Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)

Rating:
Summary: Corruption as a Public Good
Review: In history's rear view mirror, George Washington Plunkitt appears to be just another guy in a long line of corrupt politicians. There's no denying that he was corrupt, but as William Riordon recounts, Plunkitt honestly believed that he was not doing the public any harm. In fact, he believed that there was such a thing as honest graft, a sort of victimless crime. Certainly this was a self-serving philosophy, but there is a sincerity in his discourses that defies any trace of hypocrisy.

His belief that Tammany Hall was a benevolent organization that served the poor and needy put a bemused smile on my face. After all, Plunkitt doesn't see or doesn't admit to seeing that the robbing of public funds through honest or dishonest graft is what contributed to the social problems, like unemployment, poverty and crime, which for the most part put the needy and poor in their predicament in the first place. But he absolves himself from his actions by his now-famous defense, "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em." And this is what makes Plunkitt such a congenial and magnetic man, what makes him so damned likeable. You KNOW he's a thief, you KNOW he contributed to the misery of thousands. Yet his playful, plain-speaking style, his candidness about his activities, his wit, and, at times, his goofiness, make him different from other Tammany leaders like Boss Tweed, say, or Charlie Murphy. He's more in line with Big Tim Sullivan or James J. Walker.

George Washington Plunkitt was a charmer, no doubt about it. William Riordon was obviously under his spell. And the Johnson/Boswell comparison is very valid. It is difficult to maintain the utter contempt one should have for this thief. And yet... I would have loved to have had drunk with him at Hoffmann's bar and let him speak on for hours. Like Riordon, I think I would have been hypnotized too.

NB--Peter Quinn's brilliant Introduction serves the book well.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points

Rating:
Summary: Lessons from the past
Review: PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL translates remarkably well a century after William Riordon transcribed the wit and wisdom of the ward healer for whom the book was titled. The context of Plunkitt's stories has changed, but his essential messages have remained.

On a case by case basis, Plunkitt's adages care a certain amount of wisdom. His insights into how politics works - personal connection and service delivery trump issues and oratory - are especially poignant. Yet the reader of a hundred years ago and the reader of today realize that they are reading the philosophy of a rouge. Plunkitt's distinction between "Honest graft" and "dishonest graft" explains more his mindset than justifies his, and his ilk's, corruption. His rants against the civil service system make sense only up to the point of understanding that his preferred alternative is a spoils system that has little to do with public service.

Plunkitt speaks across time to two very relevant modern phenomena: voter apathy and corruption in politics. Although Plunkitt himself senses the beginnings of voter apathy, he would be shocked at the lack of interest today, especially amongst those in most need of a friendly government. But Plunkitt too would be able to recognize the cause - voter's of Plunkitt's day knew directly how their vote would affect their futures. Voting the right way might mean a job, or food, or some other service that would not otherwise be available. As government assistance has become fairer and more equitable, that direct connection has diminished.

As politics in Plunkitt's time was obviously far more corrupt than politics today, that condition too put the lie to the notion that dishonesty in politics is a new thing that has bred cynicism and thus a decline of civic participation. Its an interesting notion that could hardly be conveyed better than through this little book from the past.

Rating:
Summary: Plunkitt Tells it Like it is
Review: Plunkitt was a king in a world that needed benevolent despots. In a place like turn of the century of New York before Keynesian economics and the Welfare State, Tammany was the only relief the poor knew. Plunkitt reveals with refreshing honesty the seemingly rough and coarse manner with which one needed to play the game of politics in his town. However, one must look at it in context. This was a different time from our own, and the reader must imagine whether a person of Plunkitt's demeanor can last in the information age political world. Then again, the book also illustrates how many of the problems Tammany had still exist today.