History of Chicago from Trading Post to Metropolis
External Studies Program | University College

Module 3 Chapter 6
The Washington Era and its Aftermath

 

Mayor Harold Washington	The Harold Washington Library at 400 S. State Street

Harold Washington's election demonstrated that black voters, like ethnic groups before them, were going to take power when their numbers justified it. Washington's followers were full of expectations and fervor for they had done the unthinkable in Chicago: they elected a black and a reformer to the position of mayor.

Alderman Edward Vrdolyak of the 10th Ward became the leading critic of Washington. He was as savvy a politician as Washington and a tough political infighter. Washington's election threat ended the status quo, and Vrdolyak became the rallying point of opposition. Of the old-line white machine politicians, only George Dunne, the former Chairman of the Democratic party, and his 42nd Ward allies made common cause with Washington.

Vrdolyak outmaneuvered Washington and organized the new City Council by enlisting twenty-eight other aldermen, none of them black, to oppose Washington on most major issues. Washington could command twenty-one aldermen, not enough to win any vote but enough to sustain a vote. The Washington block consisted of all the black aldermen in the Council, a few white liberals, and the alderman from George Dunne's Ward. The Council, which had behaved as a rubber stamp council under Daley, Bilandic and Byrne, now became the scene of "council wars" in which no prisoners were taken. Chicago's City Council became grand theatre as the mayor and his opponents fought with each other and almost came to physical blows on several occasions.

The conflict between the two centered on who would control the city. The split was over key city appointments, funds for city agencies, staffing of the police and fire departments, allocation of park resources, and sites for future public housing.

Although Washington was often frustrated by the Council during his first three years, he did secure some notable achievements. He managed to have a real estate tax hike passed to balance the budget. He succeeded in getting passed a strong ethics bill for city employees (including aldermen) and a renter's bill of rights. Washington also delivered city services equitably throughout the city and improved the city's bond rating.

Washington, like Byrne, had problems as an administrator. He was unable to implement long-range planning. Washington also made some weak appointments, including the head of the Chicago Housing Authority who became a political liability. Also, an FBI investigation resulted in indictments of a number of pro-Washington aldermen for taking bribes. Washington's close ally Clarence McLain, a convicted felon, was involved in a number of embarrassing scandals. However, Washington, like Mayor Richard Daley, was neither directly involved nor accused of any corruption and survived the scandals.

By the last year of Washington's first term, political momentum was moving in his direction. Special aldermanic elections gave Washington a majority in the Council. Thus, he could reorganize that chamber to advance his programs and approve his appointments.

Read the survey in the "Chicago Reporter" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" series on Washington's first term which is provided to enrolled students.

ANSWER QUESTION 12 IN THE REPLY BOOKLET. (Provided after registering for courses through the External Studies Program.)

As the 1987 Democratic primary drew near, it became apparent that it was each person for him or herself. Edward Vrdolyak announced he would run on either the Democratic or Solidarity ticket. Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes announced he would run either as Democratic or as a candidate for the Chicago First Party. The Mayor considered either the Democratic Party or an independent bid as the vehicle for re-election. Richard Daley Junior decided not to be a candidate when the courts struck down the idea of a run-off between the two largest vote getters in the primary. Jane Byrne, the former Mayor, announced early that she would run only as a Democrat. Her strategy was to prevent other candidates from challenging Washington and to be his only significant primary opposition.

The Democratic primary of 1987 became a two person race between Byrne and Washington, with a minor fringe candidate being their only competition. The other major players, Hynes, Vrdolyak and the traditional Republican candidate (who was honorable, distinguished, and unelectable) waited for the general election.

Washington's strategy was to roll up massive black votes, gain a majority of Hispanic voters, and win a significant share of the lakeshore liberals. The administrative problems of his first term were blamed on the council wars, cutbacks under President Ronald Reagan, and the inherited mess of the Byrne years. On a more positive side, he stressed the eradication of the Byrne deficit, the openness of his government, and the new ethics law. Difficult problems such as the building of a central library and stadium for the Chicago Bears football team were deferred until after the election. He also adroitly side-stepped issues of corruption among his allies.

Jane Byrne's administrative record was as troublesome as the Mayor's, and she, too, was forced to defend her record. She attacked Washington because there weren't enough women hired under him. She blamed him for divisiveness in the city and for a tax hike.

The 1987 primary was a more subdued less intense election than either the primary or election of 1983. Washington received 547,945 votes (52% of the total). Jane Byrne received 498,238 votes (47.1%). The lack of animosity between the two candidates was obvious when Jane Byrne announced that she not only was supporting the mayor in the general election against her former ally Edward Vrdolyak, but that she would campaign for Washington as well.

Vrdolyak, Hynes, and the Republican candidate Donald Haider, who once served in the Byrne administration as Budget Director, were all former Democrats. They often seemed more concerned with attacking each other than attacking the mayor since each realized that he could beat Washington only if the others dropped out. Washington was a very strong candidate. His supporters were as enthusiastic as they had been in 1983. Many voters felt Washington had been sabotaged by Vrdolyak and the city council. Despite the struggles of Washington's first term, the garbage had been picked up, and the Mayor ruled the city with sensitivity to the needs of all the wards.

Vrdolyak did not make race an issue. He attacked Washington for being weak on crime, but his greatest ire was directed toward Hynes, who accused Vrdolyak of meeting with crime figures.

Hynes tried to run as competent administrator above the fray, but under attack by Washington and Vrdolyak, Hynes' campaign lost its aura of civility and became more negative. Hynes' lack luster performance in the debate of mayoral candidates and his slipping totals in various polls resulted in his quitting the campaign two days before the election. His decision, while helping Vrdolyak, came too late to affect Washington's victory. Donald Haider, the Republican candidate, unlike Epton four years before, was hardly a factor in the election. He acknowledged that he would have been shocked if he had won.

The election of 1987 was less racially divisive, than had been the election of 1983 and it also resulted in Washington capturing a City Council majority of twenty-seven seats out of fifty. Washington received 581,401 votes (53.4%) to Vrdolyak's 460,000 votes (42.3%). Donald Haider trailed with 46,708 votes (4.3%).

Washington's second term seemed promising. He had the Council majority he wanted, having reorganized the Council by a 40-9 vote. He was the first mayor since Daley to be re-elected and clearly was the most power political figure in Chicago. His opponents were supporting Washington on Washington's terms. He had fought the council wars and had won. Although he might not get everything he wanted, he was going to get most of it.

His action agenda and appointments would pass a reorganized council easily. His old enemy, Edward Vrdolyak, defected to the Republican Party. The transit authority, housing authority, park district, police and fire departments were now in his control. The ward boundaries, which would be determined by the 1990 census, would be drawn to benefit his candidates for office, assuring him support well into the decade of the 1990's. Washington was in a position to expand his electoral base. The slating session for county wide offices in 1987 selected the candidates he wanted.

The old Daley machine had lost its grip on power. Harold Washington was the person who could take its remnants and reform it to meet the new political realities of the city. Washington was in a position to bring greater harmony to the city and to the Democratic party. His boast that he would be mayor for twenty years seemed possible as long as his health held up and no great catastrophe occurred to undercut his growing support.

On November 25, 1987 Harold Washington, who had earlier in the day been joking as he dedicated a new community center, was stricken in his office with a massive heart attack. Once again, as eleven years before on the occasion of Richard Daley's death, the future of the city, which seemed to be tied to the fate of one man, became uncertain. The one thing that was certain was that while thousands of Chicagoans paid homage to the fallen leader, city politicians began to negotiate the transition to the post-Washington era. The selection process for the next mayor had been approved by the state legislature after Daley's death. The process required that an interim mayor be selected to do the routine tasks of governance until the City Council met. Then an acting mayor would be elected by a majority of aldermen from among their own ranks. This acting mayor would serve until the next general municipal election in the Spring of 1989.

The legacy of the Washington era was going to influence the selection of his successor. Washington had opened city government to those who had been previously denied power because of race. He unified the black voters into a powerful and influential political force. He had been like Daley before him, a potent father figure. But whereas Daley represented entrenched power, Washington represented the diverse element of reform. His coalition included black politicians schooled in the machine approach and community activists. A coalition which included establishment figures like George Dunne and radicals like Slim Coleman and Lu Palmer could be kept together only by a transcendent political figure like Washington. This coalition did not survive his death.

The black community, lead by presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, columnist Vernon Jarrett, and members of Washington's staff, pushed for Alderman Timothy Evans as the mayor's replacement. A memorial at the University of Illinois Pavilion, which attracted over 9,000 people, turned into an Evans rally. Washington's supporters urged that Washington's programs not be destroyed by his opponents which included Alderman Edward Burke. Jarrett, in particular, condemned black aldermen who seemed to be forming an alliance with Burke.

The white aldermen floated the idea that one of their own should be chosen mayor. White Aldermen Terry Gabinsky and Richard Mell both were interested in being selected. However, George Dunne insisted that the next mayor be black since it was the black voting block that was primarily responsible for electing Washington.

The black aldermen who were once part of the Daley block, but who had come to support Harold Washington, organized themselves behind the candidacy of Alderman Eugene Sawyer, President Pro Tem of the City Council. Lead by Alderman William Henry, as many as twelve black aldermen considered joining forces with the whites to push Eugene Sawyer for mayor at the City Council meeting that was scheduled for December 1st at 5:30 p.m. Between 2,500 and 5,000 Evans supporters peacefully surrounded the building where the election of the next mayor was to take place. They protested the selection of Sawyer. They chanted "no deals" and "we don't want "Uncle Tom Sawyer". A number of aldermen said they had received death threats. Court cases were being filed because the state's open meeting laws were apparently violated by backroom deals.

The council meeting itself was a scene of chaos. Sawyer lost half a dozen votes of black aldermanic supporters to Evans because of pressure from the black community, which felt that Sawyer was betraying the Washington legacy by receiving Burke's support. Sawyer himself seemed to want to delay the vote because he didn't want to be elected without substantial black support. After a series of prayer meetings among the aldermen and reports that Sawyer's knees were buckling and that he fainted, Sawyer reluctantly agreed to have the vote taken. At 4:01 a.m. Sawyer was elected mayor by the City Council on a 29-19 vote. He was not a popular candidate in the black community, which according to public opinion polls and radio talk show calls strongly backed Alderman Evans. Sawyer faced the same city problems that Washington did but lacked the popular support of the former mayor. He was, after all, only elected by 29 votes, not half a million like Washington had been.

Sawyer, who had been the first black alderman to support Washington, came under fire from Washington backers. The newspapers revealed that he had placed relatives on the city payroll and that they were being paid collectively over $500,000 a year in salary. It was discovered that he had received a mysterious $30,000 fee from a Chicago attorney who later became a judge.

Sawyer was defeated in the Democratic primary of 1989 by Richard M. Daley. Daley won the general election in that year and was re-elected in 1991 and 1995.

ANSWER QUESTION 13 IN THE REPLY BOOKLET. (Provided after registering for courses through the External Studies Program.)

Richard M. Daley, the Son Also Rises: 1989-

The end of the 19th century was the era of Carter Harrisons-- father and son. The second half of the 20th century might be viewed as the era of the Daleys. Richard J. Daley, known as the "Boss", may have been the most powerful city Mayor in U.S. history. Legend and perhaps fact has it that he was the man who made John F. Kennedy President. Presidents from Johnson to Carter of both parties actively sought Daley's support.

Three of Daley's son achieved major political power. John became a Cook County Commissioner and was being groomed to take over the Presidency of Cook County upon the retirement of John Stroger. William Daley served as President Clinton's lobbyist on the NAFTA trade agreement before Congress and organized the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago. This was the first political convention since the tumultuous 1968 Democratic Convention, in which the national media portrayed the then Mayor Daley as a political dictator in Chicago. William Daley became Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton in 1997.

The third brother, Richard M. Daley, however, may have fulfilled the family's greatest ambition becoming like his father the Mayor of Chicago. The second Daley however, was by temperament and training different from the first. The times were also very different. The city was no longer receiving the vast federal funds it did during the 1960's. The Shakman decree made it difficult to command the loyalty of political appointees that was the hallmark of the earlier period. Also African-American voters were not going to be content with symbolic power after the victory of Harold Washington. Hispanic voters also wanted to share in the political spoils.

Richard M. Daley's rise to political power was not smooth. He had lost his first try for Mayor to Harold Washington in the Democratic primary of 1983. Daley had learned some important lessons. First, like his father at the beginning of his legendary reign, he needed to build by inclusion and use economics rather than race to propel him to power. Second, he needed to surround himself with individuals whose skills were in the area of management and administration. The political leaders of the past were all damaged goods destroyed by the internecine bloodbath of the council wars. Most of them, unlike Daley, did not know how to relate to key elements of the new Daley coalition which included voters along the lake shore, white ethnics, women, gays, Hispanics, and especially Black voters. All of these groups were concerned with crime in their communities and with economic empowerment. The younger Daley succeeded at all these tasks and managed to defeat a series of political opponents from both sides of the council wars and even those who sat out that political struggle.

The previous section discussed Daley's victory over the incumbent mayor, Eugene Sawyer, in 1989 in the Democratic Primary. In the general election that year Tim Evans ran on the Harold Washington Party and Ed Vrdolyak on the Republican ticket. Evans, who was Harold Washington's floor leader in the Council Wars and Vrdolyak, who was Harold Washington's major opponent were soundly defeated by Daley running as a centrist. The split between Evans and Sawyer doomed both men in their runs against Daley and resulted in a white mayor being elected.

In the 1991 primary, Daley again defeated a major player in the political wars of the previous decade-- Jane Byrne. He also defeated Danny Davis, a staunch Harold Washington supporter in that primary.

The general election of that year was a landslide for Daley, as he defeated Eugene Pincham of the Harold Washington Party and George Gottleib, of the Republican Party. In 1995 Joseph Gardner, a former aide of Harold Washington was the opponent of Daley defeated easily. The general election saw Roland Burris the former Attorney General of Illinois and the highest elected African-American in Illinois history defeated by Daley. Burris ran as an Independent. The Republican a former professional clown Ray Wardingly, and the Harold Washington Party's candidate Lawrence Redmond drew only a handful of voters.

Thus Richard M. Daley had not only succeeded to his father's old job but in a series of electoral contests he defeated all of his major political opponents-- Vrdolyak, Bryne, Sawyer, Evans and Burris. He had rendered the opposition mute. Daley also began to make alliances with the type of Independents who had irritated his father. In some cases, such as with Dorothy Tillman, the most militant Black Alderman in the City Council, Daley had helped pay off her campaign debt. He did the same with Carol Mosely Braun, the first woman and Black to serve as a U.S. Senator. The City Council which had been so vocal under Washington and Sawyer became meek under Daley. This is partly due to the fact that Daley filled many vacant aldermanic seats . Some of these vacancies were a result of Aldermen running for other offices, others were a result of Aldermen being indicted for corruption. The most publicized of these corruption cases stemmed from Operation Silver Shovel ( a federal sting operation) during 1997. Silver Shovel resulted in plea bargaining agreements and indictments against city officials including former and current Aldermen. The most surprising of these was an indictment of former Alderman Larry Bloom. Bloom who had represented Hyde Park and was considered the conscience of the Council, claimed that he had been entrapped by the U.S. government.

In addition to those charged in Operation Silver Shovel, other Aldermen found themselves in trouble including Edward Burke, the Dean of the Council and the Chairman of its powerful Finance Committee. Burke came under intense media scrutiny for a conflict of interest regarding votes he had taken in the Council which would benefit his private law clients.

The charges and indictments brought by an ambitious U.S. Attorney during the reign of Mayor Richard M. Daley were reminiscent of similar indictments during the era of the elder Mayor Richard J. Daley. In each case it was the Aldermen and not the Mayor who were accused and in each case it was the Mayor who was viewed as the bulwark of integrity. In 1997 the younger Mayor Daley was even given the power by the city council to appoint the officials who would insure that Aldermen maintain high ethics in Office.

Daley's political successes were matched by his administrative and managerial accomplishments. He, like his father, and like the earlier Mayor, Big Bill Thompson, devised large scale projects to win public support. Richard M. Daley, like these previous Mayors, was viewed as someone who could get things done. His connections with the Clinton administration, including his brother William Daley who was a key Clinton operative, resulted in the Democratic convention of 1996 being a major showcase for the city. This convention lacked political drama but it also was a major showcase for Chicago as a tourist center.

Daley the manager had his budgets passed with little opposition. He instituted community policing which got the policeman out of his/her desk job and into the community. Daley cut business taxes and encouraged a major development boom which resulted in downtown Chicago being once again a center for new buildings and prime real estate. This was especially true for areas east of Michigan Avenue near the Loop. Roosevelt Road and Printer's Row became hot areas and there was residential expansion along the lakefront on the Southside. McCormick Place was expanded and became even more important as a trade and convention center. Navy Pier stopped being the city's white elephant and turned into the entertainment center in the city. It even housed the largest Ferris wheel the city had seen since the 1893 World Fair. Daley turned the State Street Mall back into an area with vehicular traffic. New subway stations entrances were installed and classic street lights now illuminated State Street, making it more appealing to visitors and shoppers. Infrastructure repairs were implemented including a massive project to reconstruct the area surrounding the Michigan Avenue bridge. This of course created massive traffic jams; however most Chicagoans seemed resigned to the fact that the city needed to fix its bridges, sewers and roads which had been left to decay over the decades. One sign near the Michigan Avenue bridge said that parts of Michigan Avenue were seeing sunlight for the first time in 75 years.

Daley the builder was also Daley the planter. Over 500,000 new trees were planted in the city. In total $1.5 billion dollars was spent for infrastructure repairs. These repairs, however, were not confined to city's center but were distributed throughout all the wards of the city- black and white, rich and poor. Everyone was inconvenienced by the new construction in the short run but everyone benefited by a city that was in the process of fixing its infrastructure for the first time in decades.

Daley also made sure that women and minorities obtained city contracts and had high powered positions in his administration, including press secretaries, police and fire commissioners, and leadership positions at the CTA, the Board of Education and the housing authority.

Although Daley had humbled or co-opted his opponents in the city, there was one important politician he could not either defeat nor nullify. James Edgar, Republican Governor of Illinois, unlike previous Republican Governors, could not work out a modus vivendi with Chicago's Mayor. They did cooperate on the expansion of McCormick Place but confronted each other on many other issues. These include a third airport, which the Governor wanted in Peotone, Illinois and the Mayor opposed. The Mayor's connection with the Clinton administration gave him the edge on this issue. Edgar however opposed Daley's request for $800,000,000 for a circulator or electric trolley which would make McCormick Place, the Metra terminals, and the New East Side including Navy Pier, easily accessible by public transportation. Daley wanted land based gambling in Chicago. Edgar successfully opposed this. Daley wanted to turn the Meigs Field airport into a city park. Edgar thwarted this until a compromise was reached which would keep Meigs Field open as an airport for five years before being turned into a park. The issue of a domed stadium for the Chicago Bears also pitted Illinois' top Republican against the powerful Mayor of Chicago.

In August of 1997, Jim Edgar announced he was retiring as Governor. Daley was now in a position to negotiate with or co-opt his successor and to advance Daley's agenda to remake Chicago along the lines he chose. The problem for Daley or any other Mayor was how to keep state and federal dollars coming to the city at a time when governments at all levels were downsizing and when the suburbs demanded more state and federal resources in areas like public transportation and new infrastructure. The city of Richard M. Daley had far less political muscle in Springfield and Washington than did the city of his father. Even with political acumen, friends in important positions and good management skills, the reality was that the Richard M. Daley's Chicago was not going to have the clout of Chicago in the age of the last of the great city boss, Richard J. Daley. It would be doubtful that a future John F. Kennedy would owe his Presidency to a Chicago Mayor, or that Chicago would humble its surrounding suburbs with its political might. The 20th century began with the central city as the political and economic engine of America and with its suburbs merely as its caboose. The century ends with the suburbs and its car culture as the driving force in America, while the city battles for its share of scarce economic resources.

This reality must shape the thinking of Richard M. Daley or any future Mayor of Chicago. It is true the city is still growing and developing but the real growth is in its suburbs, like Schaumburg. How Chicago reacts to its devalued power will define the history of Chicago in the next century.

Summary of the period 1976-97

• Daley's death underscored the weakness of the Democratic organization.
• The Democratic machine failed to win its own primaries in 1979 and 1983.
• Jane Bryne is unable to preserve her winning coalition.
• Blacks organize themselves into a powerful political force.
• Harold Washington's victory represented the triumph of reform and racial consciousness.
• Attempts to unify the city's political elements fail with Washington's death.
• The Democratic party factionalized.
• Richard M. Daley, son of the late mayor, was widely recognized as a strong administrator during his term as mayor