The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois. Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age politicians whose careers in gov... Read More
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The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois. Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age politicians whose careers in gov... Read More
The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois. Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age politicians whose careers in government thrived on and endorsed corruption and racketeering, from Chicago to Springfield. It complements author Jim Ridings's groundbreaking biography, Len Small: Governors and Gangsters, which was praised by critics and situated Ridings as a trailblazer among Chicago crime authors.
Details
Pages: 128
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Imprint: Arcadia Publishing
Series: Images of America
Publication Date: 13th December 2010
State: Illinois
Illustration Note: Black and White
ISBN: 9780738583730
Format: Paperback
BISACs: HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI) TRUE CRIME / General PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political
Author Bio
JIM RIDINGS was born in Joliet, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, with a minor in history. He was a reporter for The Daily Times in Ottawa and The Beacon-News in Aurora. He won more than a dozen awards for investigative reporting at both newspapers, from the Associated Press, United Press International, Copley Press, Illinois Press Association, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, SDX Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Mr. Ridings was presented a Studs Terkel Humanities Service bronze medal from the Illinois Humanities Council in 2006. He was instrumental in getting a state historical marker erected at the site of the former coal mining town of Cardiff, Illinois. Mr. Ridings is the author of twenty-eight books of Illinois history, including Small Justice; Len Small, Governors and Gangsters; Cardiff: Ghost Town on the Prairie; Wild Kankakee; County West: A Sesquicentennial History of Western Kankakee County; The Illustrated History of the Cherry Mine Disaster of 1909; and The Society of the Living Dead: The Illustrated History of the Radium Dial Scandal of Ottawa. Several of his books have won awards from the Illinois State Historical Society.
The story of Chicago gangsters in the 1920s is legendary. Less talked about is the tale of the politicians who allowed those gangsters to thrive. During the heyday of organized crime in the Prohibition era, Chicago mayor "Big Bill" Thompson and Gov. Len Small were the two most powerful political figures in Illinois. Thompson campaigned on making Chicago "a wide open town" for bootleggers. Small sold thousands of pardons and paroles to criminals, embezzled $1 million, and was then acquitted after mobsters bribed the jury. This book is the story of those Jazz Age politicians whose careers in government thrived on and endorsed corruption and racketeering, from Chicago to Springfield. It complements author Jim Ridings's groundbreaking biography, Len Small: Governors and Gangsters, which was praised by critics and situated Ridings as a trailblazer among Chicago crime authors.
Pages: 128
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Imprint: Arcadia Publishing
Series: Images of America
Publication Date: 13th December 2010
State: Illinois
Illustrations Note: Black and White
ISBN: 9780738583730
Format: Paperback
BISACs: HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI) TRUE CRIME / General PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Political
JIM RIDINGS was born in Joliet, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, with a minor in history. He was a reporter for The Daily Times in Ottawa and The Beacon-News in Aurora. He won more than a dozen awards for investigative reporting at both newspapers, from the Associated Press, United Press International, Copley Press, Illinois Press Association, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, SDX Society of Professional Journalists and other organizations. Mr. Ridings was presented a Studs Terkel Humanities Service bronze medal from the Illinois Humanities Council in 2006. He was instrumental in getting a state historical marker erected at the site of the former coal mining town of Cardiff, Illinois. Mr. Ridings is the author of twenty-eight books of Illinois history, including Small Justice; Len Small, Governors and Gangsters; Cardiff: Ghost Town on the Prairie; Wild Kankakee; County West: A Sesquicentennial History of Western Kankakee County; The Illustrated History of the Cherry Mine Disaster of 1909; and The Society of the Living Dead: The Illustrated History of the Radium Dial Scandal of Ottawa. Several of his books have won awards from the Illinois State Historical Society.
