In general, the book is fairly well-written, although the fact that its authors are journalists is painfully obvious. I did not expect too much from this book, considering the reviews it received in the Wall St. Journal and NY Times, but gave it a try anyway. First, the story skips around too much. It is difficult at times to figure out what has happened and what temporal relation it has to what is going on in the text at that time. The authors were too busy trying to get across their points about Daley the political figure and neglected to really look at Daley the person. Granted, information about Daley was hard to get, but given the number and breadth of quotes from his son William and others, it should not have been that hard to flesh-out a better portrait of the man himself. Other biographies about figures just as large (if not larger) in importance are able to get their arms around their subject; these authors seemingly wanted to use the book just to get into print some comments about the failed CHA public housing program before Mayor Daley the Younger erases them from the face of the earth. I cannot recommend this book for anyone unfamiliar with Chicago politics or local issues; while this city is racially polarized and was even worse in the past, this is not the most important part of the story to why Richard J. Daley looms so large in the pantheon of American mayors. One cannot ignore the civil rights movement and what happened when it moved North; however, that is the fitting subject for a different book than one ostensibly about the life of Richard J. Daley. Overall, a C+.
Born and raised in Chicago, I have always been fascinated by the personal life and public career of Richard J. Daley, arguably the citys greatest mayor whose son Richard now serves in that office. Years ago, in his book about Daley, Mike Royko suggested at least some of the parameters within which Cohen and Taylor now analyze "The Boss." They provide a wealth of information. I would have rated this biography higher had the authors probed more deeply into much of that material inorder to answer so many questions I still have about Daley. For example, what do Daleys successes and failures as a public servant reveal about the political and social worlds in which they occurred? During the years he served as mayor, could he have achieved these same successes without maintaining absolute control of the citys political system? What did Daley share in common with those in control of the Chicago syndicate? To what extent were there strategic alliances with them? Why? If Daley was as corrupt as so many have claimed, why has no incontrovertible evidence of that corruption been presented? The authors have much to say about Daleys relationship with Chicagos black community. This was an uneasy, at times hostile relationship. To what extent was Daleys leadership as mayor a reflection of the community (Bridgeport) in which he was born and raised? Did he hate blacks? Did he fear them? Or is there another explanation of his attitude toward them? Ancient pharaohs were on occasion benevolent to those whom they viewed as inferior as were, more recently, plantation owners in the Deep South. Perhaps Cohen and Taylor had this in mind when they selected their title. As I recall Daley, he was a master of negotiation when seeking to achieve his objectives but never hesitated to be ruthless whenever it served his purposes. As county chairman, he once summoned an immensely popular incumbent mayor to his office and then, after letting him cool his heals, informed him that he would not seek re-election. Daley was now ready to assume that office. I wish the authors had been more objective when analyzing what I would characterize as Daleys pragmatism. These are some of the questions which American Pharaoh raises in my mind. Perhaps there will be other books (yet to be written) which attempt to answer them. Nonetheless, I am grateful to Cohen and Taylor for helping me to understand better than I did before one of the 20th centurys most fascinating political leaders.
A great book with contents delivered in a clear, concise writing style. It reads so fluidly, one can forget he/she is learning history while riding along with a fascinating narrative. I very much enjoyed it and learned a great deal from the exhaustive research that obviously went into the project. My only criticism, however, keeps me from giving five stars: the co-authors seem obsessed with housing and perceived racism issues in Chicago - at times to the extent that Daley is almost forgotten in their drive to bring home a point. If this is where their academic background is based that is fine, but the reader deserves to know this going in instead of being advertised a full one volume biography type of study. This was an occasional distraction, but one that usually ended soon enough with a paragraph break - welcomed with a whew, glad we got back on track- from this reader. All in all, a fine book very much worth your time, but be advised not quite what it might seem.
