Mayor Richard J. Daley was born on this date in 1902. more ›

Here we see Darth Vader practicing for his Shannon Rover audition. Hopefully next year, he'll lead the parade on Boul Mich. more ›

Our pals over at Gapers Block posted this video earlier today, but it certainly deserves another turn and some further information. more ›

We mentioned earlier this morning that Richard J. Daley was born on this date. Both Richard J. and Richard M. Daley had iron grips on Chicago politics, but Richard J. Daley wasn't called "Boss" for nothing. During his mayoralty, Presidents often sought Daley the Elder's counsel on a litany of matters, including candidates for Vice President, as this phone call between Daley and Lyndon Johnson shows. more ›

Good Morning, everybody. Richard J. Daley, the "Boss," was born on this date in 1902, and with his son leaving office Friday and Rahm Emanuel set to be inaugurated as Chicago's 55th Mayor tomorrow, it seems fitting that his specter would cast a bridge between the two. As for the weather, it's still wet, cold, gray and windy outside. Expect the weather to stay that way throughout the day. Perfect weather to stay in, make a Bloody Mary and some biscuits and gravy. more ›

Art photographed the late Richard J. Daley scores of times over the years. Today he gives us, and you, a jumbo-sized look at some of those photos. more ›

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum became the first Presidential Library to put all of its content online. The four-year, $10 million project ultimately digitized 200,000 pages, 1,200 recordings and 300 museum artifacts, as well as reels of film and hundreds of photographs. Much of the press has been given to how JFK tweaked the signature line in his inaugural address. But, seeing as how Kennedy owed his election to Richard J. Daley's ability to swing Illinois to him, we searched the archives for any phone recordings that may be available between JFK and the Boss. What is available is a good glimpse into the power Daley wielded during his reign as Mayor. more ›

(Ed. Note: Art sent the photos for this week's post last Thursday, two days before the events in Arizona. Discussing plans for future posts over the phone yesterday, we agreed that these photos should still run, at the very least, to show that some of the things we face as Americans are the same now as they were back when these photos were shot. — CS) more ›

As he inches toward the transition from having city signs with his name on them to having buildings named after him, Mayor Daley took the time to reflect on his time in office and compare it to that of his father. Daley said that history will recognize Richard J. Daley, who passed away 34 years ago yesterday, as Chicago's greatest mayor. more ›

Chicagoist Flickr Pool contributor Jeffrey C. Johnson recently began adding some older photos of politicos and other scenes to the pool. We reached out to Jeffrey who told us the photos were by his father, Denny C. Johnson, and his grandfather, Elmer C. Johnson. Jeffrey, who's busy putting together a book proposal for many of the photos as well as a website tracking three generations of Chicago photographers, graciously shared the above photos with us and you know how much we love our old school Chicago photos so we couldn't resist. more ›

The University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs Presidential Recordings Program has released two new transcribed tapes of conversations between Mayor Richard J. Daley and President Lyndon B. Johnson. The tapes were recorded in early April, 1968, as LBJ ordered federal troops to the city of Chicago to help bring in an end to riots that erupted following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The two men spoke on April 6, 1968, Mayor Daley telling Johnson, "We're in trouble. We need some help." Lynn Sweet has the audio and transcripts here. more ›

While the country commemorates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on this national holiday, we thought it appropriate to take a brief look at King's efforts here in Chicago, namely his fight to undo then Mayor Richard J. Daley's contribution to massive segregation of the city. In July, 1966, the Chicago Freedom Movement -- a coalition of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by King, and the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations -- put forth as their primary mission to put an end to Chicago's ghettos and eliminate housing discrimination. more ›

Jack Shaw, a Jersey City political consultant who was arrested last week in connection with the massive New Jersey corruption probe, was found dead yesterday at his home. Authorities reported finding several bottles of pills near his body, but the cause of death has not been determined as Shaw did suffer from an unspecified illness. According to the New York Times, Shaw got his start as, "a longtime Democratic operative who cut his teeth working for Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago." more ›

It's Fathers Day so we thought we'd take a moment to feature one of Chicago's most famous political fathers. Here's former mayor Richard J. Daley, father of current mayor Richard M. Daley, in an appearance on the game show "What's My Line?" from 1956. more ›