Plunkitt On Tammany Hall

5 Pages 1190 Words

Reading William L. Riordon’s Plunkitt of Tammany Hall provided an insight on many different themes at the turn of the twentieth including: honest graft, civil service reform, patronage, and how to succeed as a statesman. This book is an interesting outlook on political corruption, when Tammany Hall was a political powerhouse, yet at the same time includes many contradictions. Riordon follows the life of George Washington Plunkitt and his personal journey the political life.
This edition of the book—edited by Terrence J. McDonald—includes three parts: introduction, the document, and then the related materials. This format helps the present day reader to become more familiar with the history of George Washington Plunkitt and Tammany Hall. The introduction, one might say is absolutely crucial to comprehending this book. The related material also plays an important role, by elaborating on some of the text mentioned in the document. This edition first begins with a brief history of Plunkitt’s life.
George Washington Plunkitt, a political figurehead during the late 1800s until the early 1900s in New York City, was born to Irish immigrants in New York City in 1842. Starting at the early age of twenty-four, he ran for office and was defeated; two years later he ran again, with the help of friends, he ran again at the age of twenty six to be elected to his first public office, New York State Assembly. This victory started his forty-year span as a statesman. Plunkitt’s controversial methods of retrieving votes for his party (Tammany Hall) and himself, one might say, were a peak for political corruption. Was George Washington Plunkitt and Tammany Hall involved with political corruption or did the group take patriotism to the extreme?
The actual document begins with Plunkitt discussing the difference between honest graft and dishonest graft. He claims that during this period of time many questions arose involving Tammany men becomin...