Justice and Humanity: The Politics of Edward F. Dunne
Morton, Richard Allen
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/70501
Description
Title
Justice and Humanity: The Politics of Edward F. Dunne
Author(s)
Morton, Richard Allen
Issue Date
1988
Department of Study
History
Discipline
History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biography
American Studies
History, United States
Abstract
Edward Fitzsimons Dunne was the only man to have served as mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois. In both positions Dunne was at the forefront of progressive reform, and his career was founded upon his widely perceived image as a reformist leader.
As mayor of Chicago between 1905 and 1907, Edward F. Dunne directly emmulated his mentor, Mayor Tom L. Johnson of Cleveland, and actively sought the municipal operation and ownership of his city's street railways. Although frustrated in his efforts for municipal ownership, the central theme of his administration, Dunne was successful in freeing Chicago from many of the constraints the traction companies held on the streets.
Defeated for re-election in 1907, Dunne remained politically active, and by 1912, he had established himself as the state's leading Democratic progressive. He easily secured his parties gubernatorial nomination, and, thanks to a split in the state Republican party, his election. As governor, Dunne worked for such important progressive reforms as a public utility commission, an efficient tax commission, an improved workman's compensation law, as well as statutory women's suffrage. He also instituted important reforms in the operation of Illinois' state hospitals and prisons. Despite his record of achievement and the universal respect with which he was held, Dunne was defeated in 1916 by Frank O. Lowden, who was backed by a reunited Republican party. Lowden as governor subsequently gained public notice for the reorganization of Illinois' governmental structure based upon the report of the Efficiency and Economy Commission and for the Illinois waterway, both of which originated in the Dunne administration.
After leaving the governor's chair, Dunne retained his interest in politics, but he never served again in elected public office. In 1919, however, he served on the Irish American Peace Commission, and in 1922, he was instrumental in the defeat at the polls of a proposed state constitution. When Edward F. Dunne died in 1937, it was widely recognized that he had been perhaps the most important visible symbol of reform in progressive Illinois.
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