![]() Jim retired in 1910 and named Tom his successor. ![]() Here, Jim, who at the time was serving as a member of Kansas City, Missouri’s city council, taught Tom about the city’s political system and the advantages of controlling blocs of voters. Joseph’s MO in the 1890s and he worked in his brother Jim’s saloon in the West Bottoms which had been bought with winnings from the horse track. When Jim Pendergast died in 1911, his brother Tom took over the machine. ![]() Jim Pendergast feared the rivalry between the Goats and the Rabbits would help Republicans win back political power so he negotiated an arrangement with Joe Shannon to share equally the spoils of political control of Kansas City. The Goat faction was larger but Shannon was the shrewder strategist and often got the better deal in political maneuverings. The Pendergast’s faction was called the Goats and Shannon’s faction was known as the Rabbits. They adopted labels to distinguish their factions. The Pendergasts and Joe Shannon were both bosses in the Democratic Party. He opposed the Pendergasts as supporters of the saloon and gambling interests. Nelson sought to improve and beautify Kansas City and his natural following was the middle and upper classes. The Pendergast brothers sought to control Kansas City and its surrounding area, Jackson County however, early on, they were opposed by two others, Joe Shannon who sought the allegiance of the same populations groups that supported the Pendergasts and “Baron Bill” Nelson, the publisher of the The Star, the major newpaper of Kansas City. This allowed Jim’s brother Tom to become the Superintendent of Streets, which allowed him to hire 200 workers and buy material and equipment for the street-paving program. In 1900 the Pendergasts elected their first mayor and replaced Republican city workers with their supporters. Reed, but every other key office at City Hall. During the peak of his power, he not only hand picked his own mayor, James A. Jim Pendergast was a Kansas City alderman who for 18 years reached out to his fellow Irishmen and to various other immigrant groups. The Pendergast Brothers: Early in the 20th Century, the most powerful force in Missouri politics was the Pendergast machine. ( Note: At the end of this entry there is a “ Memorandum Regarding Relations with Pendergast Machine” written by Harry S. Truman, who eventually became the nation’s 33 rd President. It was also famous because an early beneficiaty of the Pendergast machine was Harry S. ![]() It was built and led by two brothers, who controlled Kansas City politics for nearly 40 years. For example, a notable political machine at the turn of the century was the Pendergast machine of Kansas City, Missouri. ![]() To urban reformers of the early 20th century, the bosses and their organizations personified political corruption. cities, the political boss represented a source of patronage jobs. For immigrants and the poor in many large U.S. Many immigrants saw bosses and political machines as a means to greater enfranchisement. Introduction: Political bosses and their “machine organizations” operating in large American cities at the turn of the century enjoyed strong support among the poor and immigrants, who returned the favor by voting for the bosses’ preferred candidates. When Jackson was recalled to a second hearing for a much tougher grilling, it reinforced the perception her case had been mishandled for political reasons.The Pendergast Machine of Kansas City, Missouri (1900-1939) This is partly why the commission lost credibility. The initial lack of rigour in the royal commission's approach to Jackson left it open to accusations it was following a pre-written narrative, rather than being led by evidence. The real whistleblower in the Jackson saga, McGregor, was maligned by the royal commission for trying to hold Jackson to account for her suspected misdeeds. Kathy Jackson was at first lauded as a corruption whistleblower by the media and the Abbott government Credit:Louise Kennerleyįairfax Media broke the first stories that revealed Jackson may have operated a union slush fund and diverted money meant for members on travel and shopping.ĭespite this evidence, the royal commission initially treated Jackson with kid gloves, preferring to champion her narrative of whistleblowing and persecution, rather than following the money trail. ![]()
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