American Pharaoh by Elizabeth Taylor, Adam Cohen Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Taylor, Adam Cohen
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Dawson’s political future was mapped out for him the following year when a Democratic lawyer took his
aldermanic seat away. Unable to beat the Democrats, Dawson decided to join them. 21
Just as Dawson was preparing to jump ship, Kelly and Nash were looking for established black leaders to represent the machine
in the city’s black wards. The need was particularly dire in Dawson’s own 2nd Ward. The Democratic ward committeeman for the
2nd Ward was a white man who was loathed by his black constituents. It was hard to blame blacks for being dissatisfied with
him: when meeting with constituents at the ward office, he talked to every white in the room first, and then held what he
called “colored folks hour” for the blacks who remained. He also made a point of giving his most lucrative patronage positions
to whites who lived outside the ward. 22 Kelly and Nash were worried that blacks would shift back to the Republican Party or, more dangerous still, start their own
Democratic organization. Before the end of the year, they offered the position of Democratic 2nd Ward committeeman to Dawson,
who eagerly accepted. 23
With this new lease on political life, Dawson immediately set to work consolidating his power. His biggest obstacle was that
he held only one of the two major political positions in the ward — Alderman Earl Dickerson had the other. Kelly and Nash
were happy to have the two men serve as coleaders of the ward, but Dawson regarded that arrangement as intolerable. He schemed
to undermine Dickerson every way he could think of, including “forgetting” to invite his rival to important meetings. But
Dawson’s biggest advantage in this intra-ward battle was that Dickerson was serving as president of the Chicago Urban League
and had begun speaking out in favor of civil rights. Though Kelly was relatively supportive on the issue of racial discrimination,
there was no room in the Democratic machine for a politician who put civil rights ahead of loyalty to the organization. Dickerson’s
worst run-in with the machine leadership came when he opposed a bill in the City Council favored by Mayor Kelly, because it
would not have barred unions from discriminating on the basis of race. Dawson, who steered clear of the race question, rose
in the machine’s estimation as Dickerson fell. In 1942, Congressman Mitchell decided not to run for reelection, and both Dawson
and Dickerson wanted his seat. Not surprisingly, the machine backed the compliant Dawson over the “race man” Dickerson, and
Dawson won the Democratic primary handily. Dawson still had a tough race against a Republican, and Dickerson’s support may
have made the difference. Dawson had promised Dickerson that, in return, he would back him for reelection. But once Dawson
was elected to Congress, he quietly brought a machine ally named William Harvey down to City Hall to seek Mayor Kelly’s blessing.
With the backing of Kelly and the machine, Harvey defeated the double-crossed Dickerson and put the 2nd Ward aldermanic seat
firmly under Dawson’s control. 24
With his home ward now secure, Dawson began to turn his attention to neighboring wards that were in racial transition. In
these, the racial change usually came to the machine hierarchy from the bottom up. White ward committeemen generally kept
their jobs, but they added more and more black precinct captains, in some cases creating a virtual mini–black submachine at
the ward level. In the Near South Side 6th Ward, the longtime white ward committeeman adapted to the racial transition by
segregating his precinct captains along racial lines and designating a black man named Emett Paige to serve as de facto boss
over the black precinct captains. “Paige would call the black precincts together, sort of herded them together, and anything
of reference to blacks getting jobs, problems of the blacks, would be referred to ‘Doc’ Paige,” recalled one
aldermanic seat away. Unable to beat the Democrats, Dawson decided to join them. 21
Just as Dawson was preparing to jump ship, Kelly and Nash were looking for established black leaders to represent the machine
in the city’s black wards. The need was particularly dire in Dawson’s own 2nd Ward. The Democratic ward committeeman for the
2nd Ward was a white man who was loathed by his black constituents. It was hard to blame blacks for being dissatisfied with
him: when meeting with constituents at the ward office, he talked to every white in the room first, and then held what he
called “colored folks hour” for the blacks who remained. He also made a point of giving his most lucrative patronage positions
to whites who lived outside the ward. 22 Kelly and Nash were worried that blacks would shift back to the Republican Party or, more dangerous still, start their own
Democratic organization. Before the end of the year, they offered the position of Democratic 2nd Ward committeeman to Dawson,
who eagerly accepted. 23
With this new lease on political life, Dawson immediately set to work consolidating his power. His biggest obstacle was that
he held only one of the two major political positions in the ward — Alderman Earl Dickerson had the other. Kelly and Nash
were happy to have the two men serve as coleaders of the ward, but Dawson regarded that arrangement as intolerable. He schemed
to undermine Dickerson every way he could think of, including “forgetting” to invite his rival to important meetings. But
Dawson’s biggest advantage in this intra-ward battle was that Dickerson was serving as president of the Chicago Urban League
and had begun speaking out in favor of civil rights. Though Kelly was relatively supportive on the issue of racial discrimination,
there was no room in the Democratic machine for a politician who put civil rights ahead of loyalty to the organization. Dickerson’s
worst run-in with the machine leadership came when he opposed a bill in the City Council favored by Mayor Kelly, because it
would not have barred unions from discriminating on the basis of race. Dawson, who steered clear of the race question, rose
in the machine’s estimation as Dickerson fell. In 1942, Congressman Mitchell decided not to run for reelection, and both Dawson
and Dickerson wanted his seat. Not surprisingly, the machine backed the compliant Dawson over the “race man” Dickerson, and
Dawson won the Democratic primary handily. Dawson still had a tough race against a Republican, and Dickerson’s support may
have made the difference. Dawson had promised Dickerson that, in return, he would back him for reelection. But once Dawson
was elected to Congress, he quietly brought a machine ally named William Harvey down to City Hall to seek Mayor Kelly’s blessing.
With the backing of Kelly and the machine, Harvey defeated the double-crossed Dickerson and put the 2nd Ward aldermanic seat
firmly under Dawson’s control. 24
With his home ward now secure, Dawson began to turn his attention to neighboring wards that were in racial transition. In
these, the racial change usually came to the machine hierarchy from the bottom up. White ward committeemen generally kept
their jobs, but they added more and more black precinct captains, in some cases creating a virtual mini–black submachine at
the ward level. In the Near South Side 6th Ward, the longtime white ward committeeman adapted to the racial transition by
segregating his precinct captains along racial lines and designating a black man named Emett Paige to serve as de facto boss
over the black precinct captains. “Paige would call the black precincts together, sort of herded them together, and anything
of reference to blacks getting jobs, problems of the blacks, would be referred to ‘Doc’ Paige,” recalled one
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