The gambler king of Clark Street : Michael C. McDonald and the rise of Chicago's Democratic machine / Richard C. Lindberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lindberg, Richard C., 1953-

Series:

Elmer H. Johnson and Carol Holmes Johnson series in criminology.

Elmer H. Johnson and Carol Holmes Johnson series in criminology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McDonald, Michael C. (Michael Cassius), 1839-1907.

McDonald, Michael C.

Democratic Party (Chicago, Ill.)--History--19th century.

Democratic Party (Chicago, Ill.).

Politicians--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Politicians.

Businessmen--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Businessmen.

Gamblers--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Gamblers.

Irish American criminals--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Irish American criminals.

Political culture--Illinois--Chicago--History--19th century.

Political culture.

Political corruption--Illinois--Chicago--History--19th century.

Political corruption.

Chicago (Ill.)--Biography.

Chicago (Ill.).

Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (330 p.)

Place of Publication:

Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago s Democratic Machine" tells the story of a larger-than-life figure who fused Chicago s criminal underworld with the city s political and commercial spheres to create an urban machine built on graft, bribery, and intimidation. In this first ever biography of McDonald, author Richard C. Lindberg vividly paints the life of the Democratic kingmaker against the wider backdrop of nineteenth-century Chicago crime and politics. Twenty-five years before Al Capone s birth, Michael McDonald was building the foundations of the modern Chicago Democratic machine. By marshaling control of and suborning a complex web of precinct workers, ward and county bosses, justices of the peace, police captains, contractors, suppliers, and spoils-men, the undisputed master of the gambling syndicates could elect mayoral candidates, finagle key appointments for political operatives willing to carry out his mandates, and coerce law enforcement and the judiciary. The resulting machine was dedicated to the supremacy of the city s gambling, vice, and liquor rackets during the waning years of the Gilded Age. McDonald was warmly welcomed into the White House by two sitting presidents who recognized him for what he was: the reigning boss of Chicago. In a colorful and often riotous life, McDonald seemed to control everything around him everything that is, except events in his personal life. His first wife, the fiery Mary Noonan McDonald, ran off with a Catholic priest. The second, Dora Feldman, twenty-five years his junior, murdered her teenaged lover in a sensational 1907 scandal that broke Mike s heart and drove him to an early grave. Michael McDonald s name has long been cited in the published work of city historians, members of academia, and the press as the principal architect of a unified criminal enterprise that reached into the corridors of power in Chicago, Cook County, the state of Illinois, and all the way to the Oval Office. "The Gambler King of Clark Street" is both a major addition to Chicago s historical literature and a revealing biography of a powerful and troubled man. "

Contents:

Cover; The Elmer H. Johnson and Carol Holmes Johnson Series in Criminology; Book Title; Copyright; Contents; Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction: The Dark City on the Edge of Civilization; 1. A Train Butcher Raising the Wind; 2. Brace Games and Bunko Men; 3. A Department Store of Gambling; 4. Tammany by the Lake; 5. The People's Party and the Overturn of Puritan Rule; 6. Bummers, Gutter-Rats, Whiskey Soakers, and Saloon Loafers; 7. The City Hall Swindle; 8. Our Carter; 9. Oyster on the Half Shell; Gallery; 10. Boodle for the Gang; 11. Is He Not a Typical Democrat?

12. A Flighty and Excitable Woman13. Bribing the Gray Wolves foran "Upstairs" Railway; 14. The Garfield Park Racetrack War; 15. Electing Altgeld; 16. That Little Feldman Girl; 17. Pearls before Swine: Poetry, Murder, and the McDonalds; 18. Betrayal and Death; Postscript; Epilogue: A Legacy of Corruption; Appendix 1; Appendix 2; Notes; Bibliography; Index; Author Bio; Back Cover

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-282) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-282-13899-5

9786613808295

0-8093-8654-2

1-4416-2333-7

OCLC:

856870529