Wikipedia Review Assignment Jimmy Walker Discovering New York Section 585 Professor B. Turner Steven Lipsky September 26th 2013 (Revised October 15, 2013)
Part 1 Review
The Wikipedia article on Jimmy Walker gave a short write up on his early life as a poor child on the Lower East side. There is however very little detail in Wikipedia neither on his early childhood. One can assume that was because he, as well as most poor children at the time, simply struggled to survive and not to make any strong impression on anyone.
James Connolly’s American National Biography (Online) of “James J. Walker” states that Walker was the son of an Irish immigrant whose father was a carpenter and business owner. Walker's father was also active in local politics in the Tammany Hall Democratic organization. Not the best student, Walker dropped out of college but eventually went back and earned a degree at New York Law School in 1904. After law school, Walker decided not to enter politics but tried his hand at writing song lyrics. Ultimately, he decided to enter politics in 1909 and eventually passed his bar exam in 1912. (Connolly)
The Wikipedia article does do a good job in outlining his life once he reaches the Assembly, then Senate and finally is elected as Mayor of NY. This is where Walker becomes famous and also where his life becomes more interesting. Wikipedia goes into some detail on his campaign against John F. Hylan and the help he received from the Governor, Alfred E. Smith.
In James Connolly’s American National Biography (Online) of “James J. Walker” we see the formation of the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker. Alfred Smith was a staunch supporter of Jimmy Walker since Walker backed many social and cultural issues that were considered politically important. These included social welfare legislation and legalization of boxing and Sunday baseball, condemning the Ku Klux Klan, and especially the opposition of Prohibition. (Connolly).
Michael Lerner in his book, Dry Manhattan provides even further details. Known as the “wet” Democrat, Al Smith supported the political rise of Jimmy Walker from the State Senate to the NYC Mayoral Office, since Walker showed open opposition for the Volstead Act which fit with the Prohibition era’s thinking. Once in office, Walker led his administration towards challenging the Eighteenth Amendment by replacing the police commissioner and pulling the police away from enforcing prohibition law in the city. Since Walker did not consider drinking a crime, there was no need to have police enforce the law unless there were multiple violations or a crime “hit the papers” where the public would respond negatively. (Lerner)
Unlike his predecessor, Walker was flashy and more of a celebrity who was always in the public eye. He dressed well and was often seen in the New York clubs with a mistress. He may have been a playboy but he was skillful as a politician. Like his mentor, Governor Smith, Walker showed contempt for Prohibition by drinking as he pleased, wherever he pleased. Even at his inauguration, on January 1, 1926, the so called “nightclub mayor” was cheered and toasted by his supporters celebrating the New Year. (Lerner)
Greg Young’s web site also provides a bit more information on the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker. It provides more details on the ways in which Smith influenced Jimmy Walker to first run against Hylan, who was then the Mayor, and then how Smith encouraged Walker to clean up his bad habits if he really wanted to be mayor. You get a sense of how Walker took Smith’s advice and acted in his own way. Instead of going out at night in public and drinking at the bars or speakeasies, Walker simply moved his bad behavior indoors to a private home where no one could see him. It also talked about how this home was paid for by Tammany Hall which gives more details into how Walker involved with that side of corruption in politics. The campaign between Hylan and Walker, even for the Democratic candidacy, was one that saw the influence of Tammany Hall. Greg Young’s article highlights the fight between these two opponents and how the corruption in New York was right in the middle of the election of 1925.
One other added detail from Greg Young’s article is the information on the public works projects that Walker sponsored. The Wikipedia article just talks about this in general and gives a single sentence as to those efforts. Greg Young’s article outlines all the various groups Walker helped form and lists many of the major departments and organizations that supported a city as large as New York. Included is the Department of Sanitation, various parks and recreational spots and the hospitals in the City of New York. Walker was also the man who started the discussions which led to the New York City Subway system.
The Wikipedia article covers the final days in office for Jimmy Walker as Mayor of NYC. It provides a very short section on the pressure to leave the city which he got from Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Greg Young’s article provides more detail as to the relationship with this Governor as well. It outlines the fact that Walker’s behavior was getting in the way of Roosevelt’s nomination as President of the United States. It helps to give more details to the real reason behind Walker leaving the city and the mayor’s office and going off to Europe. It explains the real reason Roosevelt felt “pressure” to get rid of Jimmy Walker from New York politics.
Eventually, Jimmy Walker’s popularity as Mayor of New York City declined. With the Great Depression, his lavish lifestyle and excessive spending made him less appealing to the common man. No longer could he defend his extended vacations and absence from office or other unpopular decisions and criticisms (for example: supporting a friend’s privately run casino in Central Park).With the severe economic crisis and allegations of government corruption and political favoring, Walker was now being scrutinized. His inability to provide an adequate response to the people’s needs further spotlighted the inadequacy of his abilities as the leader of the city. (Connolly)
More importantly, though, Walker was the target of the state legislature in 1931 which was looking at the inner workings of the city government and potential corruption allegations. Initial probes provided revelations regarding illegal activities within the police department and the municipal courts. This set off an inquiry into his city affairs. Judge Samuel Seabury headed the investigation with evidence that Walker accepted bribes and received money from potential businesses seeking city contracts. Although Walker denied any wrongdoing, he was very evasive, stating that the money he received were “beneficences”- not bribes. To further avoid any other allegations, Walker resigned on September 1, 1932 before the Governor (Franklin Roosevelt) could remove him from office. (Connolly)
Wikipedia does a fair job in writing about the next career Jimmy Walker has when he returned to the United States. It briefly notes his work at Majestic Records. Greg Young provides more details as to the artists he worked with but also ties back to Walker’s love for the music continued into the 1940’s. As he did in his early years, music played an important part of his life and he came back to that influence in his later years.
Jimmy Walker’s life has influenced a number of movies, novels and plays beginning in 1957 with the film Beau James, starring Bob Hope. Wikipedia’s article provides its best detail in a separate section that talks about Jimmy Walker in popular culture. It gives an excellent summary of the many films, books and even a musical which were based on or influenced by the very colorful life that Jimmy Walker led. It gives a good sense of Jimmy Walker’s legacy and the way in which his very colorful life inspired Hollywood provided a lasting memory to a man who was both benevolent and underhanded.
Part 2- Proposed Edits
The Wikipedia article does do a good job in outlining his life once he reaches the Assembly, then Senate and finally is elected as Mayor of NY. This is where Walker becomes famous and also where his life becomes more interesting. Wikipedia goes into some detail on his campaign against John F. Hylan and the help he received from the Governor, Alfred E. Smith.
In James Connolly’s American National Biography (Online) of “James J. Walker” we see the formation of the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker. Alfred Smith was a staunch supporter of Jimmy Walker since Walker backed many social and cultural issues that were considered politically important. These included social welfare legislation and legalization of boxing and Sunday baseball, condemning the Ku Klux Klan, and especially the opposition of Prohibition. (Connolly).
Michael Lerner in his book, Dry Manhattan provides even further details. Known as the “wet” Democrat, Al Smith supported the political rise of Jimmy Walker from the State Senate to the NYC Mayoral Office, since Walker showed open opposition for the Volstead Act which fit with the Prohibition era’s thinking. Once in office, Walker led his administration towards challenging the Eighteenth Amendment by replacing the police commissioner and pulling the police away from enforcing prohibition law in the city. Since Walker did not consider drinking a crime, there was no need to have police enforce the law unless there were multiple violations or a crime “hit the papers” where the public would respond negatively. (Lerner)
Unlike his predecessor, Walker was flashy and more of a celebrity who was always in the public eye. He dressed well and was often seen in the New York clubs with a mistress. He may have been a playboy but he was skillful as a politician. Like his mentor, Governor Smith, Walker showed contempt for Prohibition by drinking as he pleased, wherever he pleased. Even at his inauguration, on January 1, 1926, the so called “nightclub mayor” was cheered and toasted by his supporters celebrating the New Year. (Lerner)
Greg Young’s web site also provides a bit more information on the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker. It provides more details on the ways in which Smith influenced Jimmy Walker to first run against Hylan, who was then the Mayor, and then how Smith encouraged Walker to clean up his bad habits if he really wanted to be mayor. You get a sense of how Walker took Smith’s advice and acted in his own way. Instead of going out at night in public and drinking at the bars or speakeasies, Walker simply moved his bad behavior indoors to a private home where no one could see him. It also talked about how this home was paid for by Tammany Hall which gives more details into how Walker involved with that side of corruption in politics. The campaign between Hylan and Walker, even for the Democratic candidacy, was one that saw the influence of Tammany Hall. Greg Young’s article highlights the fight between these two opponents and how the corruption in New York was right in the middle of the election of 1925.
One other added detail from Greg Young’s article is the information on the public works projects that Walker sponsored. The Wikipedia article just talks about this in general and gives a single sentence as to those efforts. Greg Young’s article outlines all the various groups Walker helped form and lists many of the major departments and organizations that supported a city as large as New York. Included is the Department of Sanitation, various parks and recreational spots and the hospitals in the City of New York. Walker was also the man who started the discussions which led to the New York City Subway system.
The Wikipedia article covers the final days in office for Jimmy Walker as Mayor of NYC. It provides a very short section on the pressure to leave the city which he got from Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Greg Young’s article provides more detail as to the relationship with this Governor as well. It outlines the fact that Walker’s behavior was getting in the way of Roosevelt’s nomination as President of the United States. It helps to give more details to the real reason behind Walker leaving the city and the mayor’s office and going off to Europe. It explains the real reason Roosevelt felt “pressure” to get rid of Jimmy Walker from New York politics.
Eventually, Jimmy Walker’s popularity as Mayor of New York City declined. With the Great Depression, his lavish lifestyle and excessive spending made him less appealing to the common man. No longer could he defend his extended vacations and absence from office or other unpopular decisions and criticisms (for example: supporting a friend’s privately run casino in Central Park).With the severe economic crisis and allegations of government corruption and political favoring, Walker was now being scrutinized. His inability to provide an adequate response to the people’s needs further spotlighted the inadequacy of his abilities as the leader of the city. (Connolly)
More importantly, though, Walker was the target of the state legislature in 1931 which was looking at the inner workings of the city government and potential corruption allegations. Initial probes provided revelations regarding illegal activities within the police department and the municipal courts. This set off an inquiry into his city affairs. Judge Samuel Seabury headed the investigation with evidence that Walker accepted bribes and received money from potential businesses seeking city contracts. Although Walker denied any wrongdoing, he was very evasive, stating that the money he received were “beneficences”- not bribes. To further avoid any other allegations, Walker resigned on September 1, 1932 before the Governor (Franklin Roosevelt) could remove him from office. (Connolly)
Wikipedia does a fair job in writing about the next career Jimmy Walker has when he returned to the United States. It briefly notes his work at Majestic Records. Greg Young provides more details as to the artists he worked with but also ties back to Walker’s love for the music continued into the 1940’s. As he did in his early years, music played an important part of his life and he came back to that influence in his later years.
Jimmy Walker’s life has influenced a number of movies, novels and plays beginning in 1957 with the film Beau James, starring Bob Hope. Wikipedia’s article provides its best detail in a separate section that talks about Jimmy Walker in popular culture. It gives an excellent summary of the many films, books and even a musical which were based on or influenced by the very colorful life that Jimmy Walker led. It gives a good sense of Jimmy Walker’s legacy and the way in which his very colorful life inspired Hollywood provided a lasting memory to a man who was both benevolent and underhanded.
Part 2- Proposed Edits
James John Walker, often known as Jimmy Walker and colloquially as Beau James (June 19, 1881 – November 18, 1946), was Mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. During a corruption scandal he was forced to resign.
Life and career
Walker was the son of Irish-born William Walker, a Democratic assemblyman and alderman from Greenwich Village, belying certain accounts of Walker's childhood that stated he grew up in poverty. Before entering politics, the young Jimmy Walker worked as a songwriter, his most popular composition being "Will You Love Me in December (as You Do in May)?" He attended an elite Jesuit school, Xavier High School (New York City), and New York Law School.
Walker was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 5th D.) in 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1915 to 1925, sitting in the 138th, 139th, 140th, 141st (all four 13th D.), 142nd, 143rd, 144th, 145th, 146th, 147th and 148th New York State Legislature (all seven 12th D.); and was Minority Leader from 1920 to 1922; Temporary President of the State Senate from 1923 to 1924; and Minority Leader again in 1925. In the Senate he heavily opposed prohibition. In 1926, he became Mayor of New York City, having defeated incumbent John F. Hylan in the 1925 Democratic primary with the help of Governor Alfred E. Smith and Tammany Hall.[1] (RED is Deleted)
After his years in the Senate, Jimmy Walker set his sights on the 1926 election for Mayor of New York. Beginning with the 1925 Democratic Primary for Mayor, Walker knew that to ultimately win the mayoral election he had to defeat John F. Hylan who was the current Mayor of New York. Walker’s reputation as an alcoholic, a womanizer and all round scoundrel would not make him the darling of New York politics in the best of times. Coupling his faults with the jumbled mess of these local elections, someone needed to help guide Walker’s candidacy. That someone was Alfred E. Smith who was then Governor of the State of New York. (Connolly)
Alfred Smith was a staunch supporter of Jimmy Walker since Walker backed many social and cultural issues that were considered politically important. These included social welfare legislation and legalization of boxing and Sunday baseball, condemning the Ku Klux Klan, and especially their mutual opposition of Prohibition. (Connolly)
Smith knew the secret to Walker’s winning the election and overcoming his tarnished reputation was for the Governor to guide Walker’s every move. Smith also had to enlist the help of the strong political machine of Tammany Hall to secure this victory. Finally Walker himself had to be willing to change some of his more unscrupulous ways or in the least, provide a cover for his indiscretions. As with many of the things in Jimmy Walker’s life, he chose the latter. Instead of ending his visits to the speakeasies and his friendships with chorus girls, he took those activities behind the closed doors of a penthouse funded by Tammany Hall. (Young)
Due to the influence of Tammany Hall in his victory, Walker’s defeat of Hylan is considered by some to be more of a coup. In the end, however, Walker did win over Hylan in the Democratic Primary and became Mayor of New York.
That election in 1925 was fierce. First, Smith had to dispense of Hylan in the Democratic primary – and in the halls of Tammany. The two split the storied political machine, but eventually Walker won out. [1] The initial years of his mayoralty were a prosperous time for the city, with many public works projects. (RED is deleted)
In his initial years as mayor, Walker saw the city prosper and many public works projects gain traction. In his first year as Mayor, Walker created the Department of Sanitation, unified New York’s public hospitals, improved many parks and playgrounds and guided the Board of Transportation to enter into contract for the construction of an expanded subway system. He even managed to maintain the five-cent subway fare despite a threatened strike by the workers. (Young)
However, Walker’s term was also known for the proliferation of speakeasies during the Prohibition era. It is a noted aspect of his career as Mayor and as a member of the State Senate that Walker was in heavy opposition of prohibition. As mayor, Walker led his administration in challenging the Eighteenth Amendment by replacing the police commissioner, pulling the police away from enforcing the law unless it was multiple infractions or would be newsworthy. (Lerner) Walker’s political rise in New York can be seen as representative of the states ascendance into being a “wet” state.[2] His affairs with “chorus girls” were widely known, and he left his wife, Janet, for showgirl Betty Compton without impairing his popularity. He managed to maintain the five-cent subway fare despite a threatened strike. (RED is deleted)
Walker won re-election by an overwhelming margin in 1929, defeating Republican Fiorello La Guardia and Socialist Norman Thomas. Walker’s fortunes turned downward with the economy after the stock-market crash of 1929. Patrick Joseph Hayes, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, denounced him, implying that the immorality of the mayor, both personal and political in tolerating “girlie magazines” and casinos was a cause of the economic downturn. This was one of the causes which led to Tammany Hall pulling their support for Walker.[3]
Increasing social unrest led to investigations into corruption within his administration, and he was eventually forced to testify before the investigative committee of Judge Samuel Seabury, the Seabury Commission. Walker caused his own downfall by accepting large sums of money from businessmen looking for municipal contracts.[4]
Facing pressure from Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Walker eluded questions about his personal bank accounts, stating instead that the money he received were “beneficences” and not bribes. (Connolly) He delayed any personal appearances until after Roosevelt’s nomination for President of the U.S. was secured. It was at that time that the embattled mayor could fight no longer. With Roosevelt coming up for national election, he needed to replace Walker and get him out of office. Walker complied and resigned on September 1, 1932, and went on a grand tour of Europe with Betty Compton, his Ziegfeld girl. (Young) Walker resigned from office on September 1, 1932, and promptly fled for Europe. Walker stayed in Europe until the danger of criminal prosecution appeared remote.[5] There, he married Betty Compton.
The grave of Jimmy Walker in Gate of Heaven Cemetery
After his return to the United States, for a time Walker acted as head of Majestic Records with a stable of artists that included Louis Prima and Bud Freeman. [3] He died in November 1946 at the age of 65 of a brain hemorrhage. He died at the age of 65, in 1946.[6] (RED is deleted) He was interred in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.
When Walker was a member of the New York State Senate, he sponsored the “Walker Law” which legalized boxing in New York. He was honored a number of times over the years by the boxing community. Walker is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and was given the Edward J. Neil Trophy in 1945 for his service to the sport. In popular culture
A romanticized version of Walker’s tenure as mayor was presented in the 1957 film Beau James, starring Bob Hope.[7] This was a somewhat accurate depiction of Walker seeing that during his time as mayor, he had become a symbol of the jazz age romanticism.[8] The film was based on a biography of Walker, also titled Beau James, written by Gene Fowler. This same book was also the basis for Jimmy, a stage musical about Walker that had a brief Broadway run from October 1969 to January 1970. The show starred Frank Gorshin as Walker and Anita Gillette as Betty Compton.[9] There is also a song about Walker in the stage musical Fiorello!, “Gentleman Jimmy”.[10]
Footage of Jimmy Walker is used in the 1983 Woody Allen film Zelig, with Walker being one of the guests during Zelig’s visit to William Randolph Hearst’s mansion, San Simeon. The novel It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, lists the exiles in Paris as “Jimmy Walker, and a few ex-presidents from South America and Cuba.”[11] Mayor Walker was referenced in “Last Call,” the December 6, 2010 episode of the ABC (USA) television series, Castle. The political and criminal activity surrounding Walker’s 1929 campaign features heavily in Tom Bradby’s 2009 novel Blood Money.
Works Cited 1. Connolly, James. “Walker, James J.” American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press, 01 February 2000. Web. 15 Oct 2013.
2. Lerner, Michael. Dry Manhattan. New York: First Harvard University Press, 2007. 160-70. Print.
3. Young, Greg “Mayor Jimmy Walker: a finer class of corruption” The Bowery Boys: New York City History Web 27 May 2009.