February 16, 2012. Chicago. Year after year, decade after decade, century after century, Chicago is named the most corrupt city in the nation. So it was again yesterday when the University of Illinois released a study on the subject. At the same time, U of I professor and former Chicago Alderman Dick Simpson also testified before the Chicago Ethics Task Force at City Hall. A self-proclaimed corruption fighter, Simpson and his school’s corresponding study had scathing words for Chicago’s elected officials.
“First of all, we have a long history,” CBS2 Chicago reported Simpson explaining, “The first corruption trial was in 1869 when Aldermen and County Commissioners were convicted of rigging a contract to literally whitewash City Hall. We have had machine politics since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Machine politics breeds corruption inevitably.”
What is “The Machine”
Depending on whether or not there’s a member of the Daley political family in the Mayor’s office, the “Machine” is generally known as either “The Democratic Machine” or “The Daley Machine”. And much like the notorious Tammany Hall in New York that controlled everything legal as well as illegal, the Chicago Democratic Machine puts the New York crooks to shame. According to the University of Illinois study data, 30 Chicago City Council Aldermen have been convicted of corruption related crimes from 1972 to 2009. That’s almost one per year.
Many in Chicago are in voluntary denial and will never admit that organized crime has had a presence in their city government since the 1800’s, especially if they happen to be one of the tens of thousands of Chicago city workers that collect a nice paycheck and continually re-elect whoever their Democratic Party bosses tell them to. But for those of us who’ve lived in this city our entire lives and who can step back and see the local political landscape for what it is, one can’t help but agree with the University of Illinois conclusion – Chicago is the most corrupt city in America.
Chicago’s Political Family Dynasties
While the city’s patronage system of government enriches a handful of powerful families, ultimate power in Chicago is controlled by one man. For two decades, that man has been Richard M. Daley, former Chicago Mayor. Throughout his entire political career as Mayor, only one person ever led Daley in election polls. That person was former ally and Chicago City Treasurer Miriam Santos. The rising star in Chicago politics was promptly put in prison, ending her career and any chance of ever challenging Daley for Mayor..
Richard Daley didn’t do anything to become the Machine’s godfather. He simply inherited the power and the dynasty from the previous godfather - his dad, Richard J. Daley. In fact, the Daley wing of Chicago’s political family dynasties, like most of the others, has been in power since the late 1800’s. A quest of newspaper articles from the era reveals the same dilemma that exists today – the Chicago media blacks-out the corruption and all but protects the crime figures, while the rest of the nation’s media details the ongoing crime without fear.
Articles from the late nineteenth century New York paint Chicago as the most corrupt city in the nation even then. Describing battles between three groups – corrupt Democrats, corrupt Republicans and reform Republicans, the series of candid articles details how the repeatedly-indicted political families first took control of the Democratic Machine, and then the entire city.
The parts of the articles that will make a reader feel chills is when one notices the names from the 1890’s are all the same as the Irish families who rule Chicago today – Daley, Cullerton, Burke and soon joined by Madigan. Those Irish families ruled the city of Chicago during the 1890’s amid humiliating criminal scandals, as reported by New York publications of the day, and they still control the highest and most powerful positions in the state of Illinois today.
This article in no way levels accusations of criminal activity by any of Chicago's longstanding political family dynasties or any specific elected officials. It merely points out the obvious - that Chicago is repeatedly named the most corrupt city in the nation, while the same political families have been in control non-stop for over a century. Readers are free to draw their own conclusions.
The 4 Families
The Daley family needs no introduction. Hollywood movies show off the Daleys periodically, with one Kevin Costner movie even coloring former President John F. Kennedy as being afraid of late Mayor Richard J. Daley. The Cullerton family currently controls the second most powerful office in the state – the US Senate Presidency in the person of John Cullerton. The family also controls the northwest side Chicago ward that it has repeatedly won election to for upwards of 125 years. Tim Cullerton was hand-picked and appointed City Councilman to replace his brother-in-law, who replaced his father, by Mayor Daley. In the same ward, PJ Cullerton serves as the Democratic Party’s elected Committeewoman. Other Cullertons are Judges, inspectors and more.
The Burkes claim another powerful position – kingmaker of Judges. Each election, the Democratic Party holds its ‘slating’ conventions. Anyone wishing to run for a Judgeship must be endorsed by the party or face certain defeat. Chicago’s long-serving Alderman Ed Burke chairs that private political organization and personally hand-picks every judge in the state of Illinois. Coincidently or not, his wife Anne Burke currently serves as an Illinois Supreme Court Justice.
Rounding out the families is the Madigan clan. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has long been portrayed in the local media as the most powerful man in Illinois, if not Chicago. A Chicagoan himself, nothing happens in the Illinois Legislature without Speaker Madigan’s approval. And if there’s any wonder how it is that Chicago is the longstanding champion of government corruption, yet nobody but the hand-picked fall guys like former Governor Rod Blagojevich and former City Treasurer Miriam Santos, ever go to prison, consider the following fact.
The number one law enforcement official in the State of Illinois, the one person in charge of fighting political corruption, is the Illinois Attorney General. Illinois residents repeatedly elect to that post none other than Lisa Madigan, daughter of Illinois House Speaker and Chicago Machine boss Michael Madigan.
Obama and Blagojevich
Two of the most well known stories surrounding the Chicago Machine recently are those of President Barack Obama and convicted former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich – both products of the Chicago Democratic Machine. While Barack Obama played by the Machine’s rules and took full advantage of the power it holds, Blagojevich broke from his political overlords believing that as Governor, he was the new boss. He found out the hard way just how powerful the Chicago Democratic Machine is.
President Obama’s career with the Machine goes back to his run for Congress in 2000, an endeavor he lost because he didn’t receive the endorsement of the Machine. The second time around, Obama used the power of his Illinois State Senate seat to grease the wheels of Chicago politics via his sponsor, then Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, a powerful Machine underboss in his own right. With the Machine’s blessing, Obama went on to victory and hasn’t lost an election since. He’s even brought some of his Machine power brokers with him to the White House in the form of David Axlerod, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Daley and a host of others.
Former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s experience couldn’t be more opposite. Brought into the Machine by his underboss father-in-law, the longstanding Alderman Dick Mell, Blagojevich easily won election to the US House and then Illinois Governor. With his pompous arrogance emblazoned for the world to see, he publicly severed his ties with the Machine, refusing to bow to their demands and insistence on his sharing the spoils of the state treasury. That decision sealed his fate. With a bitter and public family feud over the power, money, contracts and jobs, Mell disowned his son-in-law and the Machine set him up to be indicted. It’s probably no coincidence that US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., long a thorn in the side of the Machine, was the only one not warned that all the Governor’s calls were being recorded by Federal prosecutors.
For their part, Federal authorities insist that political corruption in the US is so rampant, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies can't keep pace. Read the article, 'FBI can't Keep up with Corrupt Politicians' for more information.
Regardless of what name the criminals in Chicago go by, Chicago is still the most corrupt city in the nation, as it has been for over a century. If there’s one bright spot in the U of I report, it’s that it’s never too late to turn things around like so many other cities have. Unfortunately for the people of Chicago however, the experts agree it will take decades. With the city on the verge of insolvency, it may not have that long.
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