Student Question
What political methods are similar between Frank Skeffington in The Last Hurrah and urban politicians of his era, like the Daleys of Chicago?
Quick answer:
The similar political methods between Frank Skeffington and urban politicians like Richard J. Daley relate to controlling, exploiting, and maintaining their respective political machines.
To come up with similarities between the fictional mayor in Edwin O’Connor’s novel The Last Hurrah and real urban politicians like Richard J. Daley, one will probably need to do some research into Daley and identify certain common methods.
One similarity involves the length of their political careers. Frank Skeffington, the mayor of the nameless, northeastern city, has been in power for years. Skeffington secured his authority by aptly exploiting the city’s political machine to his advantage.
Daley, too, ruled his own city for a long time. He was Chicago’s mayor from 1955 to 1976. In 1975, the year prior to his death, Daley had been elected to his sixth term. As with Skeffington, Daley’s power came from deftly using Chicago’s political apparatus to his advantage. Like Skeffington, he had extensive knowledge of its members and mechanisms. He methodically accrued loyalty, which he rewarded with various appointments and favors.
Both...
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Skeffington and Daley came to resemble the top-down, hardball, shady methods that supplied them with their hegemony. When Daley died and Skeffington lost, their machines, more or less, dissolved with them. After Skeffington learns that Kevin McCluskey won the race, one of Skeffington’s advisors muses,
Discipline, the very heart of the successful political machine, had somehow been allowed to go to pot.
Another similarity to think about relates to their achievements. Although each political figure could be described as problematic, their deceitful, underhanded methods produced tangible results for their voters. Skeffington built roads and buildings for his town. Daley was crucial in creating Chicago’s skyline and completing its network of expressways.
How are Frank Skeffington's political methods in The Last Hurrah similar to those of Richard J. Daley, Richie Daley, Bloomberg, Rockefeller, and Cuomo?
When it comes to the political methods shared by fictional Frank Skeffington and real New York political leaders—Michael Bloomberg, Mario Cuomo, and Nelson Rockefeller—consider how Skeffington built his power on waste. During his time as mayor, Skeffington completed many tangible construction projects, yet these edifices were often excessive, or, in the words of Skeffington critic Nathaniel Gardiner, “unnecessary.”
When he was mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg undertook similar types of superfluous building projects to attract favorable attention and make it look like he was improving the city. In 2013, Bloomberg began building pedestrian walkways in Times Square. This project cost around $55 million. The project was presented as “progress,” yet it’s possible to describe it as “unnecessary.” Maybe that money would have been better spent if it had gone to confront substantive issues like homelessness.
Another key component of Skeffington was his rhetoric. Skeffington was a captivating speaker who could charm people with his words. Gardiner describes Skeffington as an “extraordinary wit” who regularly “stunned” his political adversaries. Governor Mario Cuomo employed his verbal prowess to win voters and preserve his influence. In their obituary for Cuomo, the New York Times refers to the three-term governor as a “spellbinding speaker.”
Another similar political method adopted by Cuomo and Skeffington relates to ruthlessness. The two figures seemed to relish political clashes, or, as Skeffington calls it “going to the mat.” During the 1977 mayoral campaign, the Cuomo campaign allegedly spread rumors about the sexuality of their opponent, Ed Koch, with Andrew Cuomo (Mario Cuomo’s son and the governor of New York right now) reportedly hanging up signs in Queens that read, “Vote for Cuomo, not the homo.”
As for commonalities between Skeffington and New York’s four-term governor Nelson Rockefeller, think about how they deftly portrayed the image of the everyman. Skeffington was careful not to offend minorities such as Jews. Rockefeller constructed the persona of a working-class leader by staging events in less wealthy parts of New York City, like the Lower East Side.
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