George E. Brennan (d. August 8, 1928) was a Democratic Party political boss in Illinois. [1]
Brennan was born in Ireland and he lost his right leg when he was 13. He had substituted for a switchman who was off on a post-payday drunk, at a coal mine in Braidwood, Illinois. He tried to uncouple two cars from a moving train and his right foot became wedged in a railroad switch. He was "plump and nimble-witted, a poker player and duck hunter, a successful and honest businessman, a philanthropist who gave away several hundred wooden legs." In 1923 he supported William Emmett Dever as Mayor of Chicago.
Deneen was a member of the Democratic National Committee. [2]
In 1926, Brennan "bet his bossdom against a seat in the U. S. Senate that Illinois is sick of Prohibition" and lost to Frank L. Smith. [1]
The Pineapple Primary was the name given to the primary election held in Illinois on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County. In the six months prior to the primary election, 62 bombings took place in the city, and at least two politicians were killed. The term "Pineapple Primary" originates with the contemporary slang term "pineapple" to describe a hand grenade.
Ruth McCormick, was an American politician, activist, and publisher. She served one term in the United States House of Representatives, winning an at-large seat in Illinois in 1928. She gave up the chance to run for re-election to seek a United States Senate seat from Illinois. She defeated the incumbent, Senator Charles S. Deneen, in the Republican primary, becoming the first female Senate candidate for a major party. McCormick lost the general election. A decade later, she became the first woman to manage a presidential campaign, although her candidate, Thomas E. Dewey, failed to capture his party's nomination.
The 1928 Republican National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928.
Charles Samuel Deneen was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Illinois, from 1905 to 1913. He was the first Illinois governor to serve two consecutive terms totalling eight years. He was governor during the infamous Springfield race riot of 1908, which he helped put down. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois, from 1925 to 1931. Deneen had previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1892 to 1894. As an attorney, he had been the lead prosecutor in Chicago's infamous Adolph Luetgert murder trial.
Richard Yates Jr. was the 22nd Governor of Illinois from 1901 to 1905—the first native-born governor of the state. From 1919 to 1933, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois.
The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics since the 1930s. It relies on an organizational structure of a ward or township committeeperson to elect candidates. At the height of its influence under Richard J. Daley in the 1960s when political patronage in employment was endemic in American cities, it was one of the most powerful political machines in American history. By the beginning of the 21st century the party had largely ceased to function as a machine due to the legal dismantling of the patronage system under the Shakman Decrees issued by the federal court in Chicago. The current Chair is Toni Preckwinkle, who is also the elected Cook County Board president.
Patrick A. Nash was a political boss in the early and mid-twentieth century in Chicago and Cook County. He was in large part responsible for consolidating elements of the Cook County Democratic Party into a political machine. He evolved from a local sewage contractor to a political boss by carefully selecting his political allies. His prominence stems from the death of Anton Cermak and his political career is intertwined with that of Edward Joseph Kelly. The success of this machine was attributed to its decision to be more inclusive than its predecessors. This meant that Nash had success at dealing with a variety of politicians such as William L. Dawson.
George Brennan may refer to:
The 1926 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 2, 1926.
The 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1924.
The 1930 United States Senate election in Illinois took place on November 4, 1930.
The 1928 United States Senate special election in Illinois took place on November 6, 1928. The election was held due to the U.S. Senate's refusal to seat 1926 election winner, Republican Frank L. Smith, due to allegations of election fraud. The election saw the election of Republican Otis F. Glenn.
The 1908 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 3, 1908. All contemporary 46 states were part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose 27 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1915, Republican William Hale Thompson defeated Democrat Robert Sweitzer.
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1923, Democrat William E. Dever defeated Republican Arthur C. Lueder and Socialist William A. Cunnea. Elections were held on April 3, the same day as aldermanic runoffs.
Republican candidate Herbert Hoover won the state of Illinois in the 1928 United States presidential election, and would emerge victorious from the overall election. State voters chose 29 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1904 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1904.
The 1908 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1908.
The 1912 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1912. Incumbent second-term Republican governor Charles S. Deneen was defeated by Democratic nominee, former mayor of Chicago Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne.
The William Hale Thompson 1927 mayoral campaign was the successful campaign of Republican William Hale Thompson for a third nonconsecutive term as mayor of Chicago in the 1927 Chicago mayoral election. The campaign saw him defeat incumbent Democrat William Emmett Dever, as well as a third-party effort by John Dill Robertson.
George E. Brennan, boss of Illinois (succeeding Sullivan), died Aug. 8, 1928.