The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine

Front Cover
SIU Press, Jun 12, 2009 - Biography & Autobiography - 328 pages

The Gambler King of Clark Street tells the story of a larger-than-life figure who fused Chicago’s criminal underworld with the city’s political and commercial spheres to create an urban machine built on graft, bribery, and intimidation. Lindberg vividly paints the life of the Democratic kingmaker against the wider backdrop of nineteenth-century Chicago crime and politics.

McDonald has long been cited in the published work of city historians, members of academia, and the press as the principal architect of a unified criminal enterprise that reached into the corridors of power in Chicago, Cook County, the state of Illinois, and ultimately the Oval Office. The Gambler King of Clark Street is both a major addition to Chicago’s historical literature and a revealing biography of a powerful and troubled man.

Illinois State Historical Society Scholarly Award, Certificate of Excellence, 2009
Society of Midland Authors Biography Award, 2009

 

Selected pages

Contents

The Dark City on the Edge of Civilization
1
1 A Train Butcher Raising the Wind
8
2 Brace Games and Bunko Men
20
3 A Department Store of Gambling
34
4 Tammany by the Lake
54
5 The Peoples Party and the Overturn of Puritan Rule
65
6 Bummers GutterRats Whiskey Soakers and Saloon Loafers
75
7 The City Hall Swindle
88
14 The Garfield Park Racetrack War
165
15 Electing Altgeld
175
16 That Little Feldman Girl
190
Poetry Murder and the McDonalds
203
18 Betrayal and Death
216
Postscript
225
A Legacy of Corruption
232
Appendix 1
239

8 Our Carter
99
9 Oyster on the Half Shell
112
Gallery
120
10 Boodle for the Gang
121
11 Is He Not a Typical Democrat?
136
12 A Flighty and Excitable Woman
144
13 Bribing the Gray Wolves foran Upstairs Railway
152
Appendix 2
244
Notes
253
Bibliography
277
Index
283
Author Bio
294
Back Cover
295
Copyright

Other editions - View all

The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of ...
Richard Lindberg
Limited preview - 2009
The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of ...
Richard C Lindberg
No preview available - 2017

Common terms and phrases

accused alderman Alfred Trude Altgeld attorney boodle boss boys brother building bunko Carter Harrison Chicago Fire Chicago Herald Chicago History Museum Chicago Inter-Ocean Chicago Tribune city council city hall city’s Clark St Clark Street Club Colvin confidence Cook County county board court criminal Democratic Dora Dora’s Downtown election Electronic Image Rights faro February fight final financial fine firm first five floor gamblers gambling gang Garfield Park Garrity George Guerin Hankins Harry Harry Holland Hesing Hickey House Iames Ianuary Illinois Image Rights Unavailable influence inside Iohn Ioseph Irish Iudge Iuly Iune jury Lake Street liquor Mackin Madison St Mary Mary’s mayor McGarigle Medill Michael Cassius McDonald Mike McDonald Mike’s Monroe Heath Moysant murder November office ofl ofthe police political politicians raids reform reported Republican saloon South Side State’s Store vote Ward West Side wife William William McGarigle Yerkes York

About the author (2009)

Richard C. Lindberg is a journalist, a research historian, and the author or a coauthor of thirteen books, including Chicago Yesterday and Today,Shattered Sense of Innocence: The 1955 Murders of Three Chicago Children and Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago. He is a past president of the Society of Midland Authors and a 2008 recipient of the Morris Wexler Award, presented by the Illinois Academy of Criminology, for his contributions to the field of criminal justice writing.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine
Elmer H Johnson & Carol Holmes Johnson Series in Criminology
AuthorRichard C Lindberg
ContributorJohn Miya
PublisherSIU Press, 2009
ISBN0809386542, 9780809386543
Length328 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / General
Biography & Autobiography / Political
History / United States / 19th Century
True Crime / Organized Crime
  
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