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RICHARD J. DALEY: THE LAST BOSS
American Experience, 1996
In 1902, Richard J. Daley was born on a street he would never leave and christened in the small church in which he would one day be buried. For an Irish Catholic boy like Daley, politics was one of the few tickets to power. Industrious and ambitious, he began a slow and methodical climb up the political ladder from ward organizer to state representative, where he earned a reputation for integrity and for his mastery of complex legislation. By 1953, he had seized control of the Cook County Democratic machine and from there it was a short step to the job he had so long coveted. As mayor, Richard Daley built a political machine that would never again be duplicated. He delivered Illinois for John F. Kennedy in the 1960 Presidential election, and although charges of fraud would haunt him for years, the victory thrust him into the national arena. His downfall came when he refused to integrate the city and refused to intervene with the police in the 1968 Democratic Convention.
Film Excerpt
Produced, Written and Directed by: Barak Goodman
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