03) Mayor Daley

- Hunter S. Thompson, Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail, 1973

Coming into land at Chicago's O'hare airport sometime in 1990 (near the end of my 1989-1990  round the world "traveller" tour), I remember being engrossed by Hunter S. Thompsons, Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail: 1972 (with its account of The Democratic party machine, and mayor Daley in Chicago). Walking through the terminal --  judging by the date on the the dedication to mayor Daley in the terminal,-- I  was somewhat struck by the fact that mayor Daley was still around, and not retired or in jail. As it transpired, Thompson was talking about Richard J. Daley:

Considered the last of the "last of the big city bosses", he  served as mayor of Chicago from 1955 till his death in 1976. The mayor Daley of O'hare airport is his  son and protege, Richard  E. Daley:

First elected in 1989, he is now (behind his father) is now the second longest serving mayor of Chicago, who was elected to a sixth consecutive term in 2007, with 70% of the popular vote.

Though situated in the mid-west of the American republic, Chicago (having had a mayor named Daley for 40 out of the last 55 years), nonetheless seems to have  it's own Irish working-class royal family.

The two pictures (Of Kennedy With Daley, and Obama with Daley), work well on many levels. Visually, the positioning of the characters, the context of Kennedy and Obama, the role of the "The Chicago Democratic Machine". 40 odd years on and the more things change the more they stay the same ... On the other hand looking at the light side of the story, Obamas election night speech at Grant park contrasts very differently to the riots in Grant park that occurred during the Democratic Convention of 1968 (subject of another entry in this blog).