The Life And Times Of John Kelly

Excerpt from The Life and Times of John Kelly: Tribune of the People The life of John Kelly, written without partisan bias, and to promote no other object but the vindication of the truth of history, is presented to the reader in the following pages. The narrative is associated with three great epochs in American history, in each of which John Kelly has acted a prominent and conservative part. If he ap pears in the foreground of the picture which the author has attempted to sketch of those epochs, it is because no true history of them can be written without accord ing to him such a place. He was the champion of civil and religious liberty during the era of Know Nothingism, and contributed as powerfully to the overthrow of the know-nothing party as any man in the United States, with the single exception of Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, who slew the monster outright. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

An account of the life and times of one of the 19th century's most powerful and colorful politicians. "Honest" John Kelly was the leader of Tammany Hall, New York City's Democratic stronghold, during the Gilded Age. He rose from the obscurity of the 1820's Irish ghettos in New York City to become one of the most prominent political figures of his time. During his career as a civil servant, political leader, orator and philanthropist, he proudly wore the nickname "Honest" in front of his given name. There were many who admired his accomplishments, and considered this to be a fitting description of the man. Yet there were many others who decried his behavior as rigid, self serving and dictatorial, and saw the "Honest" reference as the ultimate sarcastic characterization of the man and his methods. In recounting the 30 year public career of "Honest" John Kelly, the author presents, in print and cartoon, evidence on both sides of this debate. He leaves it to the reader to decide if this engaging sobriquet was indeed "truth or satire." Ironically, many of the questionable practices described in the book are being practiced in current times by Politicians running for some of the Nation's most important offices. The mediums of communication have changed over the last 135 years but the political dirty tricks are essentially the same!

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Although many observers have assumed that pluralism prevailed in American political life from the start, inherited ideals of civic virtue and moral unity proved stubbornly persistent and influential. The tension between these conceptions of public life was especially evident in the young nation's burgeoning cities. Exploiting a wide range of sources, including novels, cartoons, memoirs, and journalistic accounts, James J. Connolly traces efforts to reconcile democracy and diversity in the industrializing cities of the United States from the antebellum period through the Progressive Era. The necessity of redesigning civic institutions and practices to suit city life triggered enduring disagreements centered on what came to be called machine politics. Featuring plebian leadership, a sharp masculinity, party discipline, and frank acknowledgment of social differences, this new political formula first arose in eastern cities during the mid-nineteenth century and became a subject of national discussion after the Civil War. During the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, business leaders, workers, and women proposed alternative understandings of how urban democracy might work. Some tried to create venues for deliberation that built common ground among citizens of all classes, faiths, ethnicities, and political persuasions. But accommodating such differences proved difficult, and a vision of politics as the businesslike management of a contentious modern society took precedence. As Connolly makes clear, machine politics offered at best a quasi-democratic way to organize urban public life. Where unity proved elusive, machine politics provided a viable, if imperfect, alternative.

This volume is the most comprehensive bibliography of purely biographical material written by Americans. It covers every possible field of life but, by design, excludes autobiographies, diaries, and journals.