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45-511: Pendergast only briefly held elected office, as an alderman , but his capacity as chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party allowed him to use his large network of Irish family and friends to help the election of politicians, in some cases by voter fraud , and to hand out government contracts and patronage jobs. He became wealthy in the process, but his addiction to gambling, especially horse racing, later led to

90-642: A Catholic , he had nine brothers and sisters. The family's name is misspelled as Pendergest in the 1880 census and is listed accordingly. In the 1890s, the young Tom Pendergast worked in his older brother James Pendergast 's West Bottoms tavern. The West Bottoms were then an immigrant section of town located at the "bottom" of the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River above which spread the more prosperous sections of Kansas City. James Pendergast, an alderman in Kansas City's city council, tutored him in

135-569: A sheriff of the City of London . The title "Alderman" is used for both men and women and may be prefixed to a person's name (e.g., Alderman John Smith, Alderman Smith, or for women; Alderman Mrs (or Miss) Smith). In Scotland , the office of " baillie " bore some similarities to that of alderman in England and Wales. Depending on the jurisdiction, an alderman could have been part of the legislative or judicial local government. A "board of aldermen"

180-524: A "mayor" and "aldermen". Since 1994, all local and regional government areas in Queensland elect a "mayor" and "councillors". (Australian capital cities usually have a Lord Mayor ). An example of the use of the term alderman is evident in the City of Adelaide . Aldermen were elected from the electors in all the wards . Historically, in Canada , the term "alderman" was used for those persons elected to

225-475: A Mafia boss, Charles Carrollo , and Pendergast as part of Morgenthau's crackdown on corruption and organized crime. Despite Pendergast's history of delivering votes for Roosevelt and other leading Democrats, Morgenthau directed his subordinates to "let the chips fall where they may". With investigations looming, Stark turned against Pendergast, which prompted federal investigations and the pulling of federal funds from Pendergast's control. In 1939 Edward L. Schneider,

270-645: A boy) at their home on 5650 Ward Parkway . He was a member of the Knight of Columbus , which used his connection to reach Truman during the 1930s persecution of Catholics and others in Mexico . Pendergast ruled from a simple two-story yellow brick building at 1908 Main Street. Messages marked with his red scrawl were used to secure all manner of favors. He was unquestionably corrupt, and there were regularly shootouts and beatings on election days during his watch. However,

315-479: A bribe received to pay off gambling debts. After serving 15 months in prison at the nearby United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth , he lived quietly at his home, 5650 Ward Parkway, in his later years. Pendergast died on January 26, 1945, at Menorah Medical Center , which at the time was located in Kansas City, Missouri . He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City. Pendergast's headquarters at 1908 Main

360-576: A convention hotel at the site. The city considered the two proposals it received in 2011 as lackluster and were considering reopening the bidding process for a different downtown location. The building lost its last tenant, BNIM, a Kansas City-based architecture and planning firm, on September 2, 2014. The 36-story Power & Light building began a conversion into an apartment tower in October 2014. The project, led by NorthPoint Development of Riverside, which has now been completed includes 210 apartments in

405-516: A hand in other projects like the Power and Light Building , Fidelity Bank and Trust Building , Municipal Auditorium , and the construction of inner-city high schools. Pendergast placed many of his associates in positions of authority throughout Jackson County and exercised strong influence in determining the Democratic candidates for statewide office. For example, he picked Guy Brasfield Park as

450-1049: A high-ranking member of a borough or county council , a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote , or a council member elected by voters. The title is derived from the Old English title of ealdorman , which literally means "elder person", and which was used by the chief nobles presiding over shires . Similar titles exist in other Germanic languages, such as ålderman in Swedish , oldermann in Norwegian , rådmand in Danish and Low German , Olderman in West Frisian , ouderman in Dutch , and Ältermann in German . Finnish also has oltermanni , which

495-472: A large accumulation of personal debts. In 1939, he was convicted of income tax evasion and served 15 months in a federal prison. The Pendergast organization helped to launch the political career of future president Harry S. Truman , which caused Truman's early enemies to dub him "the senator from Pendergast". Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to close friends as "TJ", was born in St. Joseph, Missouri . Raised as

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540-403: A long term of service (commonly 20 years), or a combination of term of service along with leadership positions held within the council. In some councils the title is automatically conferred on the mayor regardless of their term of service. Although the term originated in England, it had no single definition there until the 19th century, as each municipal corporation had its own constitution. It

585-490: A municipal council to represent the wards. As women were increasingly elected to municipal office, the term " councillor " slowly replaced "alderman", although there was some use of the term "alderperson". Today, the title of "alderman" is rarely used except in some cities in Alberta and Ontario , as well as some smaller municipalities elsewhere in the country, that retain the title for historical reasons. The title "alderman"

630-722: A term of six years, which allowed a party that narrowly lost an election to retain control by choosing aldermen. This was changed by the Municipal Corporations Amendment Act 1910, so that outgoing aldermen were no longer allowed to vote. County councils , created in Great Britain in 1889 and in Ireland in 1899, also elected aldermen, but rural district and urban district councils did not. The Local Government Act 1972 finally abolished Aldermen with voting rights, with effect from 1974, except in

675-513: A wide-open town with every kind of vice imaginable, combined with his professed compassion for the poor and very real role as city builder, made him bigger than life, difficult to characterize. Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting

720-673: Is essentially an upper house of a bicameral legislature (as it was in New York City until the 20th century). In Illinois , the Illinois Municipal Code allows for the formation and existence of an aldermanic-city form of municipal government. As an example, in Chicago , the Chicago City Council is composed of fifty aldermen (not councilors). As of 2021, Chicago aldermen are legally referred to by

765-473: Is listed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places. During his military service during World War I , Harry Truman had become close friends with Jim Pendergast, T. J.'s nephew. When Truman's attempt at a clothing business failed in 1922, Jim Pendergast suggested that he run for a "judgeship" in eastern Jackson County (actually an administrative, rather than a judicial position). With

810-600: Is little used in England and Wales, but is used more often in Northern Ireland, where councils may also designate up to a quarter of their elected councillors as aldermen. In the City of London , but not elsewhere in London , aldermen are still elected for each of the wards of the City by the regular electorate. To be a candidate to be Lord Mayor of the City of London , it is necessary to be an alderman and to have been

855-467: Is the governing executive or legislative body of many cities and towns in the United States. Boards of aldermen are used in many rural areas of the United States as opposed to a larger city council or city commission ; its members are typically called "alderman". The term is sometimes used instead of city council , but it can also refer to an executive board independent of the council, or to what

900-425: The 1940 US Senate election . It was a very bitter campaign, which made both men lifelong enemies. Truman was re-elected after US Attorney Maurice Milligan , who had prosecuted Pendergast, also entered the race, which caused Milligan and Stark to split the anti-Pendergast vote. In his second term as Senator, with Pendergast out of power and World War II underway, Truman was finally able to shake his association with

945-676: The Art Deco building has been a prominent part of Kansas City's skyline . The structure was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon its completion after succeeding the Smith Tower until the completion of the Space Needle in 1962. The east façade of the building faces the Power & Light District (which bears its name), and the building's iconic lantern appears on promotional materials and signage for

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990-497: The Greater London Council and the London borough councils , where they remained a possibility until 1978. Councils in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland still have the power to create honorary aldermen and alderwomen, as a reward for their services as a councillor, but must do so at a special meeting, and in each case the granting of the title needs to be approved by two-thirds of those attending. This power

1035-541: The State of Illinois as alderpersons, though the terms alderman and aldermanic remain in common use. Some cities such as, Ithaca, New York identify aldermen as 'alderpersons'. Others, including New Haven, Connecticut , use the term "alders". Historically the term could also refer to local municipal judges in small legal proceedings (as in Pennsylvania and Delaware ). Pennsylvania's aldermen were phased out in

1080-435: The 33rd President of the United States. Two of his biographers have summed up Pendergast's uniqueness as a political boss : Pendergast may bear comparison to various big-city bosses, but his open alliance with hardened criminals, his cynical subversion of the democratic process, his monarchistic style of living, his increasingly insatiable gambling habit, his grasping for a business empire, and his promotion of Kansas City as

1125-521: The Democratic candidate for Missouri governor in 1932 after the previous candidate, Francis Wilson, died two weeks before the election. Pendergast also extended his rule into neighboring cities such as Omaha, Nebraska , and Wichita, Kansas , where members of his family had set up branches of the Ready-Mixed Concrete company. The Pendergast stamp was to be found in the packing plant industries, local politics, bogus construction contracts, and

1170-525: The Pendergast days. Despite Prohibition , Pendergast's machine and a bribed police force allowed alcohol and gambling . Additionally, many elections were fixed to keep political friends in power. In return, Pendergast's companies like Ready-Mixed Concrete were awarded government contracts. Under a $ 40 million bond program, the city constructed many civic buildings during the Depression. Among

1215-454: The Pendergast machine and build a national reputation as a military spending reformer. In early 1945, the newly-inaugurated Vice President shocked many when he attended the Pendergast funeral. He was reportedly the only elected official who attended. Truman brushed aside the criticism and said simply: "He was always my friend and I have always been his." On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office and Pendergast's one-time protégé became

1260-505: The district and even Kansas City as a whole. The building was designed by the Kansas City architecture firm of Hoit, Price and Barnes , which also designed Municipal Auditorium and 909 Walnut . Rumor for years said the original plans included a twin building to be paired on the immediate west side of the building, but the second tower was never built due to the effects of the Great Depression on local real estate prices. This

1305-503: The diversities of the city's political ways and systems and in the strategic advantages of controlling blocs of voters. James retired in 1910 and died the next year after he had named Tom as his successor. After his brother's death, Tom Pendergast served in the city council until he stepped down in 1916 to focus on consolidating the factions of the Jackson County Democratic Party . In 1925 a new city charter

1350-634: The early 20th century. Kansas City Power and Light Building The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the KCP&;L Building and the Power and Light Building ) is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri . It was constructed by Kansas City Power and Light President and Edison Pioneer, Joseph F. Porter in 1931 as a way to promote new jobs in Downtown Kansas City . Since then,

1395-473: The first several candidates elected were styled "alderman" and the rest "councillor". Someone co-opted to fill a seat vacated by an alderman would be styled "councillor". In the Netherlands, an alderman (Dutch: wethouder ) is part of the municipal executive and not of the municipal council , which controls the aldermen's actions in office. The alderman is comparable to the office of minister at

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1440-418: The help of the Pendergast organization, Truman was elected to that and later to a similar county-wide position. In 1934, after several other potential candidates turned him down, T. J. was persuaded to support Truman, whom he considered something of a lightweight, for the Democratic nomination for a US Senate seat. Truman prevailed in a close primary and went on to win in the general election. Although Truman

1485-526: The historic tower, with an additional 81 units constructed wrapping around and built above a new 500 stall parking garage serving the building. The building lobby was converted into a premier event space holding up to 500 guests. The conversion made it Missouri's tallest residential-only building. The Kansas City Power and Light Building is crowned by an ornate Art Deco lantern, which features prismatic glass panels concealing red-orange lights that glow each evening at sunset. Originally, each recessed setback of

1530-762: The jazz scene in those cities as well. Pendergast's downfall was related to a falling out with Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark . Pendergast had endorsed Stark, the heir to an agricultural fortune and known for promoting the Golden Delicious variety of apples , for governor in 1936. Pendergast was out of the country during the election, and his followers were even more obvious and corrupt than usual in Stark's successful election. With Mafia -related shootings and election violence underway in Jackson County, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. went after

1575-400: The national level. However, the alderman can not propose bills to the council. The alderman can be forced to resign by a vote of no confidence by the council. In South Africa, the term alderman refers to senior members of municipal councils . They are distinguished from ordinary councillors for their "long and distinguished service as a councillor". The title may be awarded on the basis of

1620-561: The permissive go-go days also gave rise to the golden era of Kansas City jazz (now commemorated at the American Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine ) as well as a golden era of building in Kansas City. Pendergast tried to portray a "common touch" and made attention-grabbing displays of helping pay medical bills, providing "jobs", and hosting famous Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the poor. Fraud and intimidation often caused Kansas City voter turnout to be close to 100 percent in

1665-687: The projects were the Jackson County Courthouse, in Downtown Kansas City, and the concrete "paving" of Brush Creek , near the Country Club Plaza . (A local urban legend , in which bodies of Pendergast opponents were thought to be buried under the Brush Creek concrete, was finally put to rest when the concrete was torn up for a renewal project in the 1980s, and no bodies were found.) Pendergast also had

1710-547: The secretary-treasurer of eight of the Pendergast businesses, killed himself. Another factor in the downfall was Pendergast's failing health. Shortly after attending the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 1936, he was taken ill and later diagnosed with colon cancer and was in poor health for the remainder of his life. In 1939, Pendergast was arraigned for failing to pay taxes on

1755-486: Was Missouri's tallest habitable structure from 1931 until the completion of One U.S. Bank Plaza in St. Louis in 1976. Kansas City Power & Light Co. left the building in 1991. In 2010 Kansas City selected the area adjacent to the Power and Light Building as a potential location for a hotel and convention center, to fulfill a need for the city. However, the city only received two proposals from property developers for

1800-602: Was abolished for local authorities in the Republic of Ireland by the Local Government Act 2001 , with effect from the 2004 local elections . Early usage of the term mirrored that of England and Wales . Local elections since the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 have used the single transferable vote in multiple-member electoral areas. In each electoral area of a borough or county borough ,

1845-554: Was borrowed from Swedish. All of these words mean "elder person" or "wise man". Many local government bodies used the term "alderman" in Australia. As in the way local councils have been modernised in the United Kingdom and Ireland , the term alderman has been discontinued in a number of places. For example, in the state of Queensland before 1994, rural "shires" elected "councillors" and a "chairman", while "cities" elected

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1890-454: Was debunked in 2013 by local architect Dan Hicks who reviewed plans and interviewed Clarence Kivett , a well known architect working for Hoit, Price and Barnes at the time of the building design. The west side of the building has no windows because it was meant to be a firewall if there was a structure building built immediately next to it, plus the elevator shafts are along that side of the building. The Power and Light Building, at 34 stories,

1935-401: Was derisively named "the senator from Pendergast" by his opponents, he does not appear to have had a close personal relationship with Pendergast himself. Both men met on only a handful of occasions and were photographed together only once, at the 1936 Democratic Party convention. After Pendergast was convicted of income tax evasion , Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark sought to unseat Truman in

1980-469: Was passed that placed the city under the auspices of a city manager picked by a smaller council. Though the charter had been intended to free Kansas City of political bossism , Pendergast's candidates were able to win five of the nine seats on the council, allowing Pendergast to gain control of the city government. Pendergast married Caroline Snyder in February 1911 and raised three children (two girls and

2025-528: Was used in England, Wales and Ireland / Northern Ireland (all of Ireland being part of the United Kingdom from January 1801 until December 1922), but was not used in Scotland . Under the Municipal Reform Act 1835 , municipal borough corporations consisted of councillors and aldermen. Aldermen would be elected not by the electorate, but by the council (including the outgoing aldermen), for

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