Description
Book SynopsisPolitical profiles of five mayors and their lasting impact on the city Chicago’s transformation into a global city began at City Hall. Dick Simpson and Betty O’Shaughnessy edit in-depth analyses of the five mayors that guided the city through this transition beginning with Harold Washington’s 1983 election: Washington, Eugene Sawyer, Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emmanuel, and Lori Lightfoot. Though the respected political science, sociologist, and journalist contributors approach their subjects from distinct perspectives, each essay addresses three essential issues: how and why each mayor won the office; whether the City Council of their time acted as a rubber stamp or independent body; and the ways the unique qualities of each mayor’s administration and accomplishments influenced their legacy.
Filled with expert analysis and valuable insights, Chicago’s Modern Mayors illuminates a time of transition and change and considers the politicians
Trade Review
“An important, underemphasized history of persistent attempted settlement by Black migrants from the U.S. South to the rural and small city Midwest. The author mounts a challenge to received wisdom and even the received archive that combines the meticulous use of traditional sources with innovative research strategies. The result is a fascinating account of how terror and exclusion were cleansed from historical memory.”--David Roediger, author of The Sinking Middle Class: A Political History of Debt, Misery, and the Drift to the Right
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction--Chicago’s Turbulent Political History Betty O’Shaughnessy
- 1983-1987: Harold Washington--Cultural Transformation of City Government in Chicago and A Sense of Possibility Xolela Mangcu and Gregory D. Squires
- 1987-1989: The Sawyer Interregnum Monroe Anderson
- 1989-2011: Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City of Spectacle Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd
- 2011-2019: Rahm Emanuel--Chicago in Change and Crisis Kari Lydersen and Daniel Bliss
- 2019-present: Lori Lightfoot’s Two Coalitions Marco Rosaire Rossi and Dick Simpson
Conclusion: Modern Mayors of Chicago Dick Simpson
Epilogue: History Continues Dick Simpson
Appendix A: Historical List of Chicago Mayors
Appendix B: Corruption
Contemporary Chicago Bibliography Clinton Stockwell
Contributors
Index
