In the 1870s, a high-water mark for political corruption, William Magear Tweed ruled New York City through Tammany Hall. His Ring padded city contracts by five, ten, and a hundred times, turned a 250,000-dollar courthouse into a 13-million-dollar one, and stole somewhere around 50 million dollars, about 1.4 billion today. This episode follows Tweed from a Cherry Street chairmaker's household to the Big Six fire company, Congress, and control of Tammany, then the fall: the New York Times printing the leaked ledgers, Thomas Nast's cartoons, Samuel Tilden's evidence, arrest, conviction on 204 counts, escape to Spain, and recognition from a cartoon. He died in the Ludlow Street Jail in 1878.

Tilden rode the case to the governorship and the 1876 Democratic nomination, then lost the presidency by one electoral vote in the deal that also ended Reconstruction. Tammany's Irish immigrant base grew out of the migration told in Of Popery and Patriotism, and the Gilded Age city Tweed looted was the one the railroads had made the nation's hub. Mark Twain, who mocked Tweed in 1871, is the same Twain who toasted Grant in rebuilt Chicago eight years later.

Key Takeaways

• In the first half of American history, the 1870s were a high-water mark for political corruption, and William Magear Tweed, six feet and some three hundred pounds, embodied it more completely than anyone. On September 27, 1871, Mark Twain published the Revised Catechism in the New York Tribune: Money is God, and William Tweed is his prophet.

• Tammany Hall was a building, a fraternal society, and a political war room. The Society of St. Tammany was organized in 1789 as a patriotic club for tradesmen, with mock Native American titles such as sachem and grand sachem and a meeting place called the wigwam. It became the Democratic machine of New York County.

• Tweed was born April 3, 1823, at 1 Cherry Street, the youngest child of a chairmaker. In 1848 he helped organize Americus Engine Company No. 6, the Big Six, whose snarling Bengal tiger Tammany later adopted as its mascot. He served one term in Congress, 1853 to 1855, ran the Seventh Ward by 1858, headed Tammany's nominating committee by 1860, and opened a law office that collected corporate fees for political influence.

• In 1863 Tweed took control of Tammany's general committee. Elected to the state Senate in 1867, he was known as Boss Tweed by 1868. In 1870 he forced through a city charter creating a Board of Audit that gave the Tweed Ring control of the city treasury.

• The Ring's signature tactic was the padded contract: a contractor inflated an invoice by five, ten, or a hundred times, the city paid in full, and the contractor kept a cut and kicked the rest back. The New York County Courthouse, budgeted at about 250,000 dollars, cost 12 to 13 million. It is still called the Tweed Courthouse.

• Investigators later put the Ring's theft at around 50 million dollars, about 1.4 billion today. Tweed became one of the city's largest landowners, with printing, hotel, and railroad interests, and controlled the ballot count and Democratic nominations for city and county offices from 1860 to 1871.

• The Big Four were Tweed, Mayor A. Oakey Hall, Peter Brains Sweeny, the strategist and parks commissioner, and Richard Slippery Dick Connolly, who controlled the books. Mayors John T. Hoffman and Hall were both elected under Tammany patronage.

• On July 8, 1871, the New York Times began printing secret ledger accounts leaked from Tweed's circle. Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly cartoons drew the Boss as a bloated vulture and Tammany as a tiger. Samuel J. Tilden led the search for evidence, and Connolly cooperated with investigators at his partners' expense.

• Tweed was arrested in late October 1871, prosecuted by Charles O'Conor, and convicted in November 1873 on 204 misdemeanor counts, sentenced to twelve consecutive one-year terms. In 1875 the Court of Appeals cut the sentence to one year, and he was rearrested in a civil suit to recover the money. Hall was tried and not convicted; Sweeny fled and later settled for 400,000 dollars; Connolly jumped bail and died in Marseille in 1880.

• In 1875, during an authorized home visit, Tweed escaped, fled to Spain by way of Cuba, and was arrested in 1876 after Spanish officials reportedly recognized him from Nast's drawings. He died of pneumonia in the Ludlow Street Jail on April 12, 1878, at fifty-five.

• Tilden's role in breaking the Ring made him governor of New York and, less than two years later, the Democratic nominee for president under the slogans Tilden and Reform and Honest Tilden. He won the popular vote, but an Electoral Commission awarded all twenty disputed electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, who took the presidency 185 to 184, the bargain that ended Reconstruction.

• Tammany's influence collapsed in the 1960s and the organization effectively ceased in 1967. Like Benedict Arnold's name for a traitor, Boss Tweed politics remains an American byword for civic corruption.

Sign up here to be the first to know about new History250 releases, content & resources!

Questions & Answers (FAQ)

Q1: Who was Boss Tweed?

William Magear Tweed, born April 3, 1823, on Cherry Street in New York, rose from a fire company foreman to leader of Tammany Hall, the Democratic machine of New York County, and by 1868 was known as Boss Tweed. Through the Tweed Ring he controlled city nominations, the ballot count, and after 1870 the city treasury.

Q2: What was Tammany Hall?

The Society of St. Tammany was organized in 1789 as a patriotic club for tradesmen, using mock Native American titles like sachem and calling its meeting place the wigwam. It became the Democratic political machine of New York County, and Tammany Hall was at once a building, a fraternal society, and a political war room. Its influence collapsed in the 1960s and it effectively ceased in 1967.

Q3: How did the Tweed Ring steal money?

Mainly through padded contracts. A contractor inflated an invoice by five, ten, or a hundred times, the city paid the full amount, and the contractor kept a cut and kicked the rest back to Tweed and his partners. The New York County Courthouse, budgeted at about 250,000 dollars, cost 12 to 13 million. Investigators put the total theft around 50 million dollars, roughly 1.4 billion today.

Q4: Who were the Big Four?

Tweed; Mayor A. Oakey Hall; Peter Brains Sweeny, the city chamberlain and parks commissioner known as the strategist; and Richard Slippery Dick Connolly, who controlled the books and payments.

Q5: How was Boss Tweed brought down?

On July 8, 1871, the New York Times began printing secret ledger accounts leaked from inside the Ring. Thomas Nast's Harper's Weekly cartoons showed Tweed as a vulture and Tammany as a tiger. Samuel J. Tilden led the search for evidence, Connolly turned on his partners, and Tweed was arrested in late October 1871.

Q6: What happened to Tweed after his conviction?

Convicted in November 1873 on 204 misdemeanor counts and sentenced to twelve consecutive one-year terms, he saw the sentence cut to one year in 1875, then was rearrested in a civil suit. During an authorized home visit in 1875 he escaped, fled to Spain by way of Cuba, and was arrested in 1876 after Spanish officials recognized him from Nast's drawings. He died of pneumonia in the Ludlow Street Jail on April 12, 1878, at fifty-five.

Q7: What did Samuel Tilden get out of it?

His role in breaking the Ring made him governor of New York and, less than two years later, the Democratic nominee for president in 1876, running as Honest Tilden. He won the popular vote, but an Electoral Commission awarded all twenty disputed electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, who won 185 to 184.

Q8: Why does the name Boss Tweed still matter?

Like Benedict Arnold's name for a traitor, Boss Tweed politics remains an American byword for civic corruption, and the courthouse his Ring looted is still called the Tweed Courthouse.

A High-Water Mark for Corruption

In the first half of American history, the 1870s were a high-water mark for political corruption. Few embodied that turn of affairs more completely than William Tweed, better known as Boss Tweed. At six feet and some three hundred pounds, he ruled politics in America's biggest city, New York. By the time he was done working the system to his advantage, the political ring he led cheated New Yorkers out of enormous amounts of public funds. On September 27, 1871, in the financial section of the New York Tribune, Mark Twain published a biting satire called the Revised Catechism: Who is God, the one only and true? Money is God. Gold and greenbacks and stock, father, son, and the ghost of the same, three persons in one: these are the true and only God, mighty and supreme; and William Tweed is his prophet.

Tammany Hall

Tammany Hall was the center of Boss Tweed's power. It was at once a building, a fraternal organization, and a political war room. The Society of St. Tammany was organized in 1789. It began as a private patriotic club for tradesmen. Members used mock Native American titles, sachem and grand sachem, and called their meeting place a wigwam. Tammany Hall became the Democratic machine of New York County.

Cherry Street to the Big Six

Its most notorious leader, William Magear Tweed, was born on April 3, 1823, at 1 Cherry Street, near Franklin Square. His father, Richard, was a chairmaker; his mother was Eliza Magear. William was the youngest of several children. In 1844 Tweed married Mary Jane Skaden. The couple lived two years with her parents at 193 Madison Street. In 1848 Tweed helped organize Americus Engine Company No. 6, the Big Six. He later served as foreman. The company painted a snarling Bengal tiger on its engine. Tammany Hall would later adopt the tiger for its mascot.

Congress, the Seventh Ward, and a Law Office

Tweed served one term in the U.S. House, 1853 to 1855, then came home to New York City. By 1858 he sat on Tammany's general committee and ran the Seventh Ward. By 1860 he headed the committee that made city nominations. That year, he opened a law office that collected corporate fees for political influence. In 1863, Tweed took control of Tammany's general committee and emerged as the organization's dominant leader. Elected to the New York State Senate in 1867, he took office in January 1868. By then he was widely known as Boss Tweed.

Padded Contracts and the Tweed Courthouse

In 1870 he forced through a city charter that created a Board of Audit, which, in turn, gave the Tweed Ring control of the city treasury. Among their tactics, the Ring used padded contracts: a contractor submitted an invoice for work or supplies that was inflated far beyond the real cost, by 5, 10, or even 100 times. The city paid the full inflated amount. The contractor then kept a cut and kicked the rest back to Tweed and his partners.

The New York County Courthouse, for example, though budgeted at about 250,000 dollars, cost about 12 to 13 million, most of which went to members of the Tweed Ring and their favored contractors. To this day, that original courthouse is known as the Tweed Courthouse. Investigators later put the Ring's theft somewhere around 50 million dollars, or 1.4 billion in today's currency. Tweed himself became one of the city's largest landowners, with printing, hotel, and railroad interests. Other tactics included controlling the ballot count at election time. From 1860 to 1871, Tweed controlled Democratic nominations for New York City and New York County offices.

The Big Four

Mayors John T. Hoffman and A. Oakey Hall were both elected under Tammany patronage. Hall, in fact, was one of the big four in the Tweed Ring. Besides Tweed and Hall, the other two members of the Big Four were Peter Brains Sweeny, a city chamberlain and parks commissioner, known as the strategist, and Richard B. Slippery Dick Connolly. Connolly controlled the books and payments.

The Times, Nast, and Tilden

On July 8, 1871, The New York Times began printing secret ledger accounts leaked from within Tweed's circle. Harper's Weekly cartoons by Thomas Nast showed the Boss as a bloated vulture and Tammany as a tiger, harkening back to the mascot employed by Tweed. Samuel J. Tilden played a leading role in finding evidence of Tweed's corruption. As legal and public pressure mounted, members of Tweed's Ring attempted to shift the blame. Connolly especially cooperated with investigators, at the expense of his cohorts.

Arrest, Conviction, and Escape

Tweed was arrested in late October 1871. Charles O'Conor led the prosecution. Tweed was convicted in November 1873 on 204 misdemeanor counts and sentenced to twelve consecutive one-year terms. In 1875, however, the New York Court of Appeals ruled the total sentence unlawful and limited his imprisonment to one year. He was then rearrested in a civil action seeking recovery of stolen money.

Hall was tried but not convicted. Sweeny fled abroad but eventually returned and settled with the city for 400,000 dollars. Connolly fled while free on bail and died in Marseille, France, in 1880. In 1875, during an authorized home visit while in the custody of jail officials, Tweed escaped, fled to Spain by way of Cuba, and was arrested in 1876 after Spanish officials reportedly recognized him from Thomas Nast's drawings. In one of his cartoons, Nast predicted that Tweed could not be kept for long. The former Boss was returned to New York. Tweed died in the Ludlow Street Jail, of pneumonia, on April 12, 1878. He was fifty-five.

Tilden's Reward and the Election of 1876

Samuel Tilden's part in breaking Tweed and the Ring helped get him elected New York's governor, and less than two years later helped secure the Democratic presidential nomination. Tilden and Reform and Honest Tilden were used as campaign slogans. Tilden won the national popular vote, but twenty electoral votes were disputed. An Electoral Commission awarded all twenty to Rutherford B. Hayes, giving Hayes the presidency by a single electoral vote, 185 to 184.

A Byword for Corruption

Tammany's influence collapsed during the 1960s, and the organization effectively ceased operating in 1967. The name of its most notorious leader, however, still plays a public role. Like the name Benedict Arnold, which still denotes a traitor, Boss Tweed politics remains an American byword for civic corruption.