THE PENDERGAST MACHINE

Dorsett, Lyle W.

Verlag: NY. 1968. Oxford Univ. Press / Urban Life In America series

Beschreibung

yellow cloth hardbound 8vo. 8º (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of markings. couple of uncut pages at beginning. dustwrapper in vg cond. couple of small tears, some staining & soiling on rear, spine chipped at bottom, not price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings or store stamps, no stickers or bookplates, no names, no inking , no underlining, no remainder markings etc ~. first edition. first printing (same date on title & copyright pg. no additional printings indicated). xiv+163p. b&w maps. notes. bibliography essay. index. american history. biography. politics. history of missouri. democratic party. ~ For five full decades, from 1890 to 1940, the Pendergast Machine of Kansas City was one of the most notorious and powerful political organizations in America. It was a "classical" example of the type of urban machine that, with the "city boss," gained control over local governments as American cities burgeoned, and came into their own politically. Mr. Dorsett projects its history within the total context of the urban explosion of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He reviews the machine's origins, investigates the sources of its power during its heyday, and clarifies the reasons for its sudden decline. His study calls particular attention to the political functions of the Pendergast Machine, and to its substantive achievements, which paralleled those of city machines in other American cities during these years of rapid growth and bewildering change in the country's economic and political structure. The life cycle of the Pendergast Machine is among the most spectacular of its kind. It left its stamp on city hall and county court house throughout Missouri, and dominated all of Kansas City politics. At its height, its influence encompassed the state capitol, made and unmade governors and senators, and reached into the New Deal in Washington. The machine became monumentally corrupt, yet a President, Harry S. Truman, emerged as a beneficiary of its power, untouched by its practices. The story starts with Jim Pendergast, who came to Kansas City and put together an organization within a single ward, which sent him to the City Council. When "Big Jim's" brother Tom took over the reins in 1910, the machine controlled the heavily industrial North End of the city, as well as the West Bottoms, where Jim got his start as. a saloonkeeper. Tom forged alliances with the business community, turned the machine into a county~wide operation, played down its notes of reform and minority interest, and opened the stops on money, power, and pull. Tom was an astute political broker, dealing successfully with a wide range of interest groups: indigents, minorities, labor, and both large and small businessmen. His downfall began in 1936, in connection with wide~scale election frauds which were, ironically, unnecessary. Employing previously untapped primary sources, Mr. Dorsett tells the story of this urban phenomenon with a fullness of detail and an objectivity that re~creates the social background of the entire era, emphasizes its effects upon national politics, and points up the significance of the city machine as a unique element of our political system that accompanied the rise of the modern city. The study is a volume in the Urban Life in America Series. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 12231701

Bibliografische Details

Titel: THE PENDERGAST MACHINE

Verlag: NY. 1968. Oxford Univ. Press / Urban Life In America series

Einband: Hardcover

Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Schutzumschlag

Auflage: 1. Auflage