Word: curleyism
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...after James M. Curley had just been elected mayor of Boston for the third time, the fight began at the State Democratic Convention to nominate a candidate for governor. Curley was supporting John F. Fitzgerald, a former city mayor, against Joseph B. Ely, a strong Yankee democrat from Springfield. The fight was bitter because Curley feared that Ely, with his popularity throughout the State, would set up a very strong personal machine. Late in the Convention, Fitzgerald withdrew and Ely became nominee for governor in a year which promised success to almost any democrat...
...custom, the vanquished leaders, Fitzgerald and Curley, met Ely to congratulate him on a public platform in Worcester. When it came time for Curley to speak, he rose and presented Ely with a check for $1000 --"to show my sincerity in the effort to elect Mr. Ely." The press the next day went wild, praising Curley for his magnanimity; but Mr. Ely was less enthused. The check had been made payable to the Boston City Committee --to be used by the mayor and not by Mr. Ely for getting out the Boston vote...
...four items on the city books during the past administration which they claimed were a gross and extravagant loss to the city. In another column in the newspaper, the research group pointed out the facts and figures of Maurice J. Tobin's victory over present Mayor James M. Curley...
...good many Bostonians seemed to have a sneaking admiration for Curley's colorful past and his unabashed cupidity. The bulk of the solid citizenry who got indignant at bad government had long since moved to the suburbs and had no vote, and only one in five of the voters within the city's narrow limits were property owners...
None of this guaranteed victory to James Michael Curley. The old man liked it better when the ring was crowded; there was a choice of targets, and his opponents might knock each other out instead of him. Curley might yet be around to horrify Boston's reformers for another term...