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Carter Harrison | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Harrison in 1911 | |
| 37th & 40th[1] Mayor of Chicago | |
| In office April 17, 1911 – April 26, 1915 | |
| Preceded by | Fred A. Busse |
| Succeeded by | William Hale Thompson |
| In office April 15, 1897 – April 10, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | George Bell Swift |
| Succeeded by | Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne |
| IRS Collector for the District of Chicago | |
| In office July 28, 1933 – 1944 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carter Henry Harrison (1860-04-23)April 23, 1860 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | December 25, 1953(1953-12-25) (aged 93) Chicago, Illinois |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Edith Ogden |
| Children | Carter Harrison V Edith Ogden Harrison II |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | College of St. Ignatius Yale Law School |
Carter Henry Harrison IV (April 23, 1860 – December 25, 1953) was an American newspaper publisher andDemocratic politician who served a total of five terms asmayor of Chicago (1897–1905 and 1911–1915) but failed in his attempt to become his party's presidential nominee in1904. Descended fromaristocratic Virginia families and the son of five-term Chicago mayorCarter Harrison III, this Carter Harrison (IV) became the first native Chicagoan[a] elected its mayor.
A 1994 survey of experts on Chicago politics assessed Harrison as one of the ten best mayors in the city's history (up to that time).[b]
Harrison was born on April 23, 1860,[citation needed] in Chicago at his family residence at the corner of the streets that are today known asClark andHarrison.[3]
Harrison's father,Carter Harrison III, served as mayor of Chicago andwas assassinated in October 1893.[4]
Harrison received his early education in Chicago, before finishing inSaxe-Altenburg,Germany.[4][3] He attended college in Chicago at the College of St. Ignatius, graduating in its class of 1881. He attended theYale Law School, receiving his law degree in 1883.[3]
Harrison practiced as a lawyer for five years, before returning to Chicago to help his brother Preston run theChicago Times (which their father bought in 1891).[3][5] Under the Harrisons the paper became a resolute supporter of the Democratic Party, and was the only local newspaper to support thePullman strikers in the mid-1890s.[citation needed] Harrison served as the newspaper's managing editor, while his brother served as its business manager.[3] The family sold the newspaper after the 1894 Pullman Strike,[3] and Harrison stopped working there in 1895.[5] The newspaper was soon merged with theChicago Herald to form theChicago Times-Herald. After leaving the newspaper industry, Harrison entered thereal estate industry and saw success.[3]
Similarly to his father, Harrison IV won election to five terms as Chicago's mayor.[4]
Harrison was first elected mayor in the1897 Chicago mayoral election. He would win election to three consecutive additional two-year terms in1899,1901, and1903.
Harrison was sworn in as mayor on April 15, 1897.[6]
Like his father, Harrison did not believe in trying to legislate morality. As mayor, Harrison believed that Chicagoans' two major desires were to make money and to spend it. During his administrations, Chicago's vice districts blossomed, and special maps were printed to enable tourists to find their way frombrothel to brothel. The name of one Chicago saloon-keeper of the time entered the English language as a term for a strong or laced drink intended to render unconsciousness:Mickey Finn.[7]
In the late-1890s, Altgeld aligned himself with thefree silver andWilliam Jennings Bryan-aligned wings of the national Democratic party.[3] Harrison was speculated as a potential candidate for his party's1900 presidential nomination.[3]
However, Harrison was seen as more of a reformer than his father, which helped him garner themiddle class votes his father had lacked. One of Harrison's biggest enemies wasCharles Yerkes, whose plans to monopolize Chicago'sstreetcar lines were vigorously attacked by the mayor. This was the beginning of theChicago Traction Wars, which would become a major focus of his administration. During his final term in office, Harrison established the Chicago Vice Commission and worked to close downthe Levee district, starting with theEverleigh Club brothel on October 24, 1911.[8]
Despite prolonged and damaging international press coverage blaming his lax municipal enforcement for the 602 lives lost in theIroquois Theatre fire on December 30, 1903 (still the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history),[9] Harrison hoped to become the1904 Democratic nominee forPresident of the United States. However, he was unsuccessful in this effort.[10] The nomination went toAlton B. Parker, who was soundlydefeated byTheodore Roosevelt.
Harrison declined to seek a fifth consecutive mayoral termin 1905, and was succeeded by fellow DemocratEdward Fitzsimmons Dunne on April 10, 1905.[11]
In 1907, attempting to stage a return to office, Harrison unsuccessfully challenged Dunne for the Democratic mayoral nomination.
In 1911, Harrison was elected to a four-year term as mayor. He as sworn in for his fifth nonconsecutive term as mayor on April 17, 1911.[12]
In 1914, Harrison convinced the city council to establish a Commission for the Encouragement of Local Art to purchase works of art by Chicago artists.[13] Harrison personally purchased artwork from painters such asVictor Higgins andWalter Ufer.[14]
Harrison sought a sixth overall term as mayorin 1915, but was defeated in the Democratic primary byRobert Sweitzer, who went on to lose the general election to RepublicanWilliam Hale Thompson. Harrison was succeeded in office by Thompson on April 26, 1915.[15]
_at_Graceland_Cemetery_1.jpg)
In 1915, when Harrison left office, Chicago had essentially reached its modern size in land area, and had a population of 2,400,000; the city was moving inexorably into its status as a major modern metropolis. He and his father had collectively been mayors of the city for 21 of the previous 36 years.
A 1994 survey of experts on Chicago politics saw Harrison ranked as one of the ten-best mayors in the city's history (up to that time).[2]
From 1933 through 1944, Harrison served as theInternal Revenue Service'scollector for district of Chicago. He was appointed to this position by presidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on July 28, 1933.[5]
Harrison served as the president of a commission which advocated for local arts.[16]
He published two autobiographies. One of these, a memoir entitledGrowing Up with Chicago, was published in 1944.[17]
Harrison died on December 25, 1953, at his Chicago apartment,[5] and is buried inGraceland Cemetery.[18]
His papers are held by Chicago'sNewberry Library.
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Harrison was a descendant ofRobert Carter I,Benjamin Harrison IV,William Randolph, andIsham Randolph of Dungeness.[19][20]
Harrison's wife,Edith Ogden Harrison, was a well-known writer of children's books and fairy tales in the first two decades of the 20th century.
Harrison as regarded to be an avid outdoorsman and sportsman. He appreciated nature, and also partook inequestrianism andhorseback riding. A skilledangler, he had gonefishing in states such asMichigan andFlorida as well as abroad in countries such asEgypt andSwitzerland.[3]
He was a member of many organizations including theFreemasons,Society of the Cincinnati,Sons of the Revolution,Sons of the American Revolution,Society of Colonial Wars,Veterans of Foreign Wars,American Legion, and theMilitary Order of the World Wars.[citation needed] He was also a member of Chicago's Century Cycling Club.[3] In 1907 Harrison became a hereditary member of the VirginiaSociety of the Cincinnati.
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