Charles Francis Murphy
Charles Francis "Silent Charlie" Murphy (June 20, 1858 – April 25, 1924) was a U.S. political figure, head of New York City's Tammany Hall from 1902-1924. He was the most powerful boss in Tammany's history.
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[edit] Life and career
Murphy was the son of Irish immigrants. He quit school at age fourteen and worked a series of jobs, saving money until he purchased a saloon. He eventually acquired four such establishments, from which he made a significant percentage of his fortune. He soon became a member of Tammany Hall, and by 1892, the leader of Manhattan's Gas House District. His stature in the Tammany organization rose until, in September 1902, Murphy became the undisputed leader of Tammany Hall, succeeding Lewis Nixon. He kept this position until his sudden death in 1924. Murphy, a Roman Catholic, was buried at Calvary Cemetery in New York.[1]
In contrast to longtime boss Richard Croker, the taciturn and teetotaling Murphy – his nickname was "silent Charlie" – brought an air of respectability to Tammany Hall. He furthered this end by promoting a new crop of Tammany politicians — chief among them Senator James J. Walker, Rockland County Chairman James Farley and Alderman Alfred E. Smith — who would move the machine away from the methods of Boss Tweed and toward a Progressive Era-style that rewarded the loyalty of the poor with reforms like factory safety and child labor laws. Although initially opposed to progressive legislaton, Murphy realized that he could throw his support behind reforms which pleased his constituency but which did not undermine Tammany's power.[2] Because of this stance, he is credited with transforming Tammany into a political organization capable of drawing the votes of the ever-growing numbers of new immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, which kept Tammany in power until the early 1930s.
[edit] In popular culture
The character Jim Gettys in Citizen Kane was based on Charles Murphy.[3]
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/murphy2.html
- ^ Lifflander, Matthew L. "The Tragedy That Changed New York" New York Archives (Summer 2011)
- ^ Mankiewicz, Herman Jacob; Orson Welles, Pauline Kael (1985). The Citizen Kane book. Methuen. ISBN 9780413582904.
- Sources
- "Charles F. Murphy" on The Political Graveyard
- Further reading
- Weiss, Nancy Joan. Charles Francis Murphy, 1858-1924: Respectability and Responsibility in Tammany Politics. Smith College,
1968
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charles Francis Murphy |
- Tammany Hall Links
- Entry in the 11th edition, otherwise known as 1911 edition, of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
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