[PDF] Plunkitt Of Tammany Hall eBook

Author : William L. Riordon
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 85 pages
File Size : 48,33 MB
Release : 1995-11-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1101099925

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Plunkitt of Tammany Hall A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics William L. Riordan “Nobody thinks of drawin’ the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft.” This classic work offers the unblushing, unvarnished wit and wisdom of one of the most fascinating figures ever to play the American political game and win. George Washington Plunkitt rose from impoverished beginnings to become ward boss of the Fifteenth Assembly District in New York, a key player in the powerhouse political team of Tammany Hall, and, not incidentally, a millionaire. In a series of utterly frank talks given at his headquarters (Graziano’s bootblack stand outside the New York County Court House), he revealed to a sharp-eared and sympathetic reporter named William L. Riordan the secrets of political success as practiced and perfected by him and fellow Tammany Hall titans. The result is not only a volume that reveals more about our political system than does a shelfful of civics textbooks, but also an irresistible portrait of a man who would feel happily at home playing ball with today’s lobbyists and king makers, trading votes for political and financial favors. Doing for twentieth-century America what Machiavelli did for Renaissance Italy, and as entertaining as it is instructive, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall is essential reading for those who prefer twenty-twenty vision to rose-colored glasses in viewing how our government works and why. With an Introduction by Peter Quinn and a New Afterword

Author : William L. Riordon
Publisher : Courier Dover Publications
Page : 83 pages
File Size : 21,23 MB
Release : 2020-08-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0486841936

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This volume presents the candid wit and wisdom of George Washington Plunkitt (1842-1924), a longtime New York City ward boss and Tammany Hall player. Plunkitt, a cynically honest practitioner of machine politics, reveals the secrets to the political success of Tammany Hall operatives, freely discussing his patronage-based appointments and exercise of power for personal gain.

Author : Terry Golway
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 511 pages
File Size : 14,62 MB
Release : 2014-03-03
Category : History
ISBN : 0871407922

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“Golway’s revisionist take is a useful reminder of the unmatched ingenuity of American politics.”—Wall Street Journal History casts Tammany Hall as shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft and patronage personified by notoriously crooked characters. In his groundbreaking work Machine Made, journalist and historian Terry Golway dismantles these stereotypes, focusing on the many benefits of machine politics for marginalized immigrants. As thousands sought refuge from Ireland’s potato famine, the very question of who would be included under the protection of American democracy was at stake. Tammany’s transactional politics were at the heart of crucial social reforms—such as child labor laws, workers’ compensation, and minimum wages— and Golway demonstrates that American political history cannot be understood without Tammany’s profound contribution. Culminating in FDR’s New Deal, Machine Made reveals how Tammany Hall “changed the role of government—for the better to millions of disenfranchised recent American arrivals” (New York Observer).

Author : George Washington Plunkitt
Publisher :
Page : 82 pages
File Size : 39,86 MB
Release : 2011-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781611044683

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This little classic, which was once titled "Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft," was written by George Plunkitt. It provides an entertaining if somewhat discouraging description of why politics is driven by money and why reformers are merely a flash in the pan. Another topic covered in the book, "The difference between honest graft and dishonest graft" is equally alive and well among modern politicians. A modern politician accused of exactly the type of real estate speculation Plunkitt uses as his example of "honest" graft occurred just a few years ago. The politician sat on a committee that determined the site of government project and bought up the land before the project was revealed to the public. When confronted his response was, "I didn't break any laws." As Plunkitt would have said, he was only practicing honest graft. Plunkitt was a crony of the infamous William M. "Boss" Tweed, who created and presided over a Democrat, ward based patronage form of government in the City of New York in the mid to late 19th century referred to then as and now "Tammany Hall." Plunkitt was one of his side-kicks who participated in all of the perks of office and had the ability to discuss his "work" with justifications worthy of the best wit of Mark Twain. It is no coincidence that this little jewel of amateur literature has remained in print for over 100 years.

Author : George Washington Plunkitt
Publisher : Book Jungle
Page : 88 pages
File Size : 18,11 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781438500713

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Tammany Hall was one of the most colorful political machines in U S history and George Washington Plunkitt was in the thick of it. George Plunkitt was an early 20th century New York politician. Plunkitt was a powerful State Senator. He was a wealthy man earning his wealth from what he termed "honest graft". He was a member of Tammany Hall and believed in the patronage system and using power for personal gain. Plunkitt described honest graft as buying land that he knew would be needed someday for a pubic use and then selling it at an inflated price. Dishonest graft would be buying land and then using his influence to have a project built on it. This series of talks by an extremely interesting politician is a wonderful glimpse into the famous Tammany Hall.

Author : Lincoln Steffens
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 171 pages
File Size : 42,5 MB
Release : 2022-05-28
Category : Fiction
ISBN :

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The Shame of the Cities is a book written by Lincoln Steffens. It accounts for the workings of corrupt political procedures in several major U.S. cities, along with a few attempts to fight against them.

Author : James Duane Bolin
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 12,27 MB
Release : 2014-10-17
Category : History
ISBN : 0813158818

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William Frederick "Billy" Klair (1875-1937) was the undisputed czar of Lexington, Kentucky, for decades. As political boss in a mid-sized, southern city, he faced problems strikingly similar to those of large cities in the North. As he watched the city grow from a sleepy market town of 16,000 residents to a bustling, active urban center of over 50,000, Klair saw changes that altered not just Lexington but the nation and the world: urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. But Klair did not merely watch these changes; like other political bosses and social reformers, he actively participated in the transformation of his city. As a political boss and a practitioner of what George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall referred to as "honest graft," Klair applied lessons of organization, innovation, manipulation, power, and control from the machine age to bring together diverse groups of Lexingtonians and Kentuckians as supporters of a powerful political machine. James Duane Bolin also examines the underside of the city, once known as the Athens of the West. He balances the postcard view of Bluegrass mansions and horse farms with the city's well-known vice district, housing problems, racial tensions, and corrupt politics. With the reality of life in Lexington as a backdrop, the career of Billy Klair provides as a valuable and engaging case study of the inner workings of a southern political machine.

Author : George Washington Plunkitt
Publisher : CreateSpace
Page : 82 pages
File Size : 44,62 MB
Release : 2014-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781494885007

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This little classic, which was once titled "Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft," was written by George Plunkitt. It provides an entertaining if somewhat discouraging description of why politics is driven by money and why reformers are merely a flash in the pan. Another topic covered in the book, "The difference between honest graft and dishonest graft" is equally alive and well among modern politicians. A modern politician accused of exactly the type of real estate speculation Plunkitt uses as his example of "honest" graft occurred just a few years ago. The politician sat on a committee that determined the site of government project and bought up the land before the project was revealed to the public. When confronted his response was, "I didn't break any laws." As Plunkitt would have said, he was only practicing honest graft. Plunkitt was a crony of the infamous William M. "Boss" Tweed, who created and presided over a Democrat, ward based patronage form of government in the City of New York in the mid to late 19th century referred to then as and now "Tammany Hall." Plunkitt was one of his side-kicks who participated in all of the perks of office and had the ability to discuss his "work" with justifications worthy of the best wit of Mark Twain. It is no coincidence that this little jewel of amateur literature has remained in print for over 100 years.