Editing William Hale Thompson (section)

==First mayoralty (1915–1923)==
===First term===
[[File:William hale thompson.jpg|thumb|200px|Thompson during his 1915 mayoral campaign]]
[[1915 Chicago mayoral election|In 1915, Thompson was elected]] as the 41st Mayor of Chicago, beating County Clerk [[Robert Sweitzer|Robert M. Sweitzer]], John H. Hill, [[Seymour Stedman|Seymour Steadman]], and Charles Thompson.

Thompson was sworn in on April 26, 1915.<ref name=librarybio>{{cite web |title=Mayor William Hale Thompson Biography |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-william-hale-thompson-biography/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |access-date=11 March 2020}}</ref> In his inaugural address, Thompson spoke of his ambitions for Chicago to become "the greatest in the world", but also that his acts as mayor should not be swayed by corruption. He also emphasized the importance of public safety (as enforced by the [[Chicago Police Department]]), the improvement of public transit, secure and permanently lowered gas prices, Chicago being allowed to have [[Home rule]] and more efforts being placed into Chicago's commercial interests in order to create jobs and improve the city's economy. His efforts to expand and publicly improve the streets of Chicago earned him another nickname of "Big Bill the Builder". In his time as mayor, he oversaw the completion of the [[Michigan Avenue Bridge|Michigan Avenue link bridge]], the Twelfth Street widening, and the extension and widening of [[Ogden Avenue]]. Along with his big dreams for Chicago's geographical expansion, he wished for Chicago to expand politically and economically. He believed that Chicago should be able to enforce laws on their own terms, particularly without what he claimed to be the interference of [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] or [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] rule. He ended his inaugural address by declaring, {{blockquote|I am a firm believer in the separation of the three co-ordinate branches of government – Executive, Legislative and Judicial – peculiar to our American system, and that one should not intrude upon or violate, the prerogatives of the other. I do not intend to exceed the rights and privileges of the executive nor transgress upon the legislative or judicial functions. I shall impartially execute the laws made by the proper legislative authorities and interpreted by the judiciary.<ref>Chicago City Council. ''Journal of the Proceedings'', April 26, 1915, pp. 2–5.</ref>}}

As Thompson entered the first term of his mayorship, he appointed Fred Lundin as chairman on the committee of [[patronage]].<ref name=":422" /> Early in his mayoral career, Thompson began to amass a war chest to support an eventual run for the presidency, by charging city drivers and inspectors $3 per month.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Early in his mayoralty Thompson had to cut short a July 1915 trip to [[San Francisco]] in order to deal with the aftermath of the [[SS Eastland#The Eastland disaster|''Eastland'' disaster]].<ref name=hizzoner>{{cite book |last1=Bright |first1=John |title=Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson, an idyll of Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/hizzonerbigbillt00brig |date=1930}}</ref> While Thompson was out of town, acting-mayor Moorhouse had turned the [[Chicago City Hall]] into a makeshift hospital for first aid and a morgue for bodies recovered from the tragedy.<ref name=hizzoner/> Once Thompson returned to Chicago he organized and heavily promoted a relief fund and ordered an investigation into the casual negligence responsible for the tragedy.<ref name=hizzoner/>

In 1915, a delegation of civic-oriented women, headed by [[Mary McDowell]], urged Thompson to appoint an well-qualified woman to the city's new office of "commissioner of public welfare". Thompson did appoint a woman. However, instead of a woman qualified by a public welfare background, he appointed Louise Osborn Rowe, a Republican Party worker and loyalist. Within a year of her appointment, Rowe was charged with operating a [[Kickback (bribery)|kickback]] scheme in the department, and was forced to resign in 1916. This post would remain vacant until the mayoralty of Thompson's successor.<ref name="politicselectronicencyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Politics |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/989.html |website=www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org |publisher=The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago (Chicago Historical Society) |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

Thompson gained national attention and condemnation for his neutral attitude toward the events of [[World War I]]. By declining the visit of the French Mission to Chicago and refusing to control or act against anti-war or anti-conscription meetings, Thompson is "credited with characterizing Chicago as the sixth [[Germans|German]] city of the world," also earning the nickname "Kaiser" Bill Thompson.<ref name=":422" /><ref name=":1" /> Thompson sought to further endear himself to the city's German and [[Irish people|Irish]] populations by positioning himself as anti-British.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pacyga |first1=Dominic |title=Before The Donald, there was Big Bill of Chicago |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/9/18/21445868/william-hale-thompson-chicago-history-politics-trump-dominic-pacyga |website=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=10 January 2022 |language=en |date=18 September 2020}}</ref> Thompson opposed sending troops into war after the United States' April 1917 declaration of war.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nichols |first1=Jeff |title=Chicago mayor Big Bill Thompson used 'America First' decades before Trump |url=https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/chicago-mayor-big-bill-thompson-used-america-first-decades-before-trump/ |website=Chicago Reader |access-date=26 April 2023 |date=2 June 2017}}</ref> These facts later went on to hurt his chances in his [[1918 United States Senate election in Illinois|1918]] U.S. Senate campaign.<ref name=":422" /><ref name=":1" />

In 1916, he became a member of the [[Republican National Committee]]. He would continue to serve on the committee until 1920.<ref name="page710"/>

===Second term===
Thompson was reelected mayor [[1919 Chicago mayoral election|in 1919]], beating out Robert Sweitzer once again along with Adolph S. Carm, John Collins, [[John Fitzpatrick (unionist)|John Fitzpatrick]], and [[Maclay Hoyne]]. Thompson was said to have had control of the 75,000 [[black]] voters in his day. In his campaign he claimed to be an advocate for the people against public utility companies and the rich who avoided taxes. This inspired Thompson to enforce a five-cent streetcar fare to promote his campaign, which was also used to threaten the action of streetcar companies; he also sued the [[Chicago "L"]] when it tried to raise fares after the inflation caused by World War I.<ref name="Barrett">{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=Paul |title=Chicago's Public Transportation Policy, 1900-1940s |journal=Historic American Engineering Record |pages=25–30 |url=https://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/iht810125.html |access-date=8 October 2022}}</ref> Eventually, however, despite his protests, the fare was raised to seven cents.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In his second inaugural address on April 28, 1919, Thompson looked towards drastically expanding Chicago, saying that "Chicago is greater than some nations". This expansion included the extension and widening of streets to cross over more of the city, new post offices, freight terminals, playgrounds, bridges, and more. Also, due to the rapidly changing city, Thompson proposed a zoning bill to regulate and create commercial, industrial, and residential areas. Among the other issues he claimed he would address were telephone prices and service quality, the expansion of the Chicago Police Department, jobs for returning soldiers, lowering the cost of living, and restoring the jobs of Public School representatives who were removed by the Supreme Court.<ref>Chicago City Council. Journal of the Proceedings, April 28, 1919, pp. 8–11.</ref>

In 1922, the city council voted to not spend any money to enforce the [[Volstead Act]]].{{sfn|Merriner|2004|p=108}} Early into his second term, the city dealt with the [[Chicago race riot of 1919]].

At the [[1920 Republican National Convention]] Thompson helped to block his one-time ally [[Frank Lowden]] from capturing the nomination.<ref name=":222"/>

Thompson declined to run for reelection in 1923 and he was succeeded by [[William Emmett Dever]]. Thompson left office as Mayor on April 16, 1923.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayor William E. Dever Inaugural Address, 1923 |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-william-e-dever-inaugural-address-1923/ |website=www.chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |access-date=11 March 2020}}</ref>