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Jan 2, 2015 · Find out more about Boss Tweed on Biography.com. Tweed is known for the cronyism of his Tammany Hall political machine, through which he bilked the city of New York of massive sums of money.
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- Boss Tweed learned politics while working as a fireman. Tweed was initially groomed to go into his father’s business as a chair-maker, before going to school for accounting (learning skills that no doubt proved helpful when he was cooking the city budget).
- He may have saved a Republican mayor's life. One of Tweed's earliest political moves was to help protect the life of a mayor from a different party. During the Draft Riots of 1863, while Tweed was deputy street commissioner, many of the city’s poor and Irish residents (Tammany’s core constituency) took to the streets in violent protest against the conscription law that required they pay $300 or serve on the battlefield for the Union during the Civil War.
- He stole big. Tweed and his cronies stole somewhere between $30 million and $200 million from the city ($614 million to more than $4 billion in 2020 dollars) while in control of New York's political machine.
- He held a lot of positions ... While he is most famous for his position as Grand Sachem (or “Boss”) of Tammany Hall, Tweed used his influence and skill with handing out political favors to land a wide range of titles.
The story of William Magear Tweed, often known as Boss Tweed, is a captivating tale of power, corruption, and downfall. Tweed was the head of the Tammany Hall political machine, which controlled New York City’s politics in the mid-19th century.
Tweed is the archetype of the bloated, rapacious, corrupt city boss. It is estimated that he and his associates illegally gained from $30 million to $200 million in their dealings with the city.
Boss Tweed, whose real name was William M. Tweed, was a notorious political figure in New York City during the 19th century. He was the leader of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party's political machine in NYC, and used his position to control city politics and amass personal wealth through corruption.
A fellow New York politician, William Magear (“Boss”) Tweed, made the statement his life’s principle and became one of the most dishonest and notorious politicians ever known in the United States. From 1851 until his arrest in 1871, Boss Tweed and his associates looted New York (both city and state) of millions of dollars
By the mid-1850s, “Boss” William Magear Tweed (1823 – 1878) was one of the leading politicians in New York City. He headed the Tammany Hall political machine, which controlled the Democrat Party and most of the votes.
