From his first election in 1955 to 1976, Mayor Richard J. Daley dominated Chicago's political landscape. A product of the Irish Catholic working class, Daley never lost touch with his roots as he rose through the Democratic Party machine--whose workings he perfected--to become a powerful and enduring political figure.

The story of Daley is also the story of Chicago. Faced with issues confronting many American cities in the twentieth century--civil rights, integration, race riots, fiscal crisis, housing, suburban flight, urban renewal--Daley conducted Chicago's business with a steadfast resolve to withstand the many changes that threatened to engulf his city. Richard J. Daley portrays one of the most prominent American mayors in a balanced perspective and sheds new light on his place in urban history.