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The first of a two-part article by MILTON RAKOVE


This article is the fourth in Illinois Issues' special series covering the political life of Mayor Daley and the effects of his dynasty. These reports were first presented at a conference entitled "Richard J. Daley's Chicago," sponsored by the History Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle and the Chicago Historical Society on October 11-14, 1977. With grant assistance from the Illinois Humanities Council, Dr. Melvin G. Holli, conference director, assembled forty-odd journalists, academics, city officials and neighborhood leaders to present their views on the late mayor and his city. Next month, Milton Rakove concludes his two-part article analyzing Mayor Daley as a politician and public official. Professors Holli and Peter d'A. Jones are editing the proceedings of the conference for publication in book form.

'Man is a political animal' — Aristotle

Daley's political theory:
Intuition and power

THAT RICHARD J. Daley was the preeminent politician in Chicago's turbulent history is undeniable. That his impact radiated beyond the city's boundaries to its suburban hinterland and to the rural reaches of Illinois is apparent. That his influence helped mold his Democratic party's national strategies is probable. That his image cast a shadow over his nation's policies and destiny is debatable. But that he was, is, and will be a political leader worthy of intensive analysis and study for political scientists, historians, sociologists and social psychologists, for years to come, is self-evident.

Daley was a local politician who dominated his city and local party, whose impact on countywide, statewide and national politics and public policies may have been less significant, but whose life and career should be pursued with intensity and rigid scholarship by social scientists.

Why? Because Daley was a politician par excellence, who practiced his craft with an ability and agility matched by few American political figures in our history. He was local in origin, scope, influence and interest. But he was universal in philosophy, tactics and practice, a gifted leader even among his most successful mayoral counterparts, regardless of national origin, geographic locale, political persuasion or philosophy. He was untutored in political science, but a born politician; unread in the great treatises of political philosophy, but gifted with an instinctive grasp of the realities of political behavior; assailed by people who never understood him, but highly respected by those who dealt with him in the political arena. He has been dissected by writers whose analyses generally range from mediocrity and triviality to misunderstanding and hostility, yet his posthumous career as a subject of historical and political analysis has hardly begun.

According to Aristotle, "Man is a political animal." Richard J. Daley was the classic example of a political man for whom there was no life outside of politics. "Mayor Daley can't breathe or live outside of the atmosphere of politics or the proximity of City Hall," according to 5th ward Democratic committee-man Marshall Korshak. For Daley, politics was a 24-hour-a-day vocation. "He would call up at the most ungodly hours," Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson III told me. "He never got up later than 5:30 a.m. and was on the phone at that hour." Numerous other local politicians and public officials can bear witness to being called by the mayor at 6 a.m. or midnight, on Sundays, holidays or any other day. "When he left the office," Neil F. Hartigan, former lieutenant governor who served as Daley's administrative

MILTON RAKOVE
Author of the book Don't Make No Waves Don't Back No Losers, Rakove is professor of political science at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle Campus.

April /978/ Illinois Issues/23


assistant for five years, once told me, "he always took home a briefcase filled with papers."

Politics was, for Daley, not a livelihood or a profession, but a life style and a passion. A devout Catholic, he conceived of his role on earth as a charge from his Lord to do God's secular work by manipulating the processes of politics and government to maintain order, reduce tension and manage the inevitable conflicts within his community, the City of Chicago.

Daley's passion for politics was linked to his parallel interests in the processes of government and the life of the community. Although he had never studied Greek philosophy, he had an instinctive grasp of the Hellenic concept of the polls as a total community with an ethos and a civic pride, and a linkage between its constituent elements that encompassed the whole range of communal life.

It was from this foundation that Daley evolved his basic philosophy of organizing his community, his political machine and his city government as integral parts of an all-encompassing system. In this he was significantly different from most of his predecessors as mayor or party chairman who either put up with the indignities of political life to gain the emoluments and advantages of public office, or suffered the frustrations of public office as the price for enjoying the excitement of political life, or else subjected themselves to the hardships of political life and the boredom of public office in order to pursue what they perceived to be the communal good. Daley was a whole political man who had a lifelong curiosity about what was going on in the community, who enjoyed the vicissitudes of political life and who pursued the tasks of bureaucracy and government with relish and tenacity. For Daley, his oft-repeated maxim that "Good politics is good government and good government is good politics" was not a cliche, but rather a modus operandi and a guiding principle of both political and administrative behavior.

Daley understood that politics is the process by which the multiplicity of interests within the electorate are made manifest, are winnowed out and are represented; and that government is a decisionmaking process whose ultimate concern must be not only the balancing of private interests, but, more importantly, the protection of the public interest. While understanding the realities of the political process, he also accepted the requirements of public office and the responsibilities of executive leadership. And, as the ultimate pragmatist, he recognized the essentially selfish drives that motivated the disparate elements of the body politic of his city and the need to deal with that fact. "He's like a fellow who peeks in the bag to make sure the lady gave him a dozen of buns," wrote Chicago Daily News columnist Ed Lahey in 1966 in an article describing the mayor's political pragmatism. In 1972, when I suggested in a report, written for the Chicago Home Rule Commission, that the city government's power over local services like street cleaning, snow removal and garbage collection be given over to neighborhood area councils, as Greater London does to its 32 boroughs, Daley's response was classic. "It might work in London," he said, "but in Chicago, they'll be selling the sidewalks down there."

Daley was a balance of power strategist who had never studied the classical balance of power theorists, but who had an intuitive understanding of the principles of successful politics

Daley's architectonic design for the linkage and fusing of the community, the political system and the city government became manifest shortly after he came to power as mayor in 1955. He had gained the chairmanship of the party first, in 1953, as a necessary prerequisite to making his bid for the mayoralty. During his campaign for the mayoralty in 1955, he said he would give up the party chairmanship if he was elected mayor. But of course he did not, since he knew full well that if he did, his power would be fractionalized and he could never create the structure he believed essential for governing the city well. If he faltered in office, he might be replaced by another party chairman as he had done to Mayor Martin Kennelly in 1955, and as the political leaders had done to Mayor Edward Kelly in 1947.

But, more important, the fragmentation of power between the mayoralty and the party chairmanship would deprive him of the essential tools he would need to deal with the powerful feudal lords in the Democratic organization who had helped him dump Kennelly in their own interests, and who could then challenge his authority as chief executive of the city. Daley knew that in a city like Chicago, with a weak, decentralized governmental system and a powerful, much more structured authoritarian political system, he would be unable to govern effectively if he gave up his political power base.

Col. Jacob Arvey, longtime Democratic powerhouse and Daley's predecessor as party chairman from 1946-1950, who opposed Daley's dual role reevaluated his position in an interview with me in 1976, before Daley's death. "His position as mayor helps his politically," Arvey said. "And his position as boss of the party helps him as mayor. I've always said that this could never work. In Daley's case it has worked because he's an honest man. And he knows he's honest, and the people around him know that he's honest. So that when he asks someone or orders someone to do something, they know it's not for profit for Daley or a personal advantage for him. They know it's good for the party or good for the city — that he thinks so, at least. That's why they subscribe to his leadership."

Daley's grasp of the inherent instabilty ity of his city's body politic, his instinctive conservatism with regard to intellectual schemes for all-encompassing social programs as solutions to societal problems, his native distrust of the motives of the human species and his recognition of the essentially selfish motivations behind human behavior were central to his basic approach to life and politics. That realism was fused in Daley's psyche with his lifelong love affair with his neighborhood, his city, his God and his family. His hardheaded political realism was counter balanced by his own brand of idealism. Daley's sense of idealism had little to do with the kind of reformism advocated by those who believed the political process should be used to eliminate the abnormal evils which plague society and to liberate the innate decency which resides in men. Daley's idealism was more pragmatic and limited, aimed at achieving

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the possible, eschewing the visionary and accepting the reality of human life and behavior.

It was on the foundation of this basic philosophy, gleaned not from theoretical treatises and moralistic preachings, but rather from instinct and experience, that Daley built his house in Chicago. It was a composite structure of a fragmented community of divided groups and conflicting interests which had to be ied with and reconciled; a political organization of powerful warlords and subservient minions who had to be organized, disciplined and controlled; and a governmental system which was characterized by the inherent instabilities and weaknesses of democracy and which had to be made responsive to community needs. In other words, effective government demanded that a divided electorate, a highly structured self-centered political system and an essentially decentralized, weak governmental system be linked and held toghether in the pursuit of something vaguely called the public interest: the enactment of essential public policies and the maintenance of order and stability in the city.

For over two decades Daley sat astride this composite structure, guiding its momentum, reconciling its differences, adjudicating its disputes and giving it direction. How did he do it?

The key to Daley's success as mayor and political leader for over two decades lay in his ability to balance off the interests of the three constituent parts of the totality — the community, the political organization and the city government— and to link and subordinate those disparate elements to what he conceived to be the welfare of his city. Daley was a balance of power strategist who had never studied the classical balance of power theorists, but who had an intuitive understanding of the principles of successful politics. He was a power broker who knew that power was the driving force of politics and that all political behavior is oriented toward the acquisition, retention and expansion of power.

If the centrifugal force of politics is the power drive in men and groups, then central problem of political leadership is the channeling, utilization and control of power in the interests of order and the common good. That can best be done, not by appealing to man's good nature and moral virtue, but rather by recognizing his selfish concerns, pacifying his interests when possible, using him when necessary, holding him accountable when derelict and disciplining him when required.

Successful political leadership in such a milieu requires that the needs and aspirations of the community be ascertained, that they be channeled to those in authority through the political process and that they be pacified by governmental action. That process, for Daley, was both good politics and good government. But good politics was not embracing moral causes, and good government was not resolving social problems. Good politics was, in the words of Edward C. Banfield and James Q. Wilson, "managing conflict," and good government was dealing with basic, elemental needs on an individual basis. And, since private interests and individual needs were the primary concerns of the heterogeneous individuals and groups that made up the electorate, those had to be dealt with first before the nebulous public interest could be attended to. Formulating public policies, then, for Daley, was the pacification of various private interests as a prelude to securing the tolerance, if not the active assent, of those private interests to essential public policies.

In Daley's political world, it was not the role of leadership to consult with all groups in the body politic on all matters of public policy, but only with those who were affected by or had a serious interest in the issue. It was not necessary to consult with the Jewish community on abortion, or with the Catholic or black communities on a resolution supporting Israel, since those matters did not seriously affect the emotions or interests of those constituencies.

But on the issues of school integration and busing, or building public housing in white areas of the city, where the private interests of one million blacks clashed with or abutted the interests of more than one million whites, Daley's policy was to hold to an existing status quo until such time as he detected a shift in the sentiments of one side or the other, or he was driven to act by external forces beyond his control. And, even then, he would retreat grudgingly, giving as little ground as possible, unwilling to compromise his basic political mode of conduct.

Nor did what Daley considered to be effective political leadership necessarily involve issuing clarion calls for change or unilaterally breaking new ground on public policy. Daley's style was, rather, to respond to clearly expressed sentiment for basic change by sending out a signal to all those who would be affected by the change, touch all the bases, investigate the depth and breadth of the constituencies supportive of and opposed to the matter, and then provide leadership, based not on his own personal preferences, but rather on a broad-based coalition of constituent elements which could help carry the load, provide support and take the heat, if it came.

In Daley's world, the role of the political organization was central to the need to maintain contact with the community and to expedite the processes of government. Politics was the process through which one ascertained the needs and aspirations of the community and remained sensitive to changing conditions and developing problems. The ward committee men and precinct captains were the eyes and ears of the party and were held accountable,

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not for just the delivery of services and votes, but also for taking the pulse of the neighborhood. Daley paid little attention to newspaper editorials, television commentaries and scientifically taken polls as representation of what was going on in the minds of the people of the city. He believed that newspaper editorial writers and television commentators spent most of their time in their offices, were out of touch with the neighborhoods and were more representative of an elite public that did not reflect the city's population and ethos. As he once responded to a newspaper story commenting on a political situation in Chicago: "It's just a hallucination and the imagination of the press in trying to bring this situation to the forefront."

Daley took his own polls, not through scientifically structured mass questionnaires, but rather through an informed network of street-wise politicians who had lived, worked and associated with people in their neighborhoods. Many a candidate for public office was called the Sunday before a hotly contested election by the mayor, who after evaluating the results of his own private poll, told the candidate he was "in" and to prepare himself for his forthcoming responsibilities.

Daley strengthened his information-gathering network in two other ways — by placing his own people in every sensitive government department and ward organization at a level beneath the top echelon, and by constantly quizzing everyone who came to see him about their area of expertise and about the goings-on in their bit of turf in the community at large.

Daley was cognizant of the character of the bureaucracy, knowing that those charged with responsibility always picture the activities of the agency in the best possible light when they are called to account. Since Daley was a consummate bureaucrat himself, who had spent his entire life in government at various levels, he was a difficult man to deceive or withhold information from. He buttressed his own experience and knowledge by informal contacts with medium and lower level city and county bureaucrats who provided him with another channel of information about the activities of their agencies. And since their livelihoods depended to a considerable extent on good relations with the mayor, especially if they were not civil service, their discretion usually transcended their loyalty to superiors or to racial, religious and ethnic cohorts. "I'm a good Italian," one medium level bureaucrat once told me, "but I've turned in a lot of Italians."

In Daley's political world, it was not the role of leadership to consult with all groups, but only with those who were affected by or had a serious interest in an issue

Within the political organization, Daley's lifelong, across-the-board experience from precinct captain to county chairman, also was invaluable as he sought to maintain contacts with the wide-ranging feudalistic political system he controlled. When Daley came to power in 1955, he was one of a number of powerful ward committee men. But as they aged, and as his personal power grew, the gap between Daley and everyone else clearly became manifest, and key people in the various ward organizations quietly made known their fealty to him above their own liege lords. He had a listening post and a pipeline to the ward organizations which he was careful not to divulge or even utilize, unless it was clearly necessary. Daley faithfully observed the principal of ward automony and committeeman control, as long as the ward was well-run, was serving its constituents and was delivering votes. But, if discipline broke down or efficiency disintegrated, or Democratic voters stayed home or revolted, Daley would move in, aware from his own sources as to the roots of the problems and who to turn to in the ward organization to straighten things out. "I never knew the mayor knew as much about me as he knew until that day," 16th ward Democratic committeeman Jim Taylor told me in an interview, as he described the events of the day when Mayor Daley brought him before the executive committee of the Democratic County Central Committee and told him that he was going to be the new committeeman of the South Side ward, which was rapidly changing from white to black. "He put my whole life story on the line," said Taylor, "which really amazed me."

In the 29th ward, on Chicago's West Side, former state Sen. Bernie Neistein described the events which led to his being chosen as committeeman. " Al Horan died and there was a vacancy for ward committeeman," Neistein said. "The ward was predominantly run by Irish. And the church stepped in all the time. They always said the Irish Catholics should be running this ward didn't make any overt moves to be ward committeeman. The opposition wanted Jimmy Spangler, who was a member of the Board of Tax Appeals. They were saying, 'We're not going to let any whippersnapper be the committeeman and it's gotta be an Irish Catholic.' The mayor knew, however, that I was the one. While Al Horan was sick for two years before he died, I was carrying on and delivered better results than Al Horan ever did. He was receptive to me — and you play politics with the head, not the heart. By performance, I was the one that he wanted. We had a meeting in the mayor's office and he said to Jimmy Spangler, 'Bernie would make a good ward committeeman'and Spangler said, 'Yes, I'll take your suggestion I'll be in favor of Bernie.' The precinct captains had the name of who they wanted. The captains are the last word and they backed me all the way. So that's how I was made committeeman."

Daley's lifelong, ceaseless quest for information also drove him to quest people whose opinions he respected about their areas of expertise. Invariably when I asked to see him on some matter or he asked to see me, his first question was, "And how are things at the University?" It was not an idle, polite, pass-the-time-of-day query, but rather a serious, searching probe for information about an institution he was proud to have helped build, and which he felt was important to the well-being of his city. Then, before you got to the business at hand, he would ask about your opinions on whatever was currently politically important—the presidential campaign, the busing controversy, suburban political trends or national public policies.

According to former Commissioner of Consumer Sales Jane Byrne, who was appointed cochairman of the Democratic Party of Cook County by Daley, I would walk in and his hands would go

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up, and he would say to me, 'What are you picking up?' That would mean, 'What do you hear out there?' From 1968 on,the re was a tremendous amount of shifting sands on the national scene, with the assassination of Robert Kennedy — and even before he got killed. Well, I never gave up those other friends the Kennedy entourage, and I would often sometimes get some information out there. Up until Bobby was killed there was still the belief the Kennedys would come back, so we kept the foot soldiers we had in order, so that whatever was going on, I would be able to tell him. That doesn't mean in any way that he didn't have a direct line of communication right to Bobby. But the underlying stuff of who's with us here and there. I'd get from the others. That was a good way to hear. That helped him." Commissioner of Human Resources Cecil Partee (former state senator) evaluating Daley in an interview with me, described the mayor as "a very, very astute man. There were areas, for example, where I really didn't think he would be knowledgeable, just because he had no need to be. When I came back from Israel, I talked to him about my trip. Some of the questions he asked as tounded me, because they reflected his intricate knowledge of the politics of Israel. He was a very knowledgeable man."

"He'd call me regularly," Sen. Stevenson told me. "He always wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to talk about housing. He wanted to talk about the issues. At times you talk to him, he just wouldn't hear. He wouldn't listen. He shut it out. At other times he would be very animated, searching for a way for an answer. But not many people knew that. They'd complain bitterly. They'd vilify him. Rarely would they make an effort to talk to him. One of the great failings of his critics, particularly the so-called liberals and reformers, was that they rarely got in there and tried to talk to him. It would have been a revelation to some of them." Daley was, thus, a veritable sponge who soaked up information in incredible quantities, sorted it out internally, filed it away in his brain, and pulled it but when it was needed. He was not always right in what he did, but he always did his homework and he operated from a substantial fund of information and a broad range of opinion and expertise. To be continued next month.

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