Tammany district leaders retained power by redistributing graft to constituents

Evidence

In the Fourth Ward, contracts were given out by Foley, one of the most remarkable of the Tammany district leaders who ran their districts—and looked after the welfare of the straight-ticket-voting Democrats in them—as English squires looked after the welfare of their country villages. “Big Tom” was a square-shaped mustachioed, quiet man who spent most of each day at the Downtown Tammany Club, listening to the cries for help—for a boy who had been arrested, for a process server who had been fired, for a policeman who had been shifted to a Staten Island beat—with unfailing patience. Although his saloons thrived, he was to die a poor man, their profits trickling, along with the payoffs and the campaign contributions, through his fingers into those of his constituents. The only payment he ever asked for the favors he dispensed was a straight Democratic vote—and so heartily were his constituents willing to make this form of repayment that his district regularly rolled up Democratic majorities that made him the most powerful district leader in the city. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 507

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s interest in patronage and how local machines monetize loyalty; echoes Milgrom on reputation systems sustaining cooperation in trade. — connects to: Tammany district bosses ran their wards as personal patronage fiefdoms — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 507; Social welfare legislation was adopted by Tammany as good politics — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 566
• SHARE: Tom Foley dying poor because his patronage profits flowed back to constituents is a compact, memorable anecdote for someone interested in machine politics.

Broader Connections

• Tammany district bosses ran their wards as personal patronage fiefdoms #corroborates (0.90) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 507
• Social welfare legislation was adopted by Tammany as good politics #qualifies (0.75) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 566