Hall Boss, Dies at 95 |date=July 28, 2004}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The fact that DeSapio was of Italian descent also demonstrated that Tammany was no longer dominated by Irish-American politicians.<ref name="uoqpz" /> Under DeSapio's leadership, the ethnicity of Tammany Hall's leaders diversified.<ref name="uoqpz" /> However, DeSapio's close ties with the city's lead mobster [[Frank Costello]], Luciano's self-appointed successor,<ref name="frankcost">{{cite web|url=http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=30|title=Articles/Biographies/Criminals/Costello, Frank|publisher=Free Information Society|access-date=September 19, 2012|archive-date=January 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123083313/http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=30|url-status=dead}}</ref> helped establish him as a corrupt figure.<ref name="uoqpz" /> During DeSapio's reign, Costello was the main person who influenced the decisions made by Tammany Hall officials.<ref name="uoqpz" />

By 1956, Costello, who was convicted of tax evasion in 1954 and now controlled the Luciano family from prison, was engaged in a major power struggle with fellow associate [[Vito Genovese]] and his grip on power greatly weakened.<ref name="frankcost" /> In 1957, Costello was released from prison after winning an appeal but officially abandoned his role as head of the Luciano family following a failed assassination attempt.<ref name="frankcost" /> In 1958, DeSapio's "reform" image was severely damaged after he ran his own candidate for the Senate, Frank Hogan.<ref name="uoqpz" /> New Yorkers now saw DeSapio as an old-time Tammany Hall boss, and Hogan would lose the Senate election to Republican [[Kenneth Keating]];<ref name="uoqpz" /> Republican [[Nelson Rockefeller]] would also be elected governor the same year.<ref name="uoqpz" /> Democrats who once praised De Sapio now excoriated him.<ref name="uoqpz" /> In 1961, Wagner won re-election by running a reformist campaign that denounced his former patron, DeSapio, as an undemocratic practitioner of Tammany machine politics.<ref name="uoqpz" /> After World War II, a group of young World War II veterans and other reform-minded Democrats began the Lexington Democratic Club in response to being denied access to Tammany Hall politics by the old guard.<ref>Allen p. 275</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lexclub.org/about-the-club/|title=About the club|work=lexclub.org|access-date=January 15, 2019|archive-date=January 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116051953/https://lexclub.org/about-the-club/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] organized a counterattack with [[Herbert H. Lehman]] and [[Thomas K. Finletter]] to form the New York Committee for Democratic Voters, a group dedicated to fighting Tammany. In 1961, the group helped remove DeSapio from power. The once mighty Tammany political machine, now deprived of its leadership, quickly faded from political importance, and by 1967 it ceased to exist; its demise as the controlling group of the New York Democratic Party was sealed when the Village Independent Democrats under [[Ed Koch]] wrested away control of the Manhattan party.{{clear}}