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• 1 2021-02-01T14:05:16-06:00 Leading the Party 27 plain 2021-07-01T12:28:45-05:00 In addition to being mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley was a key figure in Democratic Party politics. From 1947 on, he served as committeeman for the Eleventh Ward in Bridgeport. He also chaired the influential Cook County Democratic Party from 1953 until his death in 1976.

  When he became the ward committeeman,…he’d distribute baskets with turkey and vegetables in them. Whoever needed help, he would get together with his help and arrange some baskets to send them for Christmas or whatever.
  
  Jack Parker, friend of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, August 13, 2009

  
  Former U.S. Senator from Illinois, Adlai Stevenson III, reflects on Daley's dual role as mayor of Chicago and as chair of the Democratic Party of Cook County:
  

  He was the chairman of the party. He had an important role in slating candidates. We would go to those different meetings and watch the candidates present themselves when he was the chairman. I remember him trying to balance the ticket numerous times, statewide ballots, geographically and racially, to make sure that all of the ethnic groups were represented.
  
  John Daley, Son of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, May 9, 2007

  Well, he was an organization genius. In order to be in politics in Chicago as he was growing up, you had to be part of the organization. That was the word he preferred, rather than machine.
  
  Patricia Daley-Martino, daughter of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, June 12, 2002

  Mayor Daley’s model of affirmative action—they didn’t call it that—but you had to have somebody Jewish, somebody Polish, somebody Irish, somebody black, somebody Hispanic. I mean, you had to have everybody on the ticket. And because everybody was on the ticket and Mayor Daley always won, people thought there was something bad about that. But it was really representative democracy.
  
  Andrew Young, Mayor of Atlanta, interview excerpt, October 20, 2014

  
  Daley appointed Jane Byrne as head of the Department of Consumer Sales, Weights and Measures. She was the first woman to serve in his cabinet. She later served as Chicago’s first woman mayor (1979-1983).

  That’s also where I met Jane Byrne, when I went to work for the mayor. I can’t remember what year it was, but he started to realize that women could play a very important role in an election. He said, number one, they vote. And he said I think we should have more women precinct captains. And he decided to talk to some of the committeemen and suggested they should all appoint a committeewoman. Now, a committeeman is an elected position, so some of them weren’t too happy. The mayor told them they could choose anyone they wanted. Find somebody in your office that’s competent and delegate. It didn’t go over too big with some of them. A couple of them he had to twist arms. But anyway, he started off by appointing Jane Byrne.
  
  Roseanne Bonoma, Richard J. Daley’s Secretary, interview excerpt, October 3, 2014

  This image shows the future mayor, Jane Byrne, standing in the background as Mayor Daley greets some offcials:
  
  
• 1 2021-02-01T14:05:26-06:00 Kingmaker 18 plain 2021-05-18T16:28:15-05:00 Democratic candidates sought Daley's endorsement in their bids for office at the local, state, and national levels.
  
  

  Everybody wanted him at their political functions. Just to have the mayor there was a success story.
  
  Ed Kelly, Chicago Park District Superintendent 1973-1986, interview excerpt, December 11, 2003

  Most of the presidential candidates that were running at that time all stopped by to visit him. They’d be sitting there and you could see they were nervous. And these were very important people—senators, congressmen, and people who had been in Washington for a long time, and were very influential. I told my husband it reminded me of that scene in The Godfather where they were all waiting to go in and ask a favor of the godfather on the day of his daughter’s wedding.
  
  Roseanne Bonoma, Richard J. Daley’s Secretary, interview excerpt, October 3, 2014

  Watch footage from the 1960 torchlight parade to support John F. Kennedy's candidacy for the presidency:
  

  We were walked into the White House the day after the inauguration [of President John F. Kennedy]….The first thing he [Kennedy] said was, “I would not be here if it wasn’t for your dad. I would not be the president.”
  
  John Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, May 9, 2007

  Former President Jimmy Carter remembers that Mayor Daley helped him win the Democratic Party nomination in 1976: