Chicago Politics Ward by Ward

CHICAGO POLITICS by David Fremon is 372 pages long, printed on off-white paper, and contains one map showing all of Chicago's wards (page 22) and 50 maps of each of the 50 wards, and about 10 photographs of various notable aldermen. The book contains 50 little chapters, each about 6 pages long, one for each of Chicago's 50 wards (each ward has only one alderman). Also, two additional chapters are devoted to mayoral elections. Each chapter contains a methodical table on demographics, redistricting of the ward, percent blacks, whites, Hispanics, and names of alderman, committeemen, and voting records for mayoral races. SAVVY WRITING. While the book is scholarly and fact-driven, the author is versatile enough to step back and provide savvy-sounding narratives. Referring to Chicago's most impoverished community in the 3rd ward, he writes, "Is it any wonder that this area is a worldwide capitol of the blues? The legendary Checkerboard Lounge at 423 E.43rd Street is located in the 3rd ward." (page 35) Referring to the 22nd ward, which is 79% Hispanic, he writes, "Heart of the ward is 26th Street, a colorful strip of carcincerias, taquerias, panderias, Mexican night clubs . . . and bars with huge satellite dishes to pick up soccer and boxing aired from Mexico City." (page 147). WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. For those who have read AMERICAN PHARAOH:MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY by Cohen and Taylor, this book is a logical next choice. In fact, CHICAGO POLITICS would be largely incomprehensible without first reading AMERICAN PHARAOH. For example, to understand commentary on patronage jobs (pages 30, 55, 121, 180, 247 of CHICAGO POLITICS), you first need to read AMERICAN PHARAOH. To understand commentary on panic peddling (pages 65, 157, 195 of CHICAGO POLITICS), you first need to read AMERICAN PHARAOH. CHICAGO POLITICS will also likely be of interest to those having had a college course in city politics, since many of the terms used in this book are technical terms that are not likely to be clearly understood by an ordinary American citizen. These terms are "redistricting" (page 26, 48, 109, 126, 150, 160, 171, etc., of CHICAGO POLITICS), "the machine" (pages 40, 46, 48, 120, 148, 160, 164, of CHICAGO POLITICS), "precinct captain," "ward," and "alderman." Even after reading CHICAGO POLITICS, I really have little understanding of what is a "ward" or what is an "alderman." But the interested reader can easily consult an on-line encyclopedia. This book will also be of interest to residents of Chicago, or to persons who find Chicago to be a fine vacation spot. My motivation to read CHICAGO POLITICS stems from the fact that I lived in Wisconsin for several years, and traveled to Chicago for vacations, or whenever I wanted to see a building higher than a church steeple. ALDERMEN. The heart of each of the 50 chapters on wards is the "alderman." Typically, we are provided with short biographies from aldermen from the past 50 years or so, for exa

This book provided a solid primer in the ward politics of the City of Chicago. It was originally published during the 1980s, so some of the profiles of the leading members of the Chicago City Council may be somewhat dated. The late David K. Fremon was a local newspaper reporter and he did a fairly good amount of leg work in compiling this book. The ward boundaries have been redistricted since that time and many of the aldermen have left office (due to death, imprisonment, retirement or election to higher office as the case may be), but a handful of the familiar politicians whose biographies are included here still remain in residence at City Hall. It would be interesting to see this book revised and updated.