1. Tammany Hall NYC’s Democratic Political Machine

2. Tammany Hall o the NYC Tammany Society first organized in the 1780 s o named after a respected Delaware chieftain- Tamanend

3. The Cincinnati Society o Established in 1783 among the leading officers of the Continental Army. o Political supporters of George Washington: the gentleman warrior whose personal post-war actions mirrored those of the Roman citizen- general Cincinnatus

4. Tammany Hall o After 1839, a Democratic Party affiliate o Served an increasing Irish immigrant population from the famine years onward

5. “Boss” William Marcy Tweed o 1823-1878 o Gained top status at Tammany beginning in 1858

6. Tammany Hall o Began construction on a New York County Courthouse that same year, estimated to cost $350,000

7. The Cash Cow Courthouse o Over the next 12 years, the costs ballooned to $13 million thanks to Tweed and his ring of Tammany & City Hall cronies

8. the “Tweed Ring”

9. “Spoils” at its worst o The Courthouse project was just a drop in the bucket of a city- wide system of political graft believed to total perhaps $200 million

10. “Boss” Tweed’s share… $50 million

11. “The Brains”

12. The “Tammany Tiger”

13. “…Those Damn Pictures!” Thomas “Nasty” Nast o 1840-1902 o America’s pioneering “muckraker” journalist o Appointed Consul to Ecuador in 1902 by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, he died there of Yellow Fever

14. The Fall of the “Boss” o December 15, 1871- off to prison (& eventual death) for “Boss” Tweed

15. Tammany Hall Reborn o After 1872, Tammany was dominated by the Irish : “Honest” John Kelly “Boss” Richard Croker “Silent” Charles Murphy

16. Thanks to Thomas Nast:

18. o Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!