Boss Tweed Political Machine
He pushed for real improvements to the city s schools hospitals roads and the city water system.
Boss tweed political machine. By the time tweed came along tammany had already evolved into a well oiled political machine that was known as tammany hall after the headquarters building that was located on east 14th street. Responsible for the construction of the ny court house. William magear tweed april 3 1823 april 12 1878 often erroneously referred to as william marcy tweed see below and widely known as boss tweed was an american politician most notable for being the boss of tammany hall the democratic party political machine that played a major role in the politics. Actual construction cost 3million.
Between 1868 and 1869 he led the tweed reign a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Born in new york city in 1823 boss tweed was a city alderman by the time he was 28 years old. Boss tweed is chiefly remembered for the cronyism of his tammany hall political machine through which he bilked the city of new york of massive sums of money. Tweed never served as mayor.
The public offices he held at times were always minor. Tweed became notorious as boss tweed in new york city. William tweed head of tammany hall nyc s powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Machine after 1868 by boss william magear tweed under whose leadership the name tammany became an international byword for municipal corruption.
Thomas nast s campaign against boss tweed in the years following the civil war a former street brawler and lower east side political fixer named william m. Tweed became a powerful figure in tammany hall new york city s democratic political machine in the late 1850s. A political machine is a political group in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses usually campaign workers who receive rewards for their efforts. Supporters of the organization made it a point to give help to the immigrants and other poor people of the city.
The existence of such a situation in predominantly democratic new york city fueled antagonism between the city and republican dominated upstate new york history at your fingertips. The machine s power is based on the ability of the boss or group to get out the vote for their candidates on election day. Tweed leveraged his power as a landowner and corporate board member to extend his influence throughout the city. William magear boss tweed leader of new york city s corrupt tammany hall political organization during the 1860s and early 1870s is delivered to authorities in new york city after his capture in spain.