Items19The creator’s order
  1. 1Tom L. JohnsonTom L. JohnsonBorn 18 Jul 1854A former streetcar magnate, Johnson was Cleveland's mayor from 1901 to 1909 and fought for three-cent fares and municipal ownership of utilities against the private franchises he had once profited from. He built public bath houses, parks and a municipal electric plant, and recruited talented…0i
  2. 2Daniel HoanDaniel HoanMilwaukee's Socialist mayor from 1916 to 1940, Hoan led what critics called 'sewer socialism': clean water, public sewerage, municipal markets, public housing cooperatives and an honest, efficient administration that kept the city's debt low. Milwaukee was repeatedly ranked among the best-run…0i
  3. 3Fiorello La GuardiaFiorello La GuardiaBorn 11 Dec 1882La Guardia broke Tammany Hall's control of New York in 1934 and used New Deal money, through his close relationship with Roosevelt, to build on a scale no city had seen: public housing, parks, bridges, the airport that bears his name. He backed the 1936 city charter that created a stronger mayor, a…0i
  4. 4Richard J. DaleyRichard J. DaleyBorn 15 May 1902Daley ran Chicago from 1955 until his death in 1976 as both mayor and boss of the Cook County Democratic machine. 'The city that works' built O'Hare into the world's busiest airport, the expressway network and downtown towers, with reliable services delivered through patronage. The same system…0i
  5. 5Maynard JacksonMaynard JacksonBorn 23 Mar 1938Atlanta's first Black mayor, elected in 1973, Jackson insisted that minority-owned firms receive a share of contracts for the new Hartsfield airport terminal, delaying the project until the business establishment agreed; minority participation in city contracts rose from under 1 per cent to over a…0i
  6. 6Tom Bradley (mayor)Tom Bradley (mayor)Born 29 Dec 1917A former police officer, Bradley was Los Angeles mayor for twenty years from 1973, built a multiracial coalition and transformed downtown into a financial centre. He secured the 1984 Olympics, run privately and at a profit, and started the Metro Rail system against long odds in a car city. His…0i
  7. 7Harold WashingtonHarold WashingtonBorn 15 Apr 1922Chicago's first Black mayor, elected in 1983, Washington spent his first term blocked by a white machine majority on the council, the 'Council Wars'. Court-ordered redistricting gave him a majority in 1986. He signed an executive order ending most patronage hiring, issued a freedom of information…0i
  8. 8Henry CisnerosHenry CisnerosBorn 11 Jun 1947San Antonio's first Mexican American mayor since the 1840s, elected in 1981 after the city moved to district council elections, Cisneros shifted infrastructure spending to the long-neglected West Side and courted technology and tourism investment, including the Alamodome. He worked closely with the…0i
  9. 9Ed KochEd KochBorn 12 Dec 1924Koch took over a New York that had nearly gone bankrupt in 1975 and restored the city's credit by the early 1980s, then launched a ten-year housing plan in 1986 that rebuilt or created over 150,000 units, largely from abandoned city-owned buildings in the Bronx and Harlem. That housing programme is…0i
  10. 10Joseph P. Riley Jr.Joseph P. Riley Jr.Born 19 Jan 1943Riley was mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, for forty years from 1975 and became a national authority on urban design, founding the Mayors' Institute on City Design to teach other mayors. He insisted on high-quality public spaces, building Waterfront Park instead of allowing private development,…0i