Vintage Chicago Tribune: 100 years of mayoral inauguration speeches from William Dever through Brandon Johnson
A mayor’s inauguration “didn’t amount to much” in the early days of the city, 86-year-old Chicago resident David “Uncle Dave” W. Clark told the Tribune in 1927.
“There were no ladies, flowers, big dinners, or river trips. The mayor just walked up, was sworn in, said his speech, and that was all,” he said.
Pomp and circumstance is still in decorum — though river trips are out — and a new mayor’s first words delivered during inauguration are the standard by which he or she will be judged during their term.
Sworn in as the city’s 57th mayor on Monday, Brandon Johnson began his sweeping remarks by shouting out the greatness of Chicago: the “beauty” of Lake Michigan, its “boundary-breaking” arts and cultural scene and even the signature Italian beef. And, ever eager to reference his former profession as a social studies teacher, he shouted out the unique history of Black Chicago, starting from its founder, the Haitian voyager Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, before broadening to the city’s tapestry of immigrants who hail from all corners of the earth.
“There is something special about this city, and I like to call it the soul of Chicago,” Johnson said. “It was alive in the hearts of tens of thousands who arrived here in the Great Migration, including my grandparents, who came to Chicago in search of a home. … It is the soul of Chicago that brought immigrants from all over the world to work, to organize, to build the first skyscraper.”
Looking back at the prepared remarks delivered by the 15 mayors that preceded Johnson — which span the last century — some inauguration speeches have been better than others.
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‘Long years of public service has taught me there is not much to be gained by long speeches. So I shall not have much to say.’
Elected 100 years ago, William A. Dever was a reformer with impeccable working-class credentials. Where else but Chicago could a nickname like “Decent Dever” be the kiss of political death for a mayor? Read more here.
‘I didn’t even know I was a candidate for mayor — and I shall need the aid of all my colleagues to bring order out of chaos.’
Frank J. Corr, an attorney and alderman for the 17th Ward, was a dark horse candidate to succeed Anton Cermak, who was killed by an assassin’s bullet meant for President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Corr was mayor for a month before City Council chose Edward J. Kelly to serve the remainder of Cermak’s term. Read more here.
‘The lawless elements of our city are not yet completely conquered.’
Cermak may have created Chicago’s Democratic machine, but Edward J. Kelly put it into action. Read more here.
‘The immediate fiscal problems Chicago faces are enormous and complicated.’
Harold Washington “broke with traditional inauguration day generalities and declared a freeze on hiring, a cut in executive salaries and the firing of newly hired workers,” the Tribune reported. Read more here.
‘You don’t hand down policies from generation to generation. But you do hand down values.’
Richard M. Daley was a former Illinois state senator and Cook County state’s attorney before he became mayor in 1989. He was mayor for 22 years — one more year than his father — making him the longest-serving mayor in Chicago history. Read more here.
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