#5 We Don’t Want Nobody Nobody Sent 🚫
Reader Mailbag — I write to dialogue with you, please keep the questions coming!
From my Mom. Thanks Mom!
[edited for brevity] … Could you explain how Granduncle Shmoo would actually go about operating on Jacob Arvey’s West Side? How would he bring voters to vote?
Chairman Arvey expected Granduncle Shmoo to deliver Democratic voters at election time. The secret, as described in interviews, was "service.” When a new family moved to the Jewish West Side, men like Shmoo would personally welcome them on move-in day. They would help unload the family’s belongings, get the electricity turned on, stock the fridge with fresh milk, and give candy to the children.
Shmoo would introduce new families to neighbors and help them find work. If you needed a shul, Shmoo or one of his brothers would introduce you to the rabbi. If you had tax problems or a garbage issue, it would be taken care of. All that was asked in return is that you and anyone in your household of voting age show up on election day and vote Democrat.
From an ex-Assistant US Attorney General (AUSA) for the Northern District of Illinois who published a well-known account of what life is like as a first-year law student:
Is it true that Richard J. Daley rejected an offer to serve as an AUSA in the late-1940s?
No. Jacob Arvey tried to use his clout to place Daley as a Federal prosecutor, but Daley wasn't offered the job. He finished as runner-up because he had zero trial experience. As Tom Keane, Daley’s #2, said:
“[Richard] wouldn’t know what the inside of a courtroom looks like. He never practiced law. ... All [he] ever cared about was politics, and he spent his time running for office.”
The Richard J. Daley Center (pictured) was named after the Mayor in December 1976, seven days after his death. It’s odd that a man who had zero trial experience would get a courthouse named in their honor.
A fascinating what-if is whether Daley would’ve been able to run for Mayor after serving as an AUSA. Highly unlikely. The Irishmen who ran the Northern District of Illinois considered themselves fiercely independent from the South Side Irishmen who ran the City of Chicago. Daley's South Side Irish base would've accused him of selling out had he joined the Feds.
Context for non-lawyers: A prosecutor argues criminal or civil cases on behalf of the government. The US Criminal Code dictates what makes up a Federal crime, but a prosecutor must find and develop the facts. Fact gathering is led by rank-and-file prosecutors, and the process involves tremendous discretion. The freedom to decide whether to try a case, the ability to use (near) unlimited Federal resources to investigate, and the prestige of representing the US Government in court makes an AUSA gig very desirable.
In fact, writing this paragraph made me so envious that I researched whether to repeat law school. WTF is wrong with me.
Be kind to each other.
Ari
P.S. Last week, I wrote that Arvey’s 1948 ballot was his crowning achievement as Cook County Democratic Party Chairman. A reader shared an article about when Abner Mikva, someone I intend to cover at-length, tried to volunteer for the Machine as a young man:
“When I first came to Chicago, Adlai Stevenson and Paul Douglas were running for governor and senator,” he said. “I had heard about the closed Party, closed machine, but they sounded like such great candidates, so I stopped in to volunteer in the Eighth Ward Regular Democratic headquarters. I said, ‘I’m here for Douglas and Stevenson.’
The ward boss came in and pulled the cigar out of his mouth and said, ‘Who sent you?’ And I said, ‘Nobody sent me.’ He put the cigar back in his mouth and said, ‘We don’t want nobody nobody sent.’ ” (Lizza 14).
If you enjoy the newsletter, please share it with someone who you think might enjoy it, too.