42:
22:
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after attending
Esposito's funeral. Deneen and Esposito were political allies despite Deneen's reputation as a political reformer and Esposito's ties to organized crime. Almost at the same time as the Deneen house was bombed, a bomb was thrown at the residence of State's Attorney candidate Swanson, a Deneen ally, at 7217 Crandon Ave. The bomb caused severe damage but narrowly missed Swanson.
277:
of
Chicago under the federal statutes about intimidation or conspiracy to prevent a citizen from exercising his right to vote. Special federal Prohibition officers swarmed into the city after the Deneen and Swanson bombings, and a city court bailiff who was a Thompson supporter was shot and wounded by a federal agent during a raid on a saloon.
325:
On the night of March 26, a bomb went off at
Senator Deneen's residence at 457 W. 61st Place, damaging the front porch and breaking windows in the Deneen house and elsewhere in the vicinity. Deneen was not home at the time of the blast, having departed for Washington, D.C. by train earlier in the day
316:
Neither of his bodyguards were struck – they dropped to the ground at the first sound of shots – and police suspected that
Esposito may have been set up by his bodyguards. Shortly after Esposito's slaying, a witness to the murder was found shot to death. The bodyguards were interrogated and released,
276:
As the violence heightened, the focus of the voters turned to crime and
Prohibition. Chicago's violent campaign drew attention and scorn from out-of-town newspapers. In the days before the election, a Federal grand jury was sworn in with instructions that it would be called upon to protect the voters
288:
and other civic organizations were deputized as pollwatchers, and were empowered to compel a policeman to arrest anyone involved in vote fraud. The same ruling deprived
Governor Small from the power to pardon politicians arrested under this contempt ruling. This unprecedented ruling was estimated to
246:
The State's
Attorney for Cook County prosecutes public corruption cases in Cook County. Thompson threatened to resign if Crowe lost the state's attorney. "I don't have to stand this abuse," Thompson quipped. Most of Chicago's newspapers, however, urged for Crowe's defeat, one news account describing
312:
Esposito had received repeated warnings that he was marked for death unless he fled
Chicago. Esposito was struck down after a day of campaigning within sight of his home while in the company of his bodyguards. While passing the house at 806 S. Oakley Blvd., a volley of shots rang out from a passing
308:
for the 25th Ward, a leader of his ward's
Italian community, and was linked to organized crime. According to contemporary accounts, Esposito was reputed to provide protection for gamblers and was tied to bootlegging as well as shootings and bombings, but also Esposito had friends among the city and
250:
The Deneen faction charged that
Thompson and Crowe had done little to combat crime, observing that none of the bombings had led to a conviction, and none of the shotgun or machine gun murders during the months prior to the election had been solved. Deneen's forces proclaimed that, if elected, they
125:
After four years away from City Hall, Thompson cast his hat into the ring for the 1927 mayoral campaign, capitalizing on public displeasure with the zealous enforcement of the Prohibition laws under Dever. The always-bombastic Thompson campaigned for a wide open town, at one time hinting that he'd
329:
In the aftermath of the bombing, Senator Deneen stated from Washington that the bombings were "the work of organized and protected ... in their desperate effort to retain political control." State's Attorney Crowe responded that he was satisfied that the "bombings were done by Deneen forces, and
238:
Neither Thompson nor Deneen themselves were standing for election to their respective offices during the 1928 campaign. Deneen's faction was considered less corrupt than the Thompson faction, but Thompson's faction had the advantage of his Cook County political organization. At the time of the
355:
attributed his win to Democrats crossing over to vote Republican following the earlier bombings. Otis Glenn defeated Small for the Senate seat. Glenn's victory spelled the end of Smith's convoluted attempts to be seated in the Senate following an earlier appointment that the Senate denied.
251:
would improve conditions in Chicago. Small, Thompson, and Crowe, accused the Deneen faction of exaggerating the amount of crime, and accused their opponents of setting bombs in their own homes, and for sending Federal prohibition agents to Chicago to discredit Thompson.
284:, election judges were ruled as officers of the county court, and that any election judge who tampered with votes or intimidated voters could be jailed for contempt. Under the same court decision, some 3,000 persons drawn from the ranks of the local
267:
had few primary contests during the 1928 election, and contented themselves with a few jabs at the Republicans. They were generally considered to have little to lose, given the enmity and strife taking place in the Republican campaign.
350:
The voters sided with Deneen's slate, with all three of his candidates winning the Primary. Louis Emmerson defeated Len Small by 400,000 votes and went on to win the Governor's office. John Swanson defeated Crowe by 120,000. The
118:. Thompson had served two corruption-marred terms as mayor in 1915 and 1919. Following exposure of several scandals tied to his political organization, Thompson sat out the 1923 contest, with the result that reformer
71:. In the six months prior to the primary election, 62 bombings took place in the city, and at least two politicians were killed. The term "Pineapple Primary" originates with the contemporary slang term "
313:
automobile. The shots were heard by Esposito's wife, who ran the hundred feet from her home to the side of her dying husband. Two double-barrel shotguns and a revolver were found at the crime scene.
133:
Once he returned to City Hall in the spring of 1927, Thompson turned the city's resources away from fighting the bootleggers, and toward fighting those who advocated reforming the city government.
152:. Thompson and Deneen had been rivals for control of the Illinois Republican Party, and the bad blood between the two politicians dated at least as far back as the 1904 state convention.
810:
260:
lamented that the primary was fundamentally a choice between "which particular gang going to harvest the $ 100 million a year of graft" flowing from liquor bootlegging and gambling.
130:. Thompson's campaign allegedly accepted a contribution of $ 250,000 ($ 4385057 in 2017) from the gangster. In the 1927 mayoral race, Thompson beat Dever by a relatively slim margin.
365:
94:, and a deep-seated and bitter political rivalry between several of the Illinois Republican candidates. The threat of election day violence was so severe that Chicago's
338:
On the day of the primary, Octavius C. Granady, a candidate for committeeman in the 20th ward, was chased in his car and killed. He was an Afro Caribbean attorney from
805:
815:
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campaign, Thompson's political organization controlled every office in the city, county, and state governments except for one municipal clerkship and the office of
680:
141:
Chicago Mayor "Big Bill" Thompson was the leader of one faction of the state Republican Party. Leading the opposition to the Thompson camp was former
339:
51:, a former state representative and governor, opposed Thompson's slate. Deneen led the reformist faction in the Illinois 1928 Republican campaign
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302:
264:
115:
83:
34:
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99:
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reopen illegal saloons closed by Dever's police. Such a proclamation helped Thompson's campaign gain the support of mobster
800:
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Most of Chicago's newspapers supported the reformers in the Deneen faction. Some out-of-town papers were less sanguine;
825:
102:
for authority to deputize 500 additional federal marshals to assure the electorate to cast their ballots in safety.
790:
72:
820:
684:
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281:
110:
The Pineapple Primary took place in 1928, during the administration of the notoriously corrupt Chicago Mayor
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on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in
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have the potential to cut the stolen votes from about 75,000 to 25,000 within Cook County.
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was shot and killed on the street near his home at 800 S. Oakley Blvd. Esposito was the
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Republican candidates for key offices in the 1928 Illinois primary election
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30:
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528:"Machine Guns and Bombs May Decide the Chicago Primary Result Tuesday".
95:
387:
Barbarians in Our Midst: A History of Chicago Crime and Politics
33:. Thompson led the faction that supported lax enforcement of
247:
his office as "the overlordship of Chicago crime and vice."
90:
trade, a corrupt city government, politicians with ties to
596:"U.S. May Protect Illinois Voters at Impending Primary".
422:. Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill. pp. 232–244.
508:. Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill. pp. 54–65.
769:"Relieved Senate Sees End of Frank L. Smith Bugaboo".
366:
1928 United States Senate special election in Illinois
16:
Primary election in Illinois, 1928, marked by violence
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done mainly to discredit Mayor Thompson and myself."
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and no one was ever charged with Esposito's killing.
573:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
548:
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
389:. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown. p. 142.
739:"Swanson Beats State's Attorney Crowe by 120,000".
413:
411:
82:Underlying the violent campaign was the lucrative
649:"Deneen's Home Bombed By Own Men, Crowe Holds".
484:
482:
811:Organized crime conflicts in the United States
29:accepted campaign contributions from gangster
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589:
523:
521:
519:
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400:"Chicago's U.S. Marshal Wants Men at Polls".
8:
706:"Machine Gun Murder Spurs Drastic Action".
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431:
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340:St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands
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40:
37:in the Illinois 1928 Republican campaign
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806:Political violence in the United States
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816:Primary elections in the United States
342:who was running on a reform platform.
180:, twice denied his seat by the Senate
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163:
7:
243:, the latter seat held by Emmerson.
504:Wendt, Lloyd; Herman Kogan (1953).
418:Wendt, Lloyd; Herman Kogan (1953).
569:"Glenn, Otis Ferguson (1879–1959)"
544:"Smith, Frank Leslie, (1867–1950)"
112:William Hale ("Big Bill") Thompson
14:
681:"The Senator and the 'pineapple'"
122:, a Democrat, was elected mayor.
754:"Victors Over Small and Smith".
280:Under a finding by the Illinois
299:Giuseppe "Diamond Joe" Esposito
1:
616:"Slay Diamond Joe Esposito".
228:John A. Swanson, Cook County
773:. April 12, 1928. p. 9.
758:. April 11, 1928. p. 3.
743:. April 11, 1928. p. 1.
725:. April 11, 1928. p. 1.
721:"Emmerson Wins by 400,000".
710:. April 11, 1928. p. 1.
668:. March 28, 1928. p. 6.
653:. March 28, 1928. p. 3.
638:. March 27, 1928. p. 1.
620:. March 22, 1928. p. 1.
532:. April 8, 1928. p. M1.
493:. April 10, 1928. p. 6.
404:. March 30, 1928. p. 3.
385:Peterson, Virgil W. (1962).
683:. WBEZ 91.5. Archived from
664:"Illinois' Political War".
634:"Deneen's Home is Bombed".
600:. April 4, 1928. p. 5.
489:"Chicago's Primary Today".
321:Deneen and Swanson bombings
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211:
189:
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59:was the name given to the
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190:
171:
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272:Response to the violence
796:1928 Illinois elections
466:Encyclopedia of Chicago
441:Encyclopedia of Chicago
137:The competing factions
52:
38:
831:William Hale Thompson
771:Chicago Daily Tribune
756:Chicago Daily Tribune
741:Chicago Daily Tribune
723:Chicago Daily Tribune
708:Chicago Daily Tribune
636:Chicago Daily Tribune
618:Chicago Daily Tribune
199:, two-term incumbent
186:, downstate attorney
100:U.S. Attorney General
44:
27:William Hale Thompson
24:
173:United States Senate
801:History of Illinois
506:Big Bill of Chicago
462:"Big Bill Thompson"
420:Big Bill of Chicago
309:state governments.
257:The Washington Post
164:Thompson candidate
157:
826:Crimes in Illinois
687:on August 14, 2011
241:Secretary of State
207:Secretary of State
155:
53:
39:
791:Conflicts in 1928
679:Schmidt, John R.
306:ward committeeman
236:
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167:Deneen candidate
57:Pineapple Primary
49:Charles S. Deneen
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821:1928 in Illinois
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293:Esposito slaying
214:State's Attorney
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120:William E. Dever
75:" to describe a
61:primary election
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223:Robert E. Crowe
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92:organized crime
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334:Granady murder
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203:Louis Emmerson
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178:Frank L. Smith
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150:Charles Deneen
145:and incumbent
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98:requested the
25:Chicago Mayor
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297:On March 21,
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689:. Retrieved
685:the original
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576:. Retrieved
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225:, incumbent
147:U.S. Senator
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109:
96:U.S. Marshal
81:
77:hand grenade
56:
54:
46:U.S. Senator
18:
578:January 21,
553:January 21,
218:Cook County
88:bootlegging
84:Prohibition
69:Cook County
35:Prohibition
785:Categories
691:January 2,
471:January 3,
446:January 3,
303:Republican
116:Republican
106:Background
372:Footnotes
265:Democrats
197:Len Small
128:Al Capone
73:pineapple
31:Al Capone
437:"Mayors"
360:See also
192:Governor
143:Governor
65:Illinois
63:held in
353:Tribune
346:Outcome
161:Office
232:judge
86:-era
693:2012
580:2012
555:2012
473:2012
448:2012
263:The
216:for
114:, a
55:The
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626:^
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571:.
546:.
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481:^
464:.
439:.
428:^
410:^
205:,
79:.
695:.
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475:.
450:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
