American Pharaoh (98 page)

Authors: Adam Cohen,Elizabeth Taylor

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BOOK: American Pharaoh

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In the end, Daley returned to Bridgeport — to McKeon’s funeral home, across from Nativity of Our Lord Church. The neighborhood
was cordoned off by Chicago police immediately after Daley’s death. In keeping with the season, brightly lit Christmas trees
filled the front windows of the little bungalows, but Bridgeport was in a somber mood. The Nativity of Our Lord Christmas
party was canceled and, instead, about 300 parishioners gathered to say the Rosary and attend a special prayer service. The
11th Ward Democratic Organization headquarters were locked up, in honor of the greatest politician ever to emerge from them,
and office hours were canceled. Only a handful of people sat drinking in Schaller’s Pump, the neighborhood tavern.
⁵⁹

Daley’s body lay in state at Nativity, and thousands of ordinary Chicagoans whose lives he had touched waited in the bitter
cold — some for more than two hours — to gain entrance. Inside, the mayor’s body reposed in an open mahogany coffin. He was
dressed in a blue suit, and a black rosary lay in his folded hands. The Shannon Rovers, dressed in their signature tartan
kilts and toting bagpipes, arrived to join the mourners. At the coffin, their leader, Tommy Ryan, stopped to speak to Sis
Daley. “Men may come and men may go, but the name of Richard J. Daley will go on forever,” he said. Mrs. Daley replied, “Tommy,
he loved you.” Sis Daley asked them to play one last air, and they obliged by offering up the mayor’s favorite, “Garry Owen,”
the rousing old Irish battle hymn. Each of the mourners was personally greeted by one of Daley’s four sons and three daughters,
and handed a small memorial card with a black-and-white photo of the mayor and the caption, “Mayor Richard J. Daley, 1902–1976.”
The mourners, ushered down the center aisle to the coffin, passed by a floral wreath in the shape of a five-pointed star with
a banner, “We Love You” signed “The Chicago Police Department.” About 25,000 citizens walked past Daley’s coffin during the
nineteen-hour wake.
⁶⁰

The guests who arrived for the funeral the next day were a different crowd. As bells from Catholic churches across the Chicago
Archdiocese rang out, limousines rolled through Bridgeport’s narrow streets. Invited guests and dignitaries filled the church
to overflowing for the funeral Mass, many of them crammed in the aisles. Nativity of Our Lord Church, which had gotten its
start in a livery stable, was now host to President-elect Carter, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Senator Edward Kennedy,
Mayor Kevin White of Boston, and Eppie Lederer, better known as Ann Landers. Daley’s old foes also turned out in force to
bid a final farewell, including Governor-elect James Thompson, Senator George McGovern, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Congressman
Ralph Metcalfe. The entire Chicago City Council was present, along with just about every other political and judicial figure
in the city. Many of Daley’s neighbors huddled outside the church behind police barriers, listening in on loudspeakers.
⁶¹

In the service itself, Daley’s enormous impact on the world he was leaving behind was barely mentioned. At the request of
the Daley family, there was no formal eulogy. “The quality of his life and his actions were his eulogy,” said Father Gilbert
Graham, the mayor’s former pastor and longtime family friend. While the local and national media had been filled for days
with memorable images from Daley’s long career — the night of the 1960 presidential election, the 1968 Democratic National
Convention, Daley’s encounters with Martin Luther King, and his shoot-to-kill order—he was remembered inside Nativity of Our
Lord as a man of simple faith. Daley had gone to church almost every day of his life, Graham noted, including the day he died.
Graham also recalled that the mayor had often told him that he never needed sleeping medications because “he always had his
rosary, which calmed him and prepared him for rest, no matter what the problems of the day.” When Daley died, Graham said,
his wallet contained pictures of his family and “a dozen well-worn prayer cards which he used every day.” During the hour
long service, John Cardinal Cody of Chicago read a message from Pope Paul VI, with whom Daley had had several audiences.

The judgment of history still awaited. Daley had accomplished a great deal since the day in 1902 when he was dipped into a
baptismal font in this very church. To millions of Chicagoans saddened by his passing, he embodied the spirit of their city
as no man ever had — optimistic, determined, hardworking, God-fearing, and rooted in family and neighborhood. He gave them
jobs, stood up for their way of life against threats from all sides, and made their city work. He had built up Chicago, leaving
skyscrapers, schools, highways, and a thriving downtown to proclaim his greatness for generations. But Daley would also be
remembered by millions of others, who saw in his career the dark side of modern America. They viewed him as the master of
a corrupt political system, backward-looking, power-hungry, and bigoted, who ruled in the name of some groups and at the expense
of others. They saw him as someone who had built a city founded on unfairness, and who was deaf to calls for change. Chicago
and the world had an eternity to battle over the meaning of Daley’s life and legacy, but his friends and neighbors in Bridgeport
had already decided. Father Graham spoke for them when he welcomed Daley home: “May God rest this man’s beautiful soul.”
⁶²

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We owe a large debt to those who have written about Chicago before we did. In every generation, fine writers have emerged
who have explained Chicago to the rest of the world. Theodore Dreiser, James T. Farrell, Richard Wright, Nelson Algren, Mike
Royko, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lois Wille, Milton Rakove, and Dempsey Travis have all written eloquently about the city and its
folkways. Roger Biles, Arnold Hirsh, Paul Green, James Ralph, and Richard Wade have all produced first-rate scholarship on
the city and welcomed us to the effort.

For a book of this kind, much of the work occurs in libraries and archives. Many librarians and archivists deserve our gratitude.
We were fortunate to have the help of Archie Motley at the Chicago Historical Society and Mary Ann Bamberger at the University
of Illinois at Chicago. Mary Dempsey paved our way into the Chicago public libraries. The Photo Department of the
Chicago Tribune
also provided crucial assistance.

Countless people patiently shared their recollections and theories about Daley, sometimes on repeated occasions. From the
Daley family to precinct captains, from the Gold Coast to the housing projects on the South Side, from Chicago to Washington,
Texas, and Georgia, people were extraordinarily generous in giving us their time and their stories. Over the years, some of
these have included Joanne and James Alter, William Barnett, Harold Baron, Miles Berger, Jason Berry, Robert Buono, Edward
Burke, Earl Bush, F. Richard Ciccone, Tom Cokins, William Daley, Charles U. Daly, Ron and Giulianna Davidoff, Ira Dawson,
Michael Dawson, Leon Despres, Anthony Downs, John Duba, Msgr. John Egan, Edwin Eisendrath, Don Haider, Julie Fernandes, Martha
Fitzsimmons, Andre Foster, Richard Friedman, Gerald Frug, James Fuerst, Todd Gitlin, Bertrand Goldberg, Paul Green, Bruce
Graham, Fr. Gilbert Graham, John J. Gunther, William Hartmann, David Hartigan, Arnold Hirsch, Ed Holmgren, Vernon Jarrett,
Blair Kamin, Eugene Kennedy, Rick Kogan, Julian Levi, Lance Liebman, Norman Mailer, Ed Marciniak, Abraham Lincoln Marovitz,
Lawrence McCaffrey, John McDermott, Paul McGrath, John McGreevy, John McKnight, Ralph Metcalfe Jr., Abner Mikva, Zoe Mikva,
Kenneth Mines, James Murray, M. W. Newman, John Powell, Ed Proctor, Abe Peck, John Perkins, Alexander Polikoff, Aurelia Pucinski,
Don Rose, Marvin and June Rosner, Fr. Michael Quirk, Bill Recktenwald, Dan Rostenkowski, Mary Schmich, John Schultz, Bob Secter,
Charles Shaw, Barry Sheck, Seymour Simon, William Singer, Adrian Smith, John Stacks, William Stratton, Adlai Stevenson III,
David Tatel, Studs Terkel, Jerome Torshen, Dempsey Travis, Nicholas von Hoffman, Rob Warden, Meyer Weinberg, Ralph Whitehead,
Hubert Will, Kale Williams, Harris Wofford, and Ray Wolfinger.

When Elizabeth moved to Chicago, she was fortunate to have able guides to this complex and storied city, including Studs Terkel
and Eppie Lederer (Ann Landers), who never tire of talking about the city they love.

We are extremely grateful to our colleagues at
Time
and the
Chicago Tribune
who indulge our dual lives as journalists and historians. At
Time,
Walter Isaacson, Jim Kelly, and, of course, Priscilla Painton were a constant source of intellectual stimulation and moral
support. At the
Chicago Tribune,
Howard Tyner, Ann Marie Lipinski, and Gerould Kern embody the highest standards of journalistic excellence and collegiality.
We have also been privileged to work alongside talented and thoughtful colleagues at both
Time
and the
Tribune
who patiently listened to more stories about 11th Ward politics and Daley’s efforts to develop downtown Chicago than we had
any right to expect. A special word of thanks to John Stacks at
Time,
who roped us both into the business and has been there every step of the way.

We have been fortunate to have a fine publishing house, Little, Brown and Company, as our partners in this project. Throughout
the process, Sarah Crichton has been a great ally and advisor. Jim Silberman believed in the idea and helped us to shape the
book in its early stages. Roger Donald entertained us with his colorful stories of the publishing world and provided insightful
suggestions about the big picture and the small details. Chip Rossetti shepherded us through the editorial stages adroitly,
and Beth Davey and Katie Long cheered us with their unflagging enthusiasm. Mike Mattil’s blue pencil, nuanced reading, and
incisive suggestions have improved the text immensely. We are indebted to Kris Dahl, whose grasp of books and publishing,
as well as her wise counsel, make her the world’s best agent.

It would have been impossible to complete this book without family and friends who have provided support and inspiration over
the years. Many people will find their ideas and worldview reflected in this manuscript: Caroline Arnold, Elisabeth Benjamin,
Paul Engelmayer, Diane Faber, Eileen Hershenov, Amy Schwartz, Olivia Turner, Joseph Ellis, and Frances FitzGerald. Jim Kaplan
shared his brilliant understanding of politics and Chicago and read every word of the manuscript twice. His belief in the
project has sustained us. Barbara Taylor’s values and passions have shaped the book in countless ways. Beverly and Stuart
Cohen, who grew up on the streets of New York and never left, inculcated their love of cities, and Noam Cohen was always willing
to share his opinions. William and Caroline, take your turns on the computer now.

NOTES

Full biblographic information for the works cited in the Notes can be found in the Bibliography.

The following abbreviations are used throughout:

CA = Chicago American

CDA = Chicago Daily American

CDN = Chicago Daily News

CD = Chicago Defender

CSM = Christian Science Monitor

CST = Chicago Sun-Times

CT = Chicago Tribune

NYT = New York Times

WP = Washington Post