DALEY, Richard Joseph

(b. 15 May 1902 in Chicago, Illinois; d. 20 December 1976 in Chicago, Illinois), Democratic mayor of Chicago for six consecutive terms (1955–1976); he was thrust into the media spotlight after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968.

Daley, an only child, was raised in an Irish neighborhood in Chicago. His father was Michael Daley, a sheet-metal worker, and his mother was Lillian Dunne. While growing up, Daley worked at a variety of part-time jobs and attended Catholic schools. He also attended De La Salle Institute, a vocational high school. In 1924 he was elected president of the Hamburg Council, a neighborhood organization with considerable influence; it was his first taste of politics. During the evenings Daley attended law school.

Daley graduated from DePaul University law school in 1934. On 23 June 1936 Daley married Eleanor Guilfoyle; they had seven children. Also in 1936 Daley began his political climb in the Democratic Party, enjoying his first big political win in a race for state representative. In 1955 Daley became Chicago's mayor, a post he held for the next two decades. His power base as the Cook County Democratic Central Committee chairman and city mayor gave him tight control over Chicago politics and put him into the central spotlight during the 1960s.

During the tumult that characterized the 1960s, Daley focused on moving ahead. He was on a mission to make his city great. He encouraged projects that would improve Chicago, including the construction of downtown skyscrapers, such as the Sears Tower, which was the world's tallest building at the time, and the enlargement of the O'Hare airport. Daley's improvements also included new public housing, expressway expansion, demolition of derelict areas, and urban renewal efforts. In his role as mayor, Daley was loved by some and loathed by others. During the 1960s he was praised for his effective municipal services initiatives and his downtown revitalization efforts, but he was criticized for his failure to address the concerns of Chicago's African-American poor and for his roughshod treatment of civil liberties.

Some might quibble about how Daley used his power, but during the turbulent 1960s he did keep the city running. Through giving municipal employees high wages and keeping layoffs at a minimum, Daley was able to bring labor peace to the city of Chicago during his tenure as mayor. He had many boyhood friends who held positions of power in the unions, and they helped him weather tumultuous labor uprisings. In 1960 Daley helped John F. Kennedy win the presidential election, and thereafter presidential candidates sought Daley's blessing. Daley was recognized as an important political force. Those who were seeking political office soon learned that Daley's support was crucial to their success. But Daley's reputation as a "president maker" did not survive the 1960s because of the crises he faced.

In 1968 Daley's star was eclipsed by disasters. In April, when the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, riots ensued on the West Side of Chicago, along with arson and looting. As mayor, Daley was responsible for curbing the outbreak. He issued orders to "shoot to kill any arsonist," and this strict policy drew the censure of the outraged liberal news media. Daley was remembered by some for his response to the resultant civil disobedience, a response that many considered harsh.

As bad as the chaos that followed King's assassination was, more was to come. Daley had to face turmoil in August during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, when the actions of anti–Vietnam War demonstrators sparked retaliation by Chicago police. Although it is difficult to determine the exact sequence of events from accounts, one thing is clear: innocent people were caught up in the strife. Street violence between demonstrators and police lasted a week. Chicago was like a war zone, which the commentator Eric Sevareid compared to the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. The debacle made Daley notorious; his reputation was irreparably damaged.

Many predicted that the riots of the 1960s would mean the end of Daley's career. This was not exactly the case. It was true that Daley was no longer respected in some circles, but he continued to hold office as mayor. In December 1969 Daley shared the chagrin of the Democratic Party when the state's attorney Edward V. Hanrahan staged a police raid that ended in the deaths of two black members of the Black Panthers and stirred up racial unrest. In 1971 Daley's reputation was damaged further by the Chicago columnist Mike Royko, whose best-seller Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago exposed many of the scandals that plagued Daley's administration. Daley's own blunders contributed to the scorn and contempt some held for him. Among his famous misstatements are the following: "We must rise to high and higher platitudes" (instead of plateaus) and "The police are not here to create disorder; they are here to preserve disorder."

Still more disgrace was to come. U.S. attorney and later governor James R. Thompson exposed corruption among Chicago's police force during the 1970s, and members of the police force and a number of Daley's close friends and associates were put in jail. Although others were convicted of corruption, Daley himself was never charged, despite federal, state, and local investigations. He was known, however, to have given a profitable insurance contract to his son's company. In 1974 Daley suffered a stroke. To some it may have seemed that the Daley stronghold on Chicago was finished, but in 1975 he was elected to a sixth term of office. He was not to hold office much longer; he died of a heart attack in December 1976. Daley is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Worth, Illinois.

To say that Daley's rule was unpopular would be untrue. During the 1960s he was able to keep political uprisings in check during a time full of strife. He modernized public services and expertly managed Chicago's finances. Even though Daley's power was in decline by 1968, his successes were not entirely forgotten. Ten years after his death, a Gallup poll showed that Daley was still thought of as a good mayor. Never one to hesitate when it came to mixing business with politics, Daley repeatedly said, "Good politics makes for good government." The Daley legacy lived on after his death. His son Richard M. Daley was elected mayor of Chicago in 1989 and continued to hold the position for several terms.

Biographies of Daley include Mike Royko, Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago (1971), Len O'Connor, Requiem: The Decline and Demise of Mayor Daley and His Era (1977), and Eugene C. Kennedy, Himself!: The Life and Times of Mayor Richard J. Daley (1978).

A. E. Schulthies