This classic work presents the candid wit and wisdom of George Washington Plunkitt (1842–1924), a longtime state senator from New York who represented the Fifteenth Assembly District and was especially powerful in New York City. Plunkitt was part of the city's Tammany Hall organization and a cynical practitioner of what today is generally known as "machine politics," a patronage-based system in which politicians openly exercise power for personal gain.Plunkitt defined "dishonest gra...

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall**, first published in 1905, provides an extraordinary account of the political corruption and profiteering of George Washington Plunkitt, a long-time district leader in the New York Democratic Party's political machine in Manhattan.** Reporter William L. Riordon immortalized Plunkitt's banter and bluster by reorganizing the raconteur's impromptu speeches, conversations, and interviews into discourses published first in New York newspapers ...

Plunkitt of Tammany HallA Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical PoliticsWilliam L. Riordan“Nobody thinks of drawin’ the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft.”This classic work offers the unblushing, unvarnished wit and wisdom of one of the most fascinating figures ever to play the American political game and win. George Washington Plunkitt rose from impoverished beginnings to become ward boss of the Fifteenth Assembly District in New Yor...