ALL THAT NEW YORK WORLD PHOTOGRAPHER William Warnecke really wanted to do was take the picture of the Mayor of City of New York, in a lively pose, while talking. Instead he recorded history...
It was 1910, and then New York City Mayor William J. Gaynor was touring a boat docked outside of Hoboken, NJ. Warnecke was getting a few photos of the Hishonor, not sure which one would be used, if any, in the next day's issue. Just as he snapped his camera, a disgruntled and recently fired city employee named James Gallagher walked up to the mayor and, at point blank range, shot a bullet through Gaynor's neck. Gun and camera were improbably timed. And in an age well before TV journalism, the resulting image was one of the greatest but also the most horrific works of phtojournalism up until that point.
Gaynor would survive the shot and recover quickly, though the bullet would remain lodged in his throat. And given his record of reforms in a city run by bosses- indeed Gallagher was just one of many boss- apointed employees that Gaynor had dealt with, but especially given that Gaynor was and still is the only new york mayor to suffer an assasination attempt, and given that the photo made its way around the world, Gaynor became a national name and was mentioned among many as a candidate for governor and / or President. But three years later, just as Gaynor was to run for a second term, something that would have been needed if he was going to be considered for President, complications from the shooting caught up with him, and he passed away in 1913. Gaynor is rare to be a New York city Mayor known and liked nationaly, and to be under serious consideration for President. But why? why didn't more people rise up from America's greatest city to lead the nation. Why is it rare for Mayors to even be talked about for President...until 2007.
By announcing his intention of running for President as a former mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani is now one of just three individuals in 218 years to formally go from having what one New York City Mayor called "The Second Hardest Job in the World", and to then officially try to secure what must be, to follow that logic, the First Hardest Job. In the entire history of the Presidency and the Mayorality of America's largest city, which actually has a longer history than the office of the American President, the paths of these two great offices, these jobs of great responsibliity, headaches, control over the lives of citizens and jobs, have not often crossed, though there's been a few moves in that direction.
Two Clintons
Prior to 1991, when someone spoke of two Clintons in politics, there were two very different Clintons they were speaking of: George Clinton, Thomas Jefferson's Vice President and former governor of New York, - and his nephew, DeWitt Clinton. De Witt Clinton was like his uncle a politician in Jeffersonian Republican circles, and was appointed Mayor of New York twice. This was before the Mayor was populariy elected, that would not occur until 1834. In this case the mayor was appointed by a state board which was in control of his uncle.
So disapointed with Madison, particularly his embargo against England that hurt Northeast merchants, that DeWitt Clinton switched to the Federalist party in time for the 1812 election, and ran against James Madision in attempt for a second term. With Madison, deep in an unpopular war, DeWitt came pretty close but would fail to get the Presidency, and would go on to finish his term as mayor and then become new york governor.
The Mayor Who Ran For President - of New York?
Probably the boldest mayor was Fernando Wood, the first New York City mayor to recognize, cultivate and manipulate the Irish-American immigration coming into the city and the creator of the New York Police Department as a source of jobs for them. Though Wood's police were not the NYPD of today , they were corrupt and deeply associated with gangs such as the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys. Fernando Wood never ran for President of the United States --- but did attempt to make New York City its own country, or more like a Free City.
When South Carolina seceeded in 1861, New York City, which did a brisk business with the South, was perhaps about to lose a lot of its customers. Business leaders were concerned about the upcoming war. Wood's soluiton was that New York city seceede. There were benefits to the concept...as Mayor Wood detailed. " As a free city, with but nominal duty on imports, her local Government could be supported without taxation upon her people. Thus we could live free from taxes, and have cheap goods nearly duty free.
His idea was not immediately dismissed either. City businessmen were considering Wood's idea. There was no way to predict how the Civil War was going to go at the outset. There had been cities in Europe, such as the not-yet-unified Germany and cities like Hamburg, which were 'free cities.' of no nation. Also, Mayor Wood's suggestion came at a time when it looked like their may be many successions - one of the Pacific states like California and Oregon, one of the Midwest, as well as the south. In such a scenario, New York would be one of many.
One person not taking Mayor Wood's idea seriously was the new President Elect, Abraham Lincoln who would not take office for another month when Wood made his proposal to the city council. Lincoln had just been elected with a minority of the votes, losing 2 to 1 in New York City. He regarded as folly to think that new York could survive and perform all its needed services from port revenue without the befifits of national government. Comparing New York City to the Front Door of America, "It will take some time for the front door to settle the house-keeping for itself."
It was not Lincoln's sarcasm that did in Fernando Wood's chances to move from Mayor of a city to leader of a country. It was the Confederacy he was hoping to do business with. They instituted a new tariff policy that lowered tariffs, specifically to undercut New York City. And after the beginning of hositilites, Mayor Wood reluctantly participated in Union mobilization efforts. In the 1862 he would lose the mayor's office to a war-supporting Republican.
Tragic Reformer and Boy Mayor
With the dark cloak of Tammany Hall controlling events, the mayorality and the Presidency would not be talked about much together, even remotely, until 1910 when an unconventional mayor named William J. Gaynor was appointed, a creature of Tammany Hall bosses. But once Gaynor got in, he soon defied Tammany hall. He filled high level government posts with experts and city employees were chosen from civil service lists in the order they appeared, effectively curbing patronage and nepotism, and continued the development of the New York City subway system. As we refered to earlier, Gaynor's time as mayor would be cut short by the lingering effects of an assasination attempt on him.
His dream didn't completely die with that bullet. The man who succeeded Gaynor would share his reformist beliefs. A special election was held and at thirty-five years old, John Purroy Mitchel was the youngest person ever to be elected Mayor of New York City, a distinction that earned him the nickname, "Boy Mayor." A hyper ambitious graduate of Columbia University and New York Law School, Mitchel held numerous government posts after being admitted to the bar. While city Commissioner of Accounts, Mitchel uncovered a protection racket in the Police Department and conducted investigations that forced the ouster of two borough presidents, and prompted another to flee the continent. In 1913, he dealt a crushing blow to Tammany Hall, winning the mayoral election on a fusion ticket by a large plurality.
Mitchel's waste-cutting measures and accounting practices earned the city national acclaim. He brought into the administration competent professionals and devised a zoning plan to govern city development — the first such plan in the nation. He also standardized salary and work requirements for city employees. But Mitchel was unable to beat Tammany a second time to win re-election. In 1918, he enlisted in the Army Air Service to be trained as a pilot in World War I. His life was cut short during a training exercise in Louisiana, when his plane plummeted 500 feet to the ground on July 6, 1918. He was only a few days shy of his 39th birthday when the incident occured.
Though he woudl never live to see future office or national office, Mitchell did see national press...there is no doubt that had he returned from World War I which would have lasted only about six months after his accident, as a hero and former reforming mayor, a gubernatorial and perhaps national office was sure to follow. This was a man not even 40 who had already served a term as mayor of America's biggest city. As Theodore Roosevelt said about him. "No stauncher American, no abler and more disinterested public servant, and no finer natural soldier than Purroy Mitchel was to be found in all our country." Surely the plane took the life of young man who was going places.
La Guardia
One New York City politician who had better luck with his own airplane, who did make it back from the early air service of World War I was Fiorello LaGuardia, or "Little Flower," son of immigrants of Italian and Jewish ancestry one of the best known mayors in New York City history. He interrupted his first term in Congress to fly a plane called the Congressional Limited over the fields of France whose tenure redefined the office. He was reelected to Congress, and after. After losing the mayoral election to Jimmy Walker in 1929, he successfully ran for mayor again in 1933 on a fusion ticket after Walker would resign in disgrace.
More importantly, La Guardia was able to do what many 'reform mayors' were not able to do - he was reelected. For the next twelve years, the 5 foot 2, demanding chief executive dominated New York City. And he was popular - he ferreted out corruption in city government and brought in talented professionals. LaGuardia earned a reputation for placing the city ahead of politics. Although technically a Republican, he worked closely with the New Deal administration of President Franklin Roosevelt to secure funding for large public works projects. LaGuardia never made any moves for national office during Roosevelt's lifetime, but in 1945, after Roosevelts death the first three-term New York City mayor decided not to seek a fourth term, and it was widely sought that in a time when one out of 10 Americans were in New York, LaGuardia was going to enter national politics. But his health would thwart his ambitions, would die of pancrietic cancer before the next Presidential election in 1947.
Lindsay's Ambition
John Lindsay, a Republican Congressman with a Kennedy-like charm, successfully ran for mayor in 1965 as a Republican in a three-way race defeating the Democratic candidate Abe Beame, then City Comptroller, as well as National Review founder William F. Buckley, Jr., who ran on the Conservative line. Lindsay inherited a city with serious fiscal and economic problems. On his first day as mayor, the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) led by Mike Quill shut down the city with a complete halt of subway and bus service.
One area of success was in race relations where though New York was no interracial utopia in the late 60's, the city managed to avoid a major race riot that had plagued several other major American cities. Lindsay was credited for this, and his walks in different neighborhoods helped residents to keep calm.
Lindsay's position in the Republican Party grew precarious over time. In 1969, a backlash against Lindsay's policies caused him to lose the Republican mayoral primary to State Senator John J. Marchi. Lindsay was still on the ballot as the candidate of the Liberal Party, and with a coalition of minorities, Jews and public sector unions to eke out a win by a plurality. Lindsay would take this razor-thin reelection as a sign that he should be promoted, and in 1971 Lindsay became a Democrat and shortly thereafter began a brief and quite unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. His run was never serious and he attracted more attention from hecklers and protesters than voters.
You could say in general terms that the famous Ed Koch, who became mayor in 1978, was a Presidential possibility, however slight. In 1982, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of New York, losing the Democratic primary to Mario Cuomo, who was then lieutenant governor. A pledge that all he was interested in was being mayor hurt him, as well as an interview with Playboy magazine in which he described the lifestyle of both suburbia and upstate New York as "sterile" and lamented the thought of having to live in "the small town" of Albany as Governor, turning off most voters from outside the city. So while its true Koch never ran for President, though much of the eighties he and Speaker Tip O'Neil were the best known Democrats. Had Koch and not Cuomo won the governorship, who knows where this personable figure would have sought out next?
He Says He Isn't Running...
A last figure we must include, though he insists he is on the list is Giuliani's successor Michael Bloomberg. Though he keeps saying he is not a candidate, he seems to be dropping some hints, weighing in on gun control and national healthcare, issues that don't seem to be in the realm of New York city mayor alone. He's ended some speeches calling for Americans to think anew and set a new course for our nation...then combined with the fact that he refuses to rule out a run in the future.
It's not likely that Bloomie challenges Rudy , but many are concluding that he is looking to create a Rebublican left wing in '08, or perhaps run for 2012.
Should a Mayor Be President?
Would it have been a good idea for La Guardia, for Lindsey, for Koch to become President? Is it a good idea for Bloomberg or Giuliani? At first glance, the awesome job of Mayor of New York, with control over thousands of city jobs and a city of nearly 10 million people, would seem to be uniquely suited for a run for President. On one hand, a mayor is an executive, and we know that American voters prefer executives -- like governors, incumbent Presidents and Vice Presidents -- more than they like Senators or legislators when choosing a President.
On the other hand there is a difference. The Mayor of New York has actually a lot more direct control over the city than the President has proportionately over the nation. New York City has a strong mayor-council form of government, with the mayor in charge of all day to day administration and the council approving the budget. When its not budget time, the city council serves as a weak monitoring body. What little the city council can do, the mayor can veto like the President. In fact, the control has recently gone up as the Mayor now controls the schools system of New York City. The Mayor for the most part, orders people around. He has hiring and firing power and tells people what to do. The President, outside of foreign policy, doesn't bark orders - he must lead Congress to secure funding for his policies, to approve appointments and secure treaty agreements. He must constantly court public approval. Mayors are concerned of course with re-election and public approval but in the end of the day the bulk of city government is under their control. This does not bode well for a New York Mayor running for President.
So while history doesn't have a lot of hope for a New York City mayor running for President, Rudy in good health and with national fame may be in a better position than his historic counterparts who may have sought the office. Doubtless many will say that Rudy's strength is his record as Mayor of New York. But whether America's "second hardest job" with its almost unchallenged power and its administrative focus, is actually a good training ground, is an open question and one that will be more seriously asked if Giuliani begins to eclipse Romney and McCain.