Book Report of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall Essay example

William L. Riordon the author of the book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall wrote this book to be able to justify political machines. William L. Riordon begins the book with a series of different chapters that are categorized into sections that talked about ideas and philosophies that the Ex. Senator George Washington Plunkitt had. William was able to manage and tied the book together by adding some of George Washington Plunkitt rostrums that were the bootblack that stands in the county courthouse. The author also wrote this book to express his admiration towards the Ex. Senator George Washington Plunkitt. Riordon believed that George Washington Plunkitt was “perhaps the most thoroughly practical politician of the day”(Tammany hall /Preference 1).

In his book Hardball, Chris Matthews discusses the useful strategies for getting ahead in politics that he observed during his time working in Washington, D.C. He breaks up his observations into chapters with different lessons. Three of the most important lessons are “It's Not Who You Know; It's Who You Get to Know,” (Chapter 1) “All Politics is Local,” (Chapter 2) and “Dance With the One That Brung Ya.” (Chapter 4). These chapters illustrate how important making and keeping connections and relationships is in Washington. The “game of politics” is played by using these relationships to gain favors, votes, support, etc. According to Matthews, the people who get ahead are the ones who make and keep these important connections and relationships with other politicians and the public.

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

7. On the Shame of the Cities- In Lincoln Steffens, The Shame of the Cities, Plunkitt says that he does not know how to make decisions. He talks about the Philadelphia Republican Gang and Tammany Hall being almost the same. Plunkitt thinks he is all wrong. Plunkitt seems to talk about politicians stealing, saying that they in 1905 are no worse than 1835 as a class. It just means that the old timers had nothing to steal, while the politicians in 1905 were surrounded by temptations.

In this both heart wrenching and slightly humorous memoir, journalist Jeannette Walls tells the bittersweet story of her rather dysfunctional and poverty stricken upbringing. Walls grows up in a family trailed by the ubiquitous presence of hunger and broken homes. Throughout the memoir she recounts memories of moving from one dilapidated neighborhood to another with her three other siblings, insanely "free sprinted" mother, and incredibly intelligent yet alcoholic father. The author focuses on her unconventional childhood with parents who were too lazy and self-absorbed to obtain decent jobs. Although Walls's childhood gushes with heartbreaking tales of searching through dumpsters for food, she remains as unbitter as possible and

The author, V. O. Key, states the results of a survey that shows that voters tend to vote for people who vote for candidates that will help them financially. He also states that people tend to vote for a certain party’s candidate because of their ties to the party. Key then declares that one can predict a person’s vote based on their personality and attributes. Key also shows that although these behaviors show strangeness, the voters have great importance to politics. Key says that the voters’ behavior has importance as it helps candidates discover the nature of the voters’ interests to try gain an advantage. Finally, Key states that voters behave as well as possible, considering the possibilities of other

Another of Plunkitt’s views that leaves a bit of a cloudy feeling is his view of looters and practical politicians. He explains the difference using Tammany Hall and the Philadelphia republicans as the examples. He says “The Philadelphians ain't satisfied with robbin' the bank of all its gold and paper money. They stay to pick up the nickels arid pennies and the cop comes arid nabs them.”(29) He makes it as clear as possible that a practical politician only takes just enough and that a looter takes more than his fair share. The explanation of this goes along with that of graft, it seems that he is trying to convince himself that he is honest and not doing any wrong.

Voters are often rewarded with patronage jobs. However, patronage can result in poorer service to the

In the context of 1996, where Richard Harwood claims the average American admits to more knowledge of what actors are on television programs, rather than the people that have been voted in or appointed to represent them in local and national government, The average American voter feels alienated. These voters are alienated to an extent of which they feel they have very little ties to the political system of that time. Harwood references a much older document that illustrates the modern day plight among the voters. He does so to say that this problem isn’t one that is new, but is one that has caused trouble for a long period of time.

Over the last few decades, ever since the televisions and computers were invented, self ethnic identities have been influenced because of the progress in technology, which we commonly known as media, and whether the globe benefits from this approach or not has become a controversial issue amongst most of the people in the world. As what survey shows that a dominant group of peoples who tend to believe that identities were being ruined by spreading through mass-media which is the most inappropriate approach ever made because of it’s extremely destructive effects. For instance, one of my friends ignited the other’s hair

The political cartoon discussed in this essay was illustrated by Thomas Nast and published on January 22, 1870. A majority of the members and supporters of Tammany Hall were illiterate and so articles depicting their corruption would have no effect on then, but actually seeing illustrations they could clearly understand changed everything. This did not sit well with Tammany Hall Boss Tweed who on various occasions tried to persuade and coerce Nast to stop his illustrations. This particular cartoon depicts Tammany Hall members filling the voting box with fixed ballots while “honest voters” were stopped by Tammany-controlled

The most important aspect in understanding political corruption in New York City during the Gilded Age would have to be identifying how these officials were able to come into power and gain support. In the book, Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics, the author Mark Summers has examined just that. The tactics and approaches to government and interaction with New York City citizens were something that was very unique as well as new to American society. The corrupt officials

politics are unique, but only because they are very ancient. Regarding patronage in this time,

1) All Politics Is Local: The aforementioned maxim, popularized by Thomas Tip O’Neill, emphasizes the importance of satiating the diurnal minutiae of a pol’s constituency. This political precept acknowledges the incontrovertible truth manifest in the Harry Truman quote, “It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” Adhering to this maxim necessitates a prioritization of the monotonous realm of one’s constituency, concomitantly presupposing an emphasis on “retail” politics. This political stratagem emerged by virtue of the unassailable truth that people vote with a predilection for what will ameliorate their own circumstances, political affiliation notwithstanding. The relevance of this maxim is

Firstly, I would like to express that the term patronage shall be used to express all forms of informal politics and shall not be defined under a singular form of informal political behavior as patronage can encompass infinite forms and be used for different purposes. Secondly this essay doesn’t attempt to make a