George E. Brennan

George E. Brennan (d. August 8, 1928) was a Democratic party boss in Illinois.[1]

Biography

Brennan was born in Ireland and he lost his right leg when he was 13. He had substituted for a switchman who was off on a post-payday drunk, at a coal mine in Braidwood, Illinois. He tried to uncouple two cars from a moving train and his right foot became wedged in a railroad switch. He was "plump and nimble-witted, a poker player and duck hunter, a successful and honest businessman, a philanthropist who gave away several hundred wooden legs." In 1923 he supported William Emmett Dever as Mayor of Chicago. In 1926, Brennan "bet his bossdom against a seat in the U. S. Senate that Illinois is sick of Prohibition" and lost to Frank L. Smith.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Death of Brennan". Time magazine. August 20, 1928. Retrieved August 18, 2009. George E. Brennan, boss of Illinois (succeeding Sullivan), died Aug. 8, 1928.
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