Other than Tammany Hall in New York, the Pendergast machine in Kansas City was the longest-running and most thorough melding of vice and politics ever seen in the United States. So complete was the marriage of underworld to political world, that Tom Pendergast – the son of Irish immigrants and unabashedly known as "Boss Tom" to everyone in town – controlled not just the political machine that bore his family name but the local Mafia as well.

by Allan May




Before the Pendergast dynasty took root, the early Mafia influence in Kansas City involved Black Hand extortion, which, as in other cities, was carried out by Italians against Italians. This activity came to an end with the onset of Prohibition in 1920. The Mafia faction under control of the DiGiovanni and Balestrere gang then focused on bootlegging.

Once the Pendergast machine got rolling, the other Italian hoods that rose to prominence did so under the Pendergast banner. The underworld bosses, beginning with Johnny Lazia in the late 1920s right through the death of Charles Binaggio in 1950, were different from their counterparts in other cities because of their close ties to the Kansas City political scene. It would not be until the emergence of the iron-fisted Nick Civella in the mid-1950s – after Boss Tom had been dead 10 years – that Kansas City would take on a more traditional organized crime structure.


The Pendergast’s Political Machine



The roots of organized crime in Kansas City trace back to the beginnings of the Pendergast political machine, which had its origins in the 1890s. James Pendergast was born in Gallipolis, Ohio in 1856. Twenty years later he arrived in Kansas City with little in his pockets. In 1881 he won big at the local racetrack by betting on a horse named Climax. With his winnings Pendergast purchased a combination hotel and saloon. The saloon, which he named Climax, was located on St. Louis Avenue in an area of Kansas City called the West Bottoms, not far from the banks of the Missouri River.

Kansas City was on the rise. A year before Pendergast opened his saloon, the population was less then 56,000. By 1910 it was nearing a quarter million. The population was diverse. In addition to native-born whites, there was a sizable African-American population as well as large pockets of Germans, Irish, and Italian immigrants.

In 1884 when Jim Pendergast made his political entrance, politics in Kansas City were still in their frontier mode, lacking in leadership, characterized by colorful election days marked by gala events and parades, as well as fisticuffs. Pendergast was elected a delegate to represent the "Bloody Sixth" Ward in that year’s Democratic City Convention. After that, he stayed out of politics for the next few years. When he got back involved it was in the restructured First Ward. By 1892, Pendergast was recognized as the undisputed leader of First Ward Democratic politics. For the next 18 years, he continually won reelection as alderman. The Kansas City Star dubbed him, "King of the First Ward."

As an alderman, Pendergast was known as a fighter for the workingman. Early on, he championed lower telephone rates and construction of a city park in the West Bottoms. He opposed the city’s effort to cut the wages of city firemen. His popularity was reflected on voting days when his ward consistently supplied the majority of votes to the city’s Democratic candidates.

Pendergast also supported local gamblers. Once, after a dozen were arrested for involvement in a bunco game, "Alderman Jim" personally put up their bond in police court. Many of the laborers in the West Bottoms liked to gamble and Pendergast was looked upon as a friend. His saloon served as a bank on payday for the hundreds of railroad and packinghouse workers. With cash sometimes scarce, Pendergast kept a large supply on hand in order to cash the workmen’s checks. Many spent part of their money in his bar or in the gambling rooms above it.

Pendergast closed the Climax in 1892, but kept open the Pendergast Hotel. He soon opened two new saloons, each with gambling dens on the second floor, and placed Edward Findley, one of Kansas City’s most notorious gamblers, in charge of running them. In August 1894, one of the dens was raided and 38 men were arrested. The problem, as Pendergast saw it, was with the Board of Police Commissioners that oversaw the Kansas City Police Department. This was the type of problem he was adept at solving because the governor appointed the commissioners. In April 1895, Missouri Gov. William J. Stone appointed a new Board of Police Commissioners, which promptly removed Police Chief Thomas Speers. Gambling resumed at Pendergast’s saloons. Pressure from the newspapers, as well as local reform organizations, forced the new chief to make a few token raids on the Pendergast saloons, but the gamblers were usually tipped off.

In 1895, the Republican candidate for mayor ran on a platform that pledged to end the gambling and run Ed Findley out of town. Although the Republicans won, Pendergast’s control of the members of the Police Commission kept the gambling dens from being shut down.

As the "King of the First" ward, Pendergast’s popularity continued to increase as he looked out for his constituents’ interest without regard to race, religion, or nationality. In Lyle W. Dorsett’s, The Pendergast Machine, the following description of Pendergast is offered:

"He had a big heart, was charitable and liberal…No deserving man, woman or child that appealed to "Jim" Pendergast went away empty handed, and this is saying a great deal, as he was continually giving aid and help to the poor and unfortunate. The extent of his bounty was never known, as he made it an inviolable rule that no publicity should be given to his philanthropy. There never was a winter in the last twenty years that he did not circulate among the poor of the West Bottoms, ascertaining their needs, and after his visit there were no empty larders. Grocers, butchers, bakers and coal men had unlimited orders to see that there was no suffering among the poor of the West Bottoms, and to send the bills to "Jim" Pendergast."

As Pendergast strengthened his political organization in the West Bottoms, he also was building a power base throughout the North End, a section of Kansas City referred to as "Little Italy." In this area the "power elite" consisted of men who were in control of the liquor and gambling interests. Pendergast got close with these men and began to solidify his power.

Ed Findley, in addition to overseeing the Pendergast gambling houses, was entrenched in other North End gambling operations. As Pendergast’s influence over the Kansas City Police Department increased, Findley used it to build a gambling combine. During one of the many investigations instigated by various reform groups, one independent gambler testified that he was warned by Findley to either join the combine or be raided. When the gambler refused, the police closed down his operation.

As Pendergast’s influence increased the newspapers began to call him "Boss Pendergast" To this he responded:

"I’ve been called a boss. All there is to it is having friends, doing things for people, and then later on they’ll do things for you. You can’t coerce people into doing things for you – you can’t make them vote for you. I never coerced anybody in my life. Wherever you see a man bulldozing anybody he don’t last long."

According to Dorsett, "An important vehicle which was used by Pendergast for making friends and doing favors was the police department. It brought him friends by affording protection to the North End gambling interests and by making jobs available to his followers." The reformers fought back by trying to strip Pendergast of this power. The mayor, political opponents, the newspapers, and civic leaders campaigned for "home rule" of the Kansas City Police Department. An amendment to the City Charter was drafted. A special election, requiring a three-fifths majority for passage of an amendment to the City Charter, was scheduled. On election day, the Pendergast machine did what made it such a powerful force for such a long period of time: it turned out the vote. The reform was so soundly defeated that "home rule" of the police would not be advanced again for over a quarter of a century.

In 1896, as political power on the North End shifted, a new prosecuting attorney was elected. In his first month in office, 57 gamblers were indicted, including Findley. Pendergast and the saloon and gambling interests in the North End responded during the next election by running their own candidate, James A. Reed, for prosecutor. During the elections of 1898, Pendergast, for the first time, attempted to organize the Italian vote. He appointed Joe Damico, Kansas City’s "King of Little Italy" to make campaign speeches in Italian to the North End community. Meanwhile the message Pendergast got to the black community was that a vote for Reed would mean less police interference in their shadier activities. Reed won.

With the recent defeat of home rule for the police and the election of Reed as prosecutor, Pendergast solidified his position of influence over the First, Second, and Sixth Wards, which at this time made up the West Bottoms and the North End.

The city elections in 1900 provided Pendergast with even more power when James Reed was elected mayor. The Kansas City Convention Hall was filled nearly to capacity with more than 10,000 men and women on election eve. The local Republican newspaper, the Kansas City Journal, reported, "It was the largest Democratic meeting of the campaign, but only because scores of Italians were herded by ‘King Joe’ Damico and the riff-raff of the North End swarmed into the hall."

The major advantage for Pendergast in this victory was he now had more patronage jobs at his disposal, more oil to keep his machine running. Through these jobs, Pendergast’s power grew exponentially. He filled these positions with loyal supporters who, in order to keep their jobs, became more dedicated and willing to campaign for any slate of Pendergast candidates. Between 1900 and 1902, Pendergast appointed 123 out of the 173 patrolmen in the police department.

In 1904, a Republican mayor won office and Pendergast’s influence over the police department dissipated. The Kansas City Journal predicted in headlines the, "DECLINE & FALL OF PENDERGAST." Although his political strength, and health, were on the decline, the loyalty of his followers was still strong. Dorsett writes:

"Even though Jim Pendergast had lost much of the city hall patronage which he had won by 1900-1902, even though he had been forced to split his county patronage fifty-fifty with Joe Shannon after 1900, it is not difficult to see how he continued to maintain his control over the river wards during the ensuing years. Jim’s river ward followers did not forsake him because he no longer had as many jobs to pass out, they loved him just the same. They never forgot the many ways in which the saloonkeeper had helped them.

When a devastating flood nearly destroyed the river wards in 1903, families went to Pendergast for help. Although his own property was destroyed, Pendergast led the relief effort to provide homes and furnishings for the victims, and helped many families get back on their feet.

By 1906, Pendergast was playing a less active role in Kansas City politics and had come to rely heavily upon his brother Tom to carry on the family enterprise. Tom was 16 years younger than Jim. He had come to Kansas City in 1890 from St. Joseph, Mo., some 50 miles to the north, with brothers Mike and John. All of the brothers would play an important role in making the Pendergast machine successful, but Tom would make the machine the stuff of legend; in the process a protégé of his would ascend to the White House, the Pendergast name would become synonymous with political corruption, and Boss Tom would die in disgrace.

For almost two decades Jim Pendergast had tutored Tom in machine politics. In 1900, Mayor James Reed rewarded Tom with one of the most plum patronage positions the machine earned – superintendent of streets.

Like his brother, Tom Pendergast was popular with the voters because he supported popular issues. Tom had to fight harder to prove himself because many people believed he achieved his position by riding on his brother’s coat tails. The fact that some people had previously considered him ineffective helped to fuel his fighting spirit.

Tom did not run for elected office, but instead looked to command the local Democratic Party. He helped organize new neighborhoods in his move to control the city. But unlike his brother, Tom used illegal voting tactics to ensure his success. Early on, this was an indication that Tom would go to any measure to build his power. James Henry "Blackie" Audett explained part of those illegal voting tactics in My Life Story:


"My first job in Kansas City was to look up vacant lots."


"I looked them up precinct by precinct, and turned them lists in to Mr. Pendergast – that’s Tom Pendergast, the man who used to run Kansas City back in them days. When we got a precinct all surveyed out, we would give addresses to them vacant lots. Then we would take the address and assign them to people we could depend on – prostitutes, thieves, floaters, anybody we could get on the voting registration books. On election days we just hauled these people to the right places and they went in and voted…"



As the Pendergast machine began having problems around the time of Jim’s death in late 1911, Tom began to forge alliances with former enemies within the party and with local Republicans, when he could convince them that both their interests could be served while agreeing on an issue.

Tom remained a close friend of James Reed, who would eventually be elected a U.S. senator from Missouri. The two men would exchange political favors for years. In Tom’s ever-expanding organization, as more and more Pendergast candidates were elected, his patronage power grew in both the city and the county. Neither his loyal workers, nor his constituents were forgotten in his ascent. Much of the money Pendergast provided as aid to the needy seemed to exceed the income he received from his legitimate investments, leading many of his detractors to conclude that he was receiving payments from the prostitution and gambling that was taking place in his own establishments.

In 1914, the Metropolitan Street Railway Company in Kansas City sought a new 30-year franchise from the city. A special election was held. The issue passed mainly because of an over abundance of votes from the wards controlled by Pendergast. Later, during an inquiry, witnesses testified that Pendergast worked "with the Republicans, and used money, repeat voters, and toughs to produce North Side majorities that pushed the franchise to victory."

This victory helped Pendergast solidify his relationship with his Republican counterpart, Thomas Marks, and forge a relationship with businessman and Republican Party leader Conrad Mann. By the spring of 1914, Pendergast had gained control of the Democratic City Central Committee.

One of Pendergast’s goals was to muster enough votes from his own organization’s efforts to become independent of other ward bosses or faction leaders. Another goal was to regain control of the police force from rival Joseph Shannon, who headed the "rabbit" group of the Democratic Party.

In the 1916 political battle, Pendergast’s "goat" faction supporters bragged that they were registering voters at a four-to-one clip against the Shannon forces. Pendergast received the support of the American Federation of Labor; in the Italian neighborhood he had Mike Ross working for him. Ross, though Irish, had a group of tough Italians working for him, including a rising hood named Johnny Lazia.

Shannon knew he was in trouble. In a last ditch, election-day morning-effort he had the police herd hundreds of Pendergast supporters from the North End to the police station for "investigation." The paddy wagons were at work as early as 3 a.m. The Kansas City Star reported, by 6 a.m. "two-hundred Pendergast men had been arrested by the Shannonized police department." The brazen actions of the department would result in the acting police chief being sent to jail.

Shannon’s efforts proved futile. Pendergast crushed the "rabbits" and took control of the Democratic Party in the county. The following November the entire slate of Democratic candidates was elected. Pendergast’s reacquired power over the Kansas City Police Department and quickly let the police force know that harassment of his "friends" would result in immediate firings. The "friends" he was referring to were the city’s prostitutes.

The patronage that Pendergast received from Gov. Frederick D. Gardner in 1917 was used to protect the interests of the liquor men throughout Kansas City. County and city commissioners were appointed by the governor at Pendergast’s suggestion. With Pendergast men in all of the commission posts, including his brother Mike, he used his power to gain favor with the city’s wealthy businessmen. Now, not only were the prostitutes, gamblers, and liquor interests controlled, but business contracts with the city and county were also at his discretion. Pendergast’s own cement company made a fortune in such contracts.

Pendergast’s rule did not go unchallenged though, and when that happened he would resort to shifting allegiances to combat it. When Second Ward leader Mike Bulger rebelled against him in the 1920 primary, Pendergast made a deal with former foe Joe Shannon to close him down. As mentioned before, he would also work with Tom Marks, the Republican boss, to exert his influence.

The Republicans were starting to see this misuse of power and began to use it to their advantage. Much of this abuse was through Pendergast’s control of the police department. In the 1920 elections, police stood by as both "rabbits" and "goats" stuffed the ballot boxes in several Kansas City wards. Nonetheless a Republican was elected governor and Pendergast lost control of the all-important three-judge county court.

To help regain control of the patronage he lost, Pendergast found it necessary to relinquish his special favors to contractors. He did so by supporting Harry S Truman as the machine candidate for county judge. Truman had been a friend of James M. Pendergast, Mike’s son, having served with him during World War I. Truman won the Democratic nomination in 1922 and won again in the November election. With Truman’s victory, corruption ceased in the court, but Pendergast’s control of the county administration – and the patronage that went with it – would last until he was sent to prison in 1939.

Truman became an integral part of the Pendergast machine, but, according to Dorsett, was not corrupt. Dorsett states:

"Truman would not deal in graft, but he was successful in running the Pendergast machine in rural Jackson County because he was an astute organizer who used patronage to the organization’s advantage. In addition, Truman managed the court so efficiently, and accomplished so much while in office that he won a large following. By leaving Truman alone to manage the county administration as he saw fit, Pendergast lost the graft which he had bestowed upon his associates during the Bulger regime. By endorsing honest government and settling for patronage alone, he (Pendergast) had entrenched his machine in the county administration by the mid-1920s."

At the same time, Pendergast became recognized as the undisputed leader of the Kansas City Democrats. In achieving this, the lieutenants of his most powerful opposition, Joe Shannon, deserted their former boss and climbed on the Pendergast wagon. Helping Pendergast achieve this goal was Jim Aylward, a Kansas City attorney who would become Pendergast’s right hand man.

By the mid-1920s the Pendergast machine was in a fine-tuning stage. Boss Tom seemed to be making all the right moves, no matter how wrong they looked to his confidants. When another reform movement pushed for a new City Charter that was designed to place control of city government in the hands of a non-partisan city manager, Pendergast, knowing that most citizens were in favor of it and knowing that he had enough votes on the City Council to control the appointment of the new city manager, backed it. On Feb. 24, 1925, the new Charter passed.

Passage of the reform helped create a new-look Pendergast image. As a backer of the new Charter, Pendergast could now be the poster boy for honest elections. With this new image he became the symbol for effective city government, and this gained him prestige in the state as well as additional power in the Missouri Democratic Party.

Over the next decade, Pendergast helped expand his empire by creating political clubs in various wards. The clubs provided a social center for many lower and middle-income citizens who couldn’t afford the fees for country clubs. During this same period, Aylward was named chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party and established the Missouri Democrat newspaper in 1925.

While Pendergast moved into a higher social and economic stratosphere, he did not forget the people who got him there. He kept two offices and was at one or the other everyday to meet with people from all walks of life who cared to call. No one was given special consideration; each waited his or her turn to see the boss.

In 1926, the City Council appointed a Pendergast lieutenant, Henry F. McElroy, the new city manager of Kansas City. Although he was supposed to act in a non-partisan manner, McElroy gave most of the city’s department head positions to Democrats.

With Prohibition the law of the land, the Pendergast machine allowed the local liquor interests to continue unabated in supplying citizens with illegal alcohol. Even when the "Noble Experiment" ended in 1933, lively night spots were still protected by Pendergast’s influence and there were many proprietors who were thankful that outsiders flocked to Kansas City for a taste of the night life that was not available in the outlying Midwestern communities.

Despite the Republican-run country, Pendergast performed a remarkable job in delivering Democratic candidates. When the Great Depression came and the Democrats won favor, Pendergast enjoyed his greatest success and was eventually elevated to direct the Missouri State Democratic Party. Pendergast used his powers to direct loyalists into positions at all levels. He even supported his old rival Joe Shannon in his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. With his ever increasing patronage, Pendergast not only took care of loyal Democrats in Kansas City, but he also helped Republicans who had supported his efforts along the way.

In 1932, just weeks before the November election, Francis Wilson, a Pendergast-backed candidate for governor, became ill and died. Pendergast quickly endorsed Guy B. Park, a rather obscure county judge for the position. In three short weeks Park went from an unknown to governor of Missouri. Although he was not corrupt, Park was overwhelmed and allowed Pendergast to virtually run the state – at least in the areas that were valuable to the machine.

In 1935, at Pendergast’s request, Park named Emmett O’Malley state superintendent of insurance. Working with Pendergast, O’Malley orchestrated a compromise between insurance companies and the state of Missouri to increase insurance premiums. In this settlement, Pendergast received $750,000 for his services.

With the support that Pendergast had lent to the selection of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Democratic nominee for president in 1932, the Roosevelt administration showed its appreciation by giving Pendergast patronage and control over Missouri’s federal relief welfare program. Pendergast used his influence with the administration to obtain a presidential pardon for his old Republican friend Conrad Mann, who had been found guilty of involvement in an illegal state lottery; and to have Judge Harry Truman appointed state director of federal re-employment for Missouri.

With his grasp of the state Works Progress Administration (WPA), Pendergast was able to control all jobs funded by the federal program within the state. His appointment of Matthew Murray to oversee the state’s administration of the program would be a tremendous boon to the machine and further strengthen Pendergast’s position throughout the state. Of course this would not have been possible without Truman winning election as U.S. senator in 1934. Dorsett tells us:

"The story of Truman’s victory in 1934, and Clark’s (Missouri Senator) consequent surrender to Pendergast, is one of the most fascinating in the annals of Missouri politics. The battle for the senatorial nomination was unusually bitter. Clark took to the stump for his candidate, (Jacob) Tuck Milligan…The Senator did all that he could to curb Pendergast’s power. He charged that Kansas City’s municipal employees were being assessed to support Truman’s campaign, and that most of the state employees were being forced into line. In much the same vein Milligan attacked Truman by arguing that Gov. Park’s administration was doing so much for the Kansas City machine’s candidate that the executive mansion would be more appropriately named ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’"

Pendergast’s success in routing Milligan would later come back to haunt him.

With Truman’s victory in the 1934 election the newspapers declared, "Pendergast as the undisputed boss from one end of the state to the other." While the New Deal added considerably to Pendergast’s power, it was Murray’s selection to lead Missouri’s federal work relief that would prove to be the most important contribution to the machine. Most of the district directors were appointed for their loyalty to the boss. With control of the state WPA, federal employees now worked for Pendergast’s candidates and were used to support them.

Although part of the New Deal was to eliminate the powerful political machines that were operating around the country, in the case of Missouri and Tom Pendergast, the New Deal only served to enhance it. Pendergast and his organization seemed invulnerable during the mid-1930s. With the machine controlling Kansas City and Jackson County, and having the WPA employees working as troops for his benefit, Pendergast reigned supreme.

Above all, Pendergast considered himself a respectable businessman and civic leader. Once when visiting Chicago he told reporters that Kansas City had less gambling and racketeering than any comparable city its size. Gloating, the boss stated, "Ours is a fine, clean, and well-ordered town…"

In 1936, Lloyd C. Stark would begin to tumble the Pendergast ivory tower. By realizing he needed Pendergast’s influence to become governor, Stark sought the benefits of a relationship with the Democratic boss. He convinced Pendergast that he was the man to replace Guy Park in the governor’s mansion.

During the elections of 1934, Italian gangsters in Kansas City murdered four people. The city experienced the same violence as Chicago had during the 1920s with gunmen driving around intimidating voters while the Pendergast influenced police department stood idle. Suspicion of Pendergast’s involvement in these shootings subsided a week later when mobsters tried to gun down City Manager Henry F. McElroy, one of the boss’s men. While these incidents created minor headlines, they could not compare to the scandals that surfaced after the 1936 elections.