The Daley interregnum; two divergent views

Jane Byrne. My Chicago. New York W.W. Norton, 1992. Pp. 384 with illustrations, references and index. $22.95 (cloth).

Gary Rivlin. Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. New York: Henry Holt, 1992. Pp. 442 with illustrations, notes and index. $24.95 (cloth).

Longtime Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley died at the end of 1976. Shortly thereafter, he was replaced by Michael Bilandic, colorless alderman of Daley's 11th Ward. Conventional wisdom held that Bilandic would be allowed to serve a term or so as mayor, then would be offered a reward (a judgeship, say) to step aside and allow Daley's son Richard to resume the family control of city government.

In a way, that's what happened. Richard M. Daley has now won two elections for mayor and apparently could win many more. Bilandic is an Illinois Supreme Court justice. But Bilandic's surprise loss in the 1979 Democratic mayoral primary set the stage for a 10-year interregnum, which led to some of the most tumultuous and fascinating politics of the city's history. The main figures of those stormy years, Jane Byrne and Harold Washington, are the subjects of two recently published books.

My Chicago by former Mayor Byrne and Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race offer contrasts in style as well as in substance. Byrne's reminiscence is an often loving, sometimes spiteful and generally self-serving ride through the history of Chicago and her one-term administration. Gary Rivlin's biography of Washington provides the most thorough account so far of Chicago's first black mayor, set against the backdrop of racial politics in the United States.

Byrne's book is not only an autobiography but a family history of Chicago. She traces the history of her own clan, starting with 1855 arrivals Patrick and Margaret Crane, and uses her ancestors as examples of how typical Chicagoans lived during key periods in the city's past. Most of the first half of the book covers the years preceding her political involvement. While much of this is straight narrative, Byrne misses few opportunities to attack two of her favorite adversaries. The Chicago Tribune takes its share of criticism; one can sense her glee in describing the Trib building's burning during the Great Chicago Fire. Likewise, Bridgeport politicians, especially the Daleys, do not escape her ire. She compares Richard J. Daley's Hamburgs social club to the notorious Blackstone Rangers gang. The present mayor is never referred to as Richard or Rich Daley but always by the pejorative Richie.

Unfortunately, Byrne does not devote enough pages to the person we're really interested in reading about — Byrne herself. Her low-budget 1979 victory over Bilandic surprised the nation. It was the highlight of her political life, yet she dedicates only six pages to it and only 83 pages to her term as mayor. Rivlin, in contrast, offers 130 pages on events of the Byrne years.

Byrne's memory is very selective. For example, she discusses early Chicago characters such as Cap and Ma Streeter, who claimed a parcel of lakeshore land as a semi-independent republic. But there's no mention of Allan Streeter, whose special election as alderman in 1982 (despite intense Byrne opposition) proved a sign of her weakness among black voters.

Rivlin offers a balanced view of the African-American congressman who defeated Byrne in the 1983 Democratic primary. Those who read Rivlin's work in the Chicago Reader during the Washington years recall him as an unabashed Washington supporter. Yet Rivlin is not afraid to point out Washington's occasional bad temper, inattention to detail or other traits which drove his political advisers crazy.

While Jane Byrne was seldom discussed during the 1983 campaign as Chicago's first woman mayor, Harold Washington was almost always mentioned as potentially the city's first black mayor. Rivlin examines in detail the racial implications of the election — not just the open bigotry on the streets, but the prejudice shown in the media. One particularly poignant episode deals with the effects of the election coverage on Leanita McClain, a talented black writer whose despair over the biased reporting might have led to her suicide.

Racial politics proved important for Chicago in more than one way. Rivlin examines the deep split among black leaders during the election between mainstream coalitionists and nationalists who favored a "black first" agenda. He also accurately portrays the discomfort of many of Chicago's white liberals with the city's first black mayor.

Rivlin paints vivid word pictures not only of Washington but of other key players during the time: black nationalist Lu Palmer; Operation PUSH leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Washington antagonist Ed Vrdolyak; and the mayor's would-be protege, Clarence McClain.

Both books provide fascinating insights on recent Chicago history. Byrne's best insights come from reading between the lines. Rivlin's best insights come from reading the lines themselves.

David Fremon, author of Chicago Politics: Ward by Ward (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988), writes a regular political column for The New City, an alternative Chicago newspaper.

August & September 1992/Illinois Issues/53