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.
In his campaign, Thompson promised to end the enforcement of Prohibition and accused Dever of being complicit in a supposed scheme by the United Kingdom to try to retake control of the United States that involved William McAndrew (the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools). Other key focuses of his campaign included violent crime in the city and a promise to cease the city's enforcement of Prohibition. Thompson received support from a number of mobsters, including Al Capone.
Background Republican William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson, who had previously served as mayor of Chicago for two terms from 1915 to 1923, took advantage of the crime situation under his Democratic Party successor William Emmett Dever (attributed to Dever's strong enforcement of Prohibition causing increased competition among remaining bootleggers), and ran for a third nonconsecutive term, promising to end the enforcement of Prohibition.Schmidt 1995 p. 90Schottenhamel p. 42
Thompson's decision not to run for reelection in 1923 was due to scandals and indictments associated with his previous mayoral administration, which The New York Times observed gave Thompson a track record that, "was a little too rich for even the large tolerance of Cook County." Thompson claimed that he did not seek reelection because he had been "crucified" by his own allies.
Having declined a bid for reelection in 1923, Thompson had managed to stay in the public eye by constructing a yawl named the Big Bill with his head as the figurehead and spending $25,000 to take it on an expedition to Borneo to find a tree-climbing fish, all ostensibly as a publicity stunt for the Illinois Waterway.Schottenhamel p. 41 Thompson was immensely popular with the city's African-American community,Schottenhamel p. 43 having served as alderman of the 2nd ward, home of Chicago's largest black population,Schottenhamel p. 32 from 1900 to 1902. He also had enemies from his previous tenure, including the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Daily News,Schottenhamel p. 33 and had started to wear out his welcome with former allies such as party boss Frederick Lundin.Schottenhamel pp. 42–43
On April 6, 1926, Thompson attracted national attention when he pulled the unusual stunt of debating with live rats representing Lundin and John Dill Robertson at a Frank L. Smith U.S. Senate campaign rally held at the city's Cort Theatre.Bright pp. 257–258Bergreen 2013, p.219 Thompson was a supporter of Smith's candidacy against Lundin-backed incumbent William B. McKinley. Thompson's rodent show was a precursor of a mayoral campaign that would see him act far less restrained than he had acted in his previous two terms as mayor.
Republican primary campaign Thompson kicked off his candidacy on January 10, 1927 with a speech at a dance and reception jointly hosted by several Republican groups at the Trianon Ballroom.
Thompson faced Edward R. Litsinger, who was chairman of the Cook County Board of Review and was backed by reform-minded U.S. Senator Charles S. Deneen and Edward J. Brundage, (the latter of whom had split from his political ally Robert E. Crowe by supporting LitsingerBukowski pp. 182–183). A much lesser second opponent on the ballot in the primary was former policeman Eugene McCaffrey. Originally, John Dill Robertson had planned to run in the Republican primary. However, Robertson dropped out in favor of Litsinger, per an agreement with Lundin. Robertson would mount an independent general election bid upon Litsinger's primary loss.Schmidt 1989 p. 154Bukowski p. 183
The Republican primary was marked by intense vitriol between the candidates. Thompson accused Robertson of messy eating, stating that "[With] eggs in his whiskers, soup on his vest, you'd think the doc got his education driving a garbage wagon." Robertson retaliated, accusing Thompson of corruption. Litsinger reiterated such accusations against Thompson and further accused Thompson of conspiring to get 50,000 Democratic votes. Both candidates asserted that they were guaranteed victory and accused the other of conspiring to steal the primary.
In an open letter, Thompson charged that Edward Brundage and Fred Lundin were suburbanites and were guilty of betraying their city roots. He also alleged that Litsinger, who had come from Back of the Yards, had abandoned his roots, writing "You moved to the Gold Coast. Are you thinking of joining the high brows of Lake Forest and becoming a resident of Lake County too?"
Thompson won the primary by a surprisingly large margin;Bright p. 249 to many, his victory itself was a surprise. He carried 49 of the city's 50 wards. The only ward he failed to carry was the 49th ward, which he lost by a margin of just over 100 votes. Thompson's margin of victory in the primary was record-breaking for a Chicago mayoral election. After Thompson's victory both partisans of Robertson and Democratic leaders claimed that Democratic voters for Thompson had propelled him to the Republican nomination, with the Democrats claiming that they did so in order to give Dever a weaker opponent in the general election. With Thompson's primary victory Robertson launched his independent campaign on February 23.
Thompson's run was supported by the political machine of Robert E. Crowe and Homer Galpin. After his victory, The New York Times observed that, just as he used to benefit under the machine Lundin's support, "he thrives just as well under the Crowe–Galpin machine". Thompson ran alongslide a slate of candidates endorsed by himself, Crowe, and Galpin. The slate featured Patrick Sheridan Smith for Chicago city clerk and Charles S. Peterson for Chicago city treasurer. Both won the Republican primaries for their office, defeating opponents that Brundage and Deneen had jointly backed.
General election campaign Three days before election, Owen L. Scott of South Bend Tribune observed that, "[Thompson] is waging his wild campaign for mayor on the basis of 'bombast and prejudice'" making use of epithets and pejoratives such as, "left-handed Irishmen, snakes, Swedes, beer runners, polecats, wart hogs, saps, rats, skunks, liars, damn liars, Britishers, and hirelings of King George." While Thompson engaged in bitter rhetoric attacking Dever, Dever largely refused to engage in Thompson's style of rhetoric.Schmidt 1995 p. 95Bright p. 250 This was with exception, as Dever did once comment in an interview with the Chicago Daily News that, "Thompson's trouble is mental". However, largely, Dever instead promised to engage in a debate of substantive issues, partaking only in a "decent, friendly discussion without malice or sensationalism". Dever responded to Thompson's many accusations by declaring them "blarney" which he had no intention of dignifying, and noting that Thompson's comments on international affairs were irrelevant to the duties and powers of the mayoralty.Teaford p. 199 Dever's campaign characterized Thompson as, "a political pyromaniac".
Endorsements
Deneen backed Thompson after his primary defeat.Bukowski p. 183 The Chicago Federation of Labor endorsed Thompson. Despite having been a foe of Thompson during his first mayoralty, Margaret Haley, president of the Chicago Federation of Teachers, personally endorsed him due to Thompson's opposition of William McAndrew, the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools.Herrick, 1971, p. 166–1968 The Cook County Wage-Earners' League ran an advertisement for Thompson in the Chicago Tribune, in which it claimed that 95 percent of the trades unions in Chicago endorsed him. However, in actuality, labor support was divided between the two major party candidates. While the Cook County Wage Earners, headed by Chicago Federation of Labor vice-president Oscar F. Nelson, backed Thompson, a notable group of labor officials backed Dever. Thompson was backed by two Hearst-owned newspapers, as well as the African-American Daily Defender and L'Italia, the city's second-best selling Italian newspaper.Schmidt 1989 p. 157 Martin Walsh, who had run against Dever in the Democratic primary, served as a stump speaker for Thompson. Thompson was also endorsed by Illinois Attorney General Oscar E. Carlstrom, Illinois Secretary of State Louis Lincoln Emmerson, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Fred E. Sterling, Cook County Sheriff Charles E. Graydon, Cook County Coroner Oscar Wolff, and Chicago Postmaster (and 1923 Republican mayoral nominee) Arthur C. Lueder. Thompson also received a last-minute endorsement from Illinois Governor Len Small.
Thompson actively courted support from criminal racketeers and received campaign donations from a number of them, including Al Capone (who gave a $260,000 contribution to Thompson's campaign).Bergreen 2013, p. 221 Thompson received the endorsement of Capone after promising lax enforcement of Prohibition.Eig pp. 94–95 It was public knowledge that Capone was supporting Thompson's campaign effort, collecting campaign contributions from those who sold his beer. Capone donated between $100,000 and $500,000Schmidt 1989 p. 162 to Thompson's campaign. Other crime figures backing Thompson included Jack Zuta, who gave $50,000 to his campaign,Bukowski p. 187 Timothy D. Murphy, and Vincent Drucci. During the election campaign, Democrats successfully appealed for a special grand jury to investigate gang activities related to supporting Thomposon's candidacy.
"America First" and allegations levied by Thompson of a British conspiracy
Thompson accused Dever of treason. Using the slogan "America First",Bright p. 242 he alleged that Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools William McAndrew was a British agent sent by King George as part of a grand conspiracy to manipulate the minds of American children and set the groundwork for the United Kingdom to repossess the United States; he accused the "left-handed Irishman" Dever of being part of the plot.Schmidt 1995 p. 94Bright p. 253 Thompson based these claims on McAndrew being critical of such artworks as Archibald Willard's The Spirit of '76 and allowing the use in schools of textbooks which Thompson alleged were unpatriotic and full of, "treason tainted histories". This came amid a 1920s wave of anglophobic criticisms in the United States of textbooks being "pro-British" and "unamerican". Thompson's attacks on McAndrew were a significant factor in his successful campaign.