You have to have passion. You have to have honesty in office. You have to love the people. Those words summed up the outlook, if not always the actions, of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Elected to govern a city roiled by racial and economic crises, Daley adroitly wielded the tools of power in the rough-and-tumble world of Chicago politics. Under his rule, Chicago rebuilt a dying downtown, becoming a cultural and tourism mecca punctuated by construction of the iconic Millenium Park. To drive growth, he engineered a massive expansion of OHare Airport. To correct a historical injustice, he razed the citys notorious public housing high rises as part of a sweeping plan to transform the lives of the citys poorest residents. Yet corruption and graft, City Halls role in calamities like the 1995 heat wave, and Daleys inaction in the face of evidence of police torture, tarnished his many accomplishments.

A two-time Daley chief-of-staff, Forrest Claypool draws on his long career in local government to examine the lasting successes, ongoing dramas, and disastrous failures that defined Daleys twenty-two years in City Hall. Throughout, Claypool uses Daleys career to illustrate how effectual political leadership relies on an adept and unapologetic use of power–and how wielding that power without challenge inevitably pulls government toward corruption.

A warts-and-all account of a pivotal figure in Chicago history, The Daley Show tells the story of how Richard M. Daley became the quintessential big city mayor.