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William Marcy Tweed Jr. (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), known as "Boss Tweed," was an American most famous for his leadership of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century New York. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the Erie Railway, the Tenth National Bank, and the New-York Printing Company, as well as proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel.
Tweed was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1852, and the New York City Board of Advisors in 1856.
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Quotations
I don't care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating.
I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures.
On political cartoons
The way to have power is to take it.
Encyclopedia
William Marcy Tweed Jr. (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), known as "Boss Tweed," was an American most famous for his leadership of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century New York. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the Erie Railway, the Tenth National Bank, and the New-York Printing Company, as well as proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel.
Tweed was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1852, and the New York City Board of Advisors in 1856. In 1858, Tweed became the "Grand Sachem" of the Tammany Hall. He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1867.
Tweed was convicted for stealing between 40 million and 200 million dollars (based on the inflation or devaluation rate of the dollar since 1870 of 2.7%, this is between 1.5 billion and 8 billion 2009 dollars) from New York City taxpayers through political corruption. He died in the Ludlow Street Jail.
Boss Tweed was well-known for his scandalous eating habits. At meals, Tweed would measure out exactly three inches from his stomach to the edge of the table. This way, as soon as his stomach touched the edge of the table, he knew it was time to stop eating.
Early life
William Marcy Tweed was born April 3, 1823, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Son to a chair-maker of Scottish-Irish descent, Tweed made his entrance into politics when he organized the Americus Fire Company No. 6 (also known as the "big six") as a volunteer fireman. Tweed was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1852, the New York City Board of Advisors in 1856, and the New York State Senate in 1867. Financiers Jay Gould and Big Jim Fisk made Tweed a director of the Erie Railroad, and Tweed in turn arranged favorable legislation for them. Tweed and Gould became the subjects of political cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1869.
Contributions
Despite having grafted millions from the public treasury, Tweed made many improvements to the city of New York including the widening of Broadway between 34th Street and 59th Street and the construction of many buildings in Manhattan, including a new courthouse. The New York County Courthouse project paid out over $13 million to local workers involved in the construction, with approximately $1.5 million going to the plumber alone.
Tweed also fought for the state legislature of New York to donate to private charities of all religious denominations, subsidize Catholic schools, orphanages, and hospitals, and keep the King James Bible available in schools. From 1869 to 1871, under Tweed's influence, the state of New York spent more on charities than for the entire time period from 1852 to 1868 combined. Tweed also pushed through funding for a teachers college and prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, as well as salary increases for school teachers.
Tweed probably made his biggest contributions to the poor and immigrants of New York. Tweed tried to ensure that if an immigrant, tired and bewildered after the long crossing, bosses like Tweed found him a job in city offices or local businesses. If a family breadwinner died or was injured, the bosses donate food and clothing.
Scandal
Tweed's downfall came in April of 1870 when he refused to authorize the Orange Parade, an annual Protestant celebration. City Sheriff James O'Brien, whose support for Tweed had fluctuated during Tammany's "reign", gave The New York Times evidence of embezzlement in light of the Protestant-Catholic riot that ensued on parade day. The newspaper was reportedly offered $5 million to not publish the evidence. In a subsequent interview, Tweed's only reply was, "Well, what are you going to do about it?" Accounts in The New York Times and political cartoons drawn by Thomas Nast and published in Harper's Weekly resulted in the election of numerous opposition candidates in 1871. Regarding Nast's cartoons, Tweed reportedly said, "Stop them damned pictures. I don't care so much what the papers say about me. My constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures!"
See this link for more alarming figures on the excesses of the Tweed political machine.
Imprisonment, escape, and death
In October 1871, Tweed was arrested and held on $8 million bail. The efforts of political reformers William H. Wickham (1875 New York City mayor) and Samuel J. Tilden (later the 1876 Democratic presidential nominee) resulted in Tweed's trial and conviction in 1873. Tweed was given a 12-year prison sentence, which was reduced by a higher court and he served one year. He was then re-arrested on civil charges, sued by New York State for $6 million and held in debtor's prison until he could post $3 million as bail. On December 4, 1875, Tweed escaped and fled to Spain where he worked as a common seaman on a Spanish ship.
The U.S. government discovered his eventual destination of Spain and arranged for his arrest as soon as he reached the Spanish border. He was delivered to authorities in New York City on November 23, 1876, and was returned to prison. He was recognized in Spain, from political cartoons showing his corruption. However, the Spanish constables did not recognize the significance of the cartoon and therefore believed they had apprehended a notoroius child kidnapper.
Tweed died in the Ludlow Street Jail on April 12, 1878 from severe pneumonia. He was buried in the Brooklyn Green-Wood Cemetery.
In studies of Tweed and the Tammany Hall organization, historians have emphasized the thievery and conspiratorial nature of Boss Tweed along the Upper West Side, and securing land for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Certain aspects of Tammany Hall's activities (aid to the sick and unemployed, advocacy for tenants and workers) foreshadowed later developments in the U.S. labor movement and Social Security.
Portrayals in popular culture
- Boss Tweed was portrayed by Jim Broadbent in the 2002 film Gangs of New York.
- Tweed, portrayed as villainous and vindictive, was mentioned in chapter 14 of Neal Shusterman's young adult novel Downsiders.
- In the Elseworlds miniseries Green Lantern: Evil's Might, Tweed and Tammany Hall are featured as two of the main villains. This depiction of Tweed even goes as far as to mention Thomas Nast's political cartoons.
- In the 1977 science-fiction novel "The Ophiuchi Hotline" by John Varley, a crooked politician in the human-settled Moon of the 27th century takes up the name "Boss Tweed" in deliberate emulation of the 19th Century politician, and even names his Lunar headquarters "Tammany Hall".
- The role of Boss Tweed was originated by Noah Beery, Sr. in the 1945 original Broadway production of "Up In Central Park".
- Tweed has a cameo appearance of sorts in the novel Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. In Bolgia 5 of the Malebolge, demons are seen pulling Tweed out of the lake of boiling pitch and torturing him.
- Bill Tweed appears in Pete Hamill's novel, Forever, not as a villain, but a defender of the rights of minorities and helped those in need.
- Tweed doesn't appear in The Waterworks (novel) but his role in the criminal case is a very important one. His name is often mentioned.
- A mouse version of Boss Tweed appears in An American Tail. Called "Honest John," he is a scheming politician who stays in power by the election fraud and ghost votes the immigrant mice.
- Tweed's vindictive nature drives the plot of Loren Estleman's 1997 novel, Billy Gashade, in which the protagonist moves west to escape the long arm of the Tammany machine.
- Caricatures of Boss Tweed have appeared on T-shirts by the New York-based fashion label Barking Irons.
- The Morrowind npc named Yngling Half-Troll appears to be somewhat based on Tweed. Just as Tweed said he needed $13,000,000 to build the New York County Courthouse when he needed only about $3,000,000, Yngling requests an extravegant amount of gold from the Tribunal Temple to repair the temple in the Hllalu Canton of Vivec and puts the majority of it into his own pocket.
Further reading
- Lynch, Denis T. Boss Tweed The story of a grim generation. Blue Ribbon Books NY first print 1927 copyright Boni & Liveright Inc.
- Mandelbaum, Seymour J. Boss Tweed's New York, 1965. ISBN 0471566527
- Ackerman, Kenneth D. Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Politician Who Conceived the Soul of New York, 2006.
- Hershkowitz, Leo. Tweed's New York: Another Look, 1977.
External links
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