The Rascal King: James Michael Curley

in #biography8 years ago

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We live in an age where political corruption has become so commonplace as to be virtually unnoticeable. We expect people to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer. What, however, if it isn't themselves being enriched, but the taxpayers. Sound odd?

In my hometown, Boston, there was such a politician, James Michael Curley, also called the "Purple Shamrock." Curley as a politician was definitely an anomaly... he "stole from the rich and gave to the poor," earning him the sobriquet, "the poor man's mayor."

Born in Roxbury, a lower class neighborhood which has become predominantly black today, Curley managed a 6th grade education before dropping out of school to go to work. In 1904 he ran for alderman and won and his political career had begun. Former Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill once quipped that "all politics is local," something that Curley embodied (I believe that Tip modeled his own career after Curley's). A great communicator, Curley always stuck up for the little guy.
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He became mayor in 1914 and it became apparent to the ruling elites that he would be re-elected as often as he chose to run... so they changed the election laws. He still won every time he decided to run... when he wasn't mayor he ran for something else- and won! During the Great Depression, he raised taxes on the rich, the Back Bay scions of Boston society and the Beacon Hill Blue-Bloods. He was continuously accused of corruption, charges that were undoubtedly correct... but he used the money to open soup kitchens to feed the poor during the depression.
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He was jailed in Charles St Jail for taking the Civil Service Exam for a constituent who had failed it several times. He would do anything in his power to help the average Joe. He consistently handed out jobs to folks who voted for him, but everything he did was to help others and not himself. The only tangible benefit he got for his decades of political service was his house (and a very nice one, indeed). His thoughts on political cronyism?
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While he was mayor he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to the Federal Prison in Danbury Conn. While he was there he was informed he could no longer serve as Mayor of Boston... so he ran for governor and won by a landslide! Love him or hate him, James Michael Curley was one of a kind. In 1956, novelist Edwin O'Connor wrote The Last Hurrah, based on the life of Curley. He got word that Curley's lawyers were going to sue for libel and he thought his literary career was over. He ran into Curley at the Parker House Restaurant and was informed by the Mayor, "I loved it! Especially the deathbed scene... it's exactly what I would say." Mayor Curley wrote his own memoirs, No Regrets, before his death in 1958... he was indeed, one of a kind.
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