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Spring 2010, Volume 9, Number 4
The Case of the Man
Who Invented New York
Jon-Christian Suggs
Mystery still surrounds the
1903 murder of a wealthy
white New Yorker by a
black stranger. There was
a woman, a mistaken
address—and today, some
still-classified records.
The Impeachment of
Governor Sulzer (article in PDF format)
Matthew L. Lifflander
In less than a year, New York
elected, impeached, and
removed Governor William
Sulzer from office. Tammany
and money were some
reasons, but political survival
was the astonishing outcome.
The Pastor’s Dream
R. Clifford Jones
Well before Martin Luther
King, Pastor James Humphrey
had a dream in 1920s
Harlem––which he realized
in the midst of the Great
Depression.
Magic Man
Charity Vogel
Nineteenth-century Americans
were enthralled by magic
shows. Buffalo’s “Fakir of
Ava” had both magic in his
heart and public relations on
his mind.
Teacups and Terrorists
G. William Beardslee
A violent “no-man’s land” in Revolution-era central
New York was the site of a
legendary feat by a Patriot
and the legendary treasure
of a Loyalist.
Featured Article:
William Sulzer was elected
governor of New York
in November 1912,
inaugurated on January 1,
1913––and by October
he was impeached and
removed from office. This
forgotten incident is one of the
most intriguing, dramatic, and
colorful stories in the history of
American politics. It embodies
issues that continue until this
day, including pervasive questions
about money in politics.
With the support of the
powerful Tammany political
machine led by the infamous
Richard Crocker, Sulzer had
been elected to the State
Assembly from New York’s
Lower East Side in 1889 at
age twenty-seven; three years
later he became the youngest
man in history to be elected
Assembly speaker. In 1894 he
went to congress and served
with considerable distinction
for eighteen years as an innovative legislator, a Tammany
stalwart, and a great orator,
rising to become chairman
of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs.
Although Tammany
expected absolute, unwavering,
and total loyalty from its
candidates, its influence was
sublimated during Sulzer’s
New York gubernatorial
campaign. “Plain Bill” Sulzer
was presented to the people
as an independent who
would stand up to “invisible
government,” even though
his nomination received a
necessary nod from Tammany
chieftain Charles F. Murphy
and the theme of the campaign
was Sulzer’s proud pronouncement
that he was totally free
of boss control. However,
based on the long history of
his relationship with Tammany
(especially as a Richard Crocker
man in the Assembly and his
early years in Congress), the
state’s political leaders accepted
this campaign rhetoric as
good politics for a candidate
from New York City seeking
statewide support. Well aware
of upstaters who considered
the Tammany machine
anathema, they nevertheless
enthusiastically supported
Sulzer because, despite years
of Tammany endorsements,
he had a superb record of
standing for progressive
legislation and of eloquently
articulating his beliefs.
Sulzer’s winning plurality of
205,000 votes was the largest
in New York’s history.
In eight years as Tammany’s
chief, Charles Murphy had
grasped unprecedented
power as the leader of the
Democratic Party in both
New York City and the state.
Murphy, a saloon keeper,
made a good living by running
Tammany Hall, selecting
winning candidates, and influencing government in
New York City and Albany.
When Sulzer was elected
governor in November 1912,
Democrats also carried New
York for Woodrow Wilson as
president and won a solid
Democratic majority in both
houses of the state legislature–– whose leaders were loyal
Tammany men destined to
ascend to the highest rungs
of the Democratic ladder.
Alfred E. Smith of Manhattan
was the new Assembly speaker,
and Robert F. Wagner of
Manhattan was Senate majority
leader. Both were very
much beholden to Murphy.
Turmoil in Albany
On Inauguration Day, Sulzer
initiated unprecedented
turmoil. First, he began the
process of ingratiating himself
to political reporters at the
Capitol by telling them he
would always be available to
them. This went hand in hand
with the brand of populism
he was trying to bring to his
new administration. He also
announced that he “belonged
to no man,” renamed the
Executive Mansion “The
People’s House,” held a public
reception for all who wanted
to attend, and abolished the
traditional inaugural military
parade and twenty-one-gun
salute. For the inaugural
festivities, Sulzer wore his
battered fedora instead of
a top hat and rejected the
traditional horse-drawn
carriage, instead walking to
the Capitol and up the steps
to the second floor.
On the second day of his
term, Sulzer challenged
Tammany’s complete control
of political patronage and
began investigating corruption
in state government––battles
that would have far-reaching
consequences. He started by
inviting reporters for official
briefings twice a day. As they
gathered around him, Sulzer
endeared himself to them by
having chairs brought into the
chamber. It was not lost on
the reporters that Theodore
Roosevelt had been the last
governor to offer them seats,
thirteen years ago. They were
delighted with the governor’s
availability and most were
justifiably flattered by his
attention, especially when he
started asking for their advice
on issues.
During the late afternoon,
when Sulzer, intending to
alert the press to his plans for
instilling honesty, efficiency,
and economy in his administration,
met again with the
reporters, a newspaperman
asked, half in jest, “Have you
received the O.K. of Charles
F. Murphy, Tammany leader,
on your plans?” Until that
moment, Sulzer had been
seated among the reporters,
talking on an off-the-record
basis––a clear understanding
in exchange for candor. But
suddenly he stood up. “I
knew that question would
come up sooner or later, and
it’s just as well that we have
an understanding on this
subject right now, and then
we will never refer to it
again,” he said. The governor
then asked that his remarks
go on the record: “I am the
Democratic leader of the State
of New York. The people
decreed it at the polls, and
I stand on their verdict. I cannot succeed in doing
what I want to do as
Governor unless I am the
leader. If any Democrat wants
to challenge that, let him
come out in the open and the
people will decide.”
Another reporter asked,“Does that mean that if Mr.
Murphy wants to see you,
he will have to come to the
Executive Chamber?”
“This is the place,” the
governor answered with a
determined nod.
One of the reporters who
was stunned by the governor’s
challenge to Murphy’s leadership
said, “Those are the
most comforting words I have
heard in this room since
Governor Hughes left” (referring
to Charles Evan Hughes,
whose administration ended
in 1910). To which Sulzer
replied, “Well, you are likely
to hear plenty like it if occasion
should arise. I am not
afraid of Murphy, I am afraid
of no man. No political boss
can make me do anything I
don’t think I ought to do.”
The governor had declared
war on Tammany.
The Battle Is Joined
While the press could not
get any direct reaction from
Murphy himself, several
Tammany district leaders (who
were guaranteed anonymity)
predicted that the “Chief”
would take up the governor’s
gauntlet and make the
challenge to his leadership the
fight of his life. The essence
of what Sulzer was trying to
accomplish was captured in
the headline of the New York
Times’s lead story on January 3,
1913: “Sulzer Invites Murphy
To Fight for Leadership,
Proclaims That He Is Democratic
Chief in the State by Decree
of the People.”
Later in the year, when
Sulzer rejected Murphy’s
most reliable allies for key
positions regulating railroads
and distributing highway
construction contracts, Murphy
finally realized he was being
thwarted: a candidate whom
he had supported was leaving
the Tammany reservation. In a
confrontation, Murphy called
the governor an “ingrate” and
let him know that his refusal
to designate James E. Gaffney,
a Murphy business partner, as
state highway commissioner
indeed meant “war.”
Sulzer ultimately told his
side of the story. According
to his account, which I found
in a draft of a never-published
partial autobiography in the
governor’s personal files at
Cornell University, “Just prior
to taking office as Governor,
I spent an afternoon with Mr.
Murphy, at his request, at his
private room in Delmonico’s.…He said he was my friend… and that he wished to help
me out.
“To my astonishment he
informed me that he knew I
was heavily in debt. Then he
offered me money to pay my
debts, and have enough left
to take things easy while
Governor. …
“He said that nobody would know anything about
it; that I could pay what I owed,
and go to Albany feeling easy
financially. …
“I declined Mr. Murphy’s
offer, saying that I was paying
off my debts gradually; that
my creditors were friends
and would not press me; that
I was economical; and that I
would try to get along on my
salary as Governor.”
A Bridge Too Far
The second battle of Sulzer’s
war also began on the second
day of his term. In his inaugural
address, Sulzer had signaled
his intention to review state
government for the purpose
of eliminating useless expenditures,
abolishing sinecures,
and promoting honesty and
efficiency for the taxpayers’
benefit. On Day 2, he
announced creation of a three man
Commission on Inquiry
with the broad power to
investigate all of the state’s
departments. The commission
quickly initiated investigations
of state officials involved
with the awarding of lucrative
prison, highway, and canal
contracts––many of whom
were Tammany’s close friends
from the previous administration
of Governor John Dix,
an upstate Tammany man
who was not re-electable.
This would prove too much
for Tammany. In August,
an Assembly investigating
committee appointed by
Speaker Al Smith recommended
Sulzer’s impeachment for a
variety of offenses, primarily
challenging the accuracy of
the governor’s reports on the
money contributed and
expended in his gubernatorial
campaign––reports that had
been filed before he took
office. The committee alleged
that Sulzer had pocketed
large amounts of cash for his
own use and invested it in
Wall Street. After an all-night
telephone session, orchestrated
by Charles Murphy,
between Murphy at his
Long Island retreat and Smith
in Albany, the Assembly
shocked everyone––especially
Sulzer––by voting to impeach
Sulzer at a special legislative
session that he had called to
consider his direct primary
bill, which challenged the
power of political bosses to
select statewide candidates.
Sulzer’s month-long
impeachment trial before the
State Senate involved the
state’s best lawyers and a
parade of prominent real
estate developers, industrialists,
and financiers who
described their campaign
contributions as personal
gifts to Sulzer, for whatever
purpose he wanted to use
them. Some of them involved
very large sums of cash that
proved embarrassing to the“People’s Governor.”
The trial drew daily
nationwide attention, and on
October 17, 1913, the Court
on Impeachment found
Sulzer guilty on three of eight Articles of Impeachment and
removed him from office.
However, the Court did not
exercise its power to bar him
from ever holding public
office again.
A Political Survivor–– Temporarily
The next morning Sulzer took
a train to New York City,
where thousands of enthusiastic
supporters greeted him
and took him in a motorcade
from Grand Central Station
to his old Lower East Side
Assembly district. A month
later, after speaking at many
receptions populated by huge
crowds demanding Tammany’s
punishment, Sulzer was
re-elected to his old Assembly
seat by his biggest majority
ever. In the same November
election, the Democratic
Assembly majority was lost to
the Republicans, and many of
the Tammany senators who
had voted to remove Sulzer
lost their seats. Tammany
also lost the New York City
mayor’s office, mainly due to
Sulzer’s campaigning.
Tammany’s influence was
severely set back for several
years. Sulzer was re-elected to
the Assembly in 1914, where
he served without distinction.
He mounted an ineffective
independent campaign to
regain the governorship in
1914 and an unsuccessful
effort to gain the Prohibition
Party nomination for president
in 1916, and was never heard
from again politically.
