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Tammany Hall and ACORN cut from the same cloth
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Tammany Hall and its Influence Today
In what would become one of the most influential political organizations in American history, Tammany Hall began life as the Tammany Society, founded by William Mooney a Revolutionary War Veteran, on May 12, 1789[i]. Mooney’s creation would become a political powerhouse in New York City and State beginning in the earliest years of the United States. From its founding until it ceased to exist in the 1960’s Tammany Hall shaped New York Politics and profoundly influenced what is today the Democrat Party; its tactics and organizational genius would eventually spread nationwide. Many of the strategies developed and used by the Hall over its 170 plus year history still exist, and are actively used today by various “Community Organizations”. Indeed it was inside Tammany Hall, sometimes known as the Columbian Order[ii], where many of the vote ‘guiding’ techniques used by political parties in modern times were developed. The evolution of Tammany Hall from a social society to political dynamo created what is accepted today as Machine Politics, one of the greatest single influences in our political system today.
Though Tammany Hall would end with its name forever linked to corruption and graft, it began life as a patriotic social organization doing charitable works[iii]. Peopled mostly with Native Americans the social events that made up its agenda were not related to politics at all, and was named for the revered Delaware Indian Chief Tammanend[iv]. However with the ending of President Washington’s Presidency, the group would begin to divide along more political lines and the society became decidedly anti-federalist[v]. One of its earliest collective actions was to oppose DeWitt Clinton. In New York State politics of the 1780’s Tammany Hall allied with other organizations such as the “Martling Men” and set out to defeat Clintons Canal, which would eventually be completed and known as the Erie Canal, one of New York State’s greatest public works accomplishments[vi].
Tammany built its base of power upon the backs of immigrants to the colonies and constructed itself in an age where trade relations with England and the rest of Europe were among the greatest concerns of the day[vii]. Harnessing the numbers and guiding the direction of those votes in coordinated directions would lead to great success for those doing the guiding. By 1798 the group would be led by anti-federalist principles and would become a factor in electing Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr into the White House in 1800[viii].
Tammany Hall was at its founding a charitable and very patriotic group, but would undergo a sweeping change with the arrival of the Irish in 1817[ix], who gained entry to the Hall that year. It was then that the practice of exchanging votes for various services and benefits otherwise known as the patronage system would begin[x]. The police would eventually become the security force, and the means by which it collected its “dues”[xi]. This fundamental capacity for corruption would remain a part of their foundation until the day the Hall disbanded in the 1960’s. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, Tammany is today an adjective, one that relates to political corruption and bossism[xii]. As a noun, it is Tammanyism, and either way it was all about corruption, graft, and the political machinery that made it possible.
Tammany Hall’s influence on New York politics cannot be underestimated. The Hall ran the city, electing its chosen officials from nearly the time it was founded until it collapsed mired in corruption and controversy in the mid 20th Century. Irish politicians began to take control of the Hall and city in the 1860’s, a trend which would culminate in the election of William (Boss) Tweed to the post of Grand Sachem, or Head of Tammany Hall, in 1868 the same year he would be elected to the United States Senate[xiii]. “Boss” Tweed as he was called, started his career as a bookkeeper volunteering in the Fire Department. In 1851 he would be elected to alderman and his political career would begin. He would be elected to the House of Representatives in 1852, and would continue to strengthen his position within Tammany. Over time, “Boss” Tweed would get his cronies named to other key posts, and established one of the most famous and corrupt political gangs in history, the Tweed Gang (ring or circle)[xiv]. Because Tweed and his gang controlled the city treasury, they were able to bilk New York City of Millions of dollars. “Boss” Tweed and the corruption he filled the City and State with were lasting and immense:
“Tweed dominated the Democratic Party in both the city and state and had his candidates elected mayor of New York City, governor, and speaker of the state assembly.” …“The Tweed ring then proceeded to milk the city through such devices as faked leases, padded bills, false vouchers, unnecessary repairs, and overpriced goods and services bought from suppliers controlled by the ring. Vote fraud at elections was rampant.”[xv]
The Tweed Gang would run New York’s City Hall along with Tammany Hall from 1860 until “Boss” Tweed was tried and convicted on charges of fraud and larceny. Jailed and then released in 1875, he would be rearrested on a civil charge, convicted and imprisoned, only to escape to Cuba. Once again he would be arrested and would return to prison in New York where he would eventually die[xvi].
Though it’s most infamous leader had been deposed, business continued within Tammany just the same until President Franklin D. Roosevelt would reduce it to a county organization in retaliation for its lack of support in his Presidential bid in 1932[xvii]. With the reformist Mayors Fiorello H. La Guardia (1933–45) and John V. Lindsay (1966–73) the influence of the Hall would further fade, and eventually the historic organization would be disbanded in the mid 1960’s[xviii]. Both mayors were among the few Republicans to ever lead the city, though Lindsay would later switch to the Democrat Party in order to enter his failed run for the White House in 1972[xix]. The successful patronage machine created by Tammany Hall, which was so easily corrupted by its members, is one that has been repeated in many cities, states and indeed nationally ever since.
Because Tammany Hall was a patronage based organization, its politics were more controlled by the desires of its leaders than it was in terms of solidly affiliating with a political ideology. However, because of its immigrant base, the needs of this group would necessarily guide its politics and as a result, Tammany Hall was very closely aligned with the Democrat Party and shared many of the same leaders[xx]. Through honest and dishonest graft the machine would run the city of New York, making or breaking politicians at will. Honest graft being the use of information for one’s own benefit that did not have anything to do with organized crime or criminal activity, which was considered dishonest graft according to its most outspoken adherent, George Plunkett[xxi]. This profit for self is today considered questionable ethics.
Because Tammany was only a part of the Democrat party and not controlling it, it cannot necessarily be said that the Democrat Party was as corrupt as its political ally, though certainly its assistance was happily sought after in getting political candidates elected to office, both locally in New York, and at the National level in both Congress and Presidential Elections. At the same time, because the two groups did share leadership the Democrat Party was not free of this corruption. Without a doubt the patronage system they both used got the party the votes it needed to gain and keep power. As members of Tammany would be proven corrupt, so too would it corrupt the Democrat Party in which those political players also functioned. The triangle created by Tammany Hall, the Democrat party and the Social works and infrastructure created by both are intertwined, and each were dependent upon the other for success.
In reality, the machine politics that Tammany Hall developed and provided were in large a response to the tremendous growth of early American cities. Due to of a lack of structure, states and large cities were ill equipped to deal with the pressures of massive numbers of immigrants. In the case of New York City in order to mobilize great numbers of people, the Hall divided its leadership of the city by way of the Boroughs that we still have today, each led by officers chosen from within Tammany. From this point the leaders of each borough had people reporting back to them regarding issues that were relevant to the everyday common man. Tammany gained a loyal following of voters by finding out exactly what specific people or families needed, and then provided for those needs. The loyal following this generated is the basis for what is today referred to as “Community Organizations”, or “Grass Roots Organizations”. They all follow the example set by Tammany Hall and use this framework it created by which to get votes and accomplish the projects needed to get things running predictably, which is how the term machine came to be used[xxii].
The machine in the 1800’s consolidated power through cronyism, grafts and votes, giving government the ability to undertake needed public works, as well as cope with other problems facing an urban environment. There was then and is today a caveat, as Lord Acton said in 1887, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Because of the many abuses of power created by machine politicking in cities such as Kansas City, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, as the encyclopedia Britannica puts it; “the term carries a pejorative.”[xxiii] It was effective, but was always out for its own best interest using the best interests of the people was said to represent, as leverage. To this day, Chicago is still run by the Political Machine, and in order to be successful in Politics there, candidates must take the machine into account when running for any office there[xxiv].
Among the best examples of Tammany’s continuing influence today is ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. In order to understand the connections and relevance of ACORN, history of its founding is helpful. TheNational Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) was created and led by George Wiley[xxv] in the 1960’s, which was the original forerunner to ACORN. The NWRO worked primarily for poor single black mothers in getting them onto the rolls of welfare where they had been previously under-represented[xxvi]. Founded on the principles developed by Social Scientists Robert Cloward and Francis Piven in the 1960’s it used the same organizational framework designed by the Hall over its history. Cloward and Piven in their article “A Strategy to end Poverty”[xxvii] in 1966, espoused organizing the poor in efforts to disrupt government institutions in order to force those institutions to make the reforms they desired. The NWRO would use the techniques of Cloward and Piven, referred to today as the Cloward-Piven Strategy of Organized Chaos[xxviii], within the patronage framework developed by Tammany Hall; both to elect officials sympathetic to their cause and to create pressure on government designed to force the changes they advocated. The NWRO would use this familiar machine type structure with which to accomplish its goals, and pass it along to the next generation of Community Organizations.
ACORN would be formed in 1970 by a protégée of Wiley, Wade Rathke. Rathke would be sent to Arkansas under orders from Wiley, and create the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now. With great success in Arkansas in registering welfare recipients, and muscling government, the “A” for “Arkansas” would later be changed to “Association” as the group went national in its stated goal to end poverty and guarantee an income to all Americans[xxix].
ACORN at its most basic level organizes low and moderate income families, and addresses their needs through the Democrat Party. ACORN, because it canvases voters, runs voter registrations, and actively campaigns for Democrat Candidates for Political Office has tremendous influence in National Politics[xxx]. It actively campaigned for President Barak Hussein Obama in 2008, and was a significant factor in his election. In return for helping the Democrat party in getting its candidates elected to office, various institutions in the federal government see to it that ACORN gets federal funding to the tune of tens of millions of dollars a year[xxxi]and is vocally supported by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), an exclusively Black and Democrat caucus with members in the Senate, House of Representatives, and the White House. The CBC vigorously and repeatedly defends ACORN in congress and is instrumental in forwarding legislation that is not only favorable to ACORN but provides it with massive funding as well[xxxii].
Just as Tammany Hall in its day agitated at the street level, so too does ACORN, which uses the same techniques of threat, intimidation and press exposure to force businesses to their will[xxxiii] which proved so successful for Tammany and its members in the 19th century. As Tammany Hall was disbanding, the NWRO and ACORN were being born.
Though no direct connection has been made to the Founder of ACORN and Tammany Hall, certainly these two organizations are twins in many ways. From their use of the poor, to the use of the patronage system, from the allegations of and convictions for voter fraud, to the very nature of their practice of “you scratch my back: I’ll scratch yours” National politics - illustrated by the federal funding of ACORN- the two organizations share many similarities.
Without doubt, ACORN stands side by side with its brother Tammany Hall in terms of tactics, organization, strategy, and in corruption. Clearly ACORN has had phenomenal success; it will be for history to decide if that success will have been for the betterment or to the detriment of the United States. As was the case with Tammany Hall, it will likely be a mixed bag of good and bad.
The United States is a very young Country compared to many Nations and in her short 255 year history she has accomplished many great things, and has had as many downfalls. Tammany exemplifies both sides of Freedom’s two edged sword. The great good that it did over its history can be seen in New York itself, from the Boroughs to the bridges, its public works had tremendous positive effect on the quality of life for the people which stand for themselves both City and State wide. The very mechanism by which America functions politically, the very mechanics necessary to bring the will of the people to fruition in the halls of government created by Tammany are still in use today. At the same time the system it created was rife with corruption, and was designed to be a tool for those running it, stacking every deck in their own favor to their own great personal benefit. Ultimately the Halls corruption would lead to its destruction and the Federal Government, controlled by democrats would gradually take over the very same Social Security programs, health, welfare and civil works that the Hall once provided[xxxiv].
For good or ill, the influence of this organization, at once so effective and so corrupt, will be felt by generations of Americans yet to come. In the great experiment called Republic that the founding fathers created, Tammany Hall was one of the unforeseeable possibilities of Democracy. Created out of the chaos of massive immigration to an undeveloped land, striving to serve both the needs of the people as well as its own; Tammany and its members wove a new whole cloth and created the machinery needed to manufacture it, greatly influencing New York politics through the Democrat party for 150 years. To a great degree, both good and bad, Tammany Hall and its machine politics were fundamental in creating the political process that runs The United States of America today.
[i] U-S-History.org, "Tammany Hall Politics and Public Service, New York City." Feb 13 2009.http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h705.html (accessed June 12, 2009).
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Sullivan, Dr., James. "The History of New York State Book XII, Chapter 5, Part 1." USGenNet.org. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk12/ch5/pt1.html. (accessed 12 June 2009).
[iv] "Tammany Hall." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/582027/Tammany-Hall>. (accessed 12 Jun. 2009)
[v] Sullivan, Dr., James. "The History of New York State Book XII, Chapter 5, Part 1." USGenNet.org. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk12/ch5/pt1.html. (accessed 12 June 2009).
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Rohatyn, Felix. “Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now”. Illustrated ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009.
[viii] U-S-History.org, "Tammany Hall Politics and Public Service, New York City." Feb 13 2009.http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h705.html (accessed June 12, 2009).
[ix] "Tammany Hall." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/582027/Tammany-Hall>. (accessed 12 Jun. 2009)
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Steinberg, Allen. 2007. Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City. “Review ofStreet Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City”. Journal of Social History 41, no. 1 (October 1): 230-233. http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/ (accessed June 12, 2009).
[xii]"Tammany." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tammany(accessed June 11, 2009)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tammany(accessed June 11, 2009)
[xiii]William Magear Tweed. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/610865/William-Magear-Tweed (accessed June 11, 2009)
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Ibid.
[xvii] "Tammany Hall." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/582027/Tammany-Hall>. (accessed 12 Jun. 2009)
[xviii] Ibid.
[xix] Ibid.
[xx] Moscow, Warren. “The Last Of The Big-Time Bosses The Life and Times of Carmine De Sapio and the Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall”. New York: Stein and Day, 1971. Pg 49 Questia http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34608798# (accessed June 10, 2009)
[xxi] Riordon, William L. “Plunkitt of Tammany Hall”. , 1905 Reprint ed. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1963. 3-6
[xxii]Political machine. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467617/political-machine (accessed June 15, 2009)
[xxiii] Ibid.
[xxiv] Meyerson, Harold. "Woman Versus Machine." The American Prospect, July 1, 2008, 14-15. http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/ (accessed June 17, 2009).
[xxv] "Roots of a Social Justice Movement (1970-75)." ACORN.org. 2005. ACORN. <http://acorn.org/index.php?id=2757>. (accessed June 16, 2009)
[xxvi] Ibid.
[xxvii] Cloward, R. A., and Piven F.F. "A Strategy to End Poverty." Nation 202.18 (02 May 1966): 510-517. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [American Military University], [Charles Town], [WV]. <http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=13231437&site=ehost-live>. (accessed June 12, 2009).
[xxviii] Vadum, M. "ACORN's Food Stamp Mortgages." The American Spectator 29 Oct 2008 LexisNexis Academic American Military University Lib., Charles Town, WV. <http://spectator.org/archives/2008/10/29/acorns-food-stamp-mortgages>. (accessed June 7, 2009
[xxix] "Roots of a Social Justice Movement (1970-75)." ACORN.org. 2005. ACORN. <http://acorn.org/index.php?id=2757>. (accessed June 16, 2009)
[xxx] Grim, R. "ACORN outrage removes affordable housing provision." Politico 28 Sep 2008 <http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0908/ACORN_outrage_removes_affordable_housing_provision.html>. (accessed June 12, 2009).
[xxxi] Boehner, J. "Leader Alert." House Republican Leader. 23 Oct 2008. United States House of Representatives. <http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=105033>. (accessed June 11, 2009).
[xxxii] Ibid.
[xxxiii] Chapman, P. "Building owners say ACORN is nuts." Real Estate Weekly 20 Sep 2000 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_7_47/ai_69390234?tag=content;col1>. (accessed June 12, 2009).
[xxxiv]New York. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica., http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/412293/New-York (accessed June 16, 2009)
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Vadum, M. "ACORN's Food Stamp Mortgages." The American Spectator 29 Oct 2008 LexisNexis Academic American Military University Lib., Charles Town, WV. <http://spectator.org/archives/2008/10/29/acorns-food-stamp-mortgages>. (accessed June 7, 2009
William Magear Tweed. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/610865/William-Magear-Tweed (accessed June 11, 2009)
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