George E. Brennan Explained

George E. Brennan (d. August 8, 1928) was a Democratic Party political 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.

Deneen was a member of the Democratic National Committee.[2]

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]

Notes and References

  1. News: Death of Brennan . https://web.archive.org/web/20101121040622/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881173,00.html . dead . November 21, 2010 . George E. Brennan, boss of Illinois (succeeding Sullivan), died Aug. 8, 1928. . . August 20, 1928 . August 18, 2009 .
  2. Web site: Deneen Assails Deneen . Newspapers.com . Quad-City Times . en . subscription . April 3, 1927.