New York EXPLAINED
Get the brief

On this day in New York · September 1, 1932

Beau James Resigns

The best-dressed mayor New York ever had ran out of ways to explain where the money came from, and City Hall watched him sail for Europe instead of answering for it.

Beau James Resigns
Wikimedia Commons / Jimmy Walker

The facts

Resigned
September 1, 1932
Mayor since
January 1, 1926
Investigation
The Seabury Commission, led by Judge Samuel Seabury
After resigning
Sailed for Europe with Betty Compton; aboard the SS Conte Grande on November 12, 1932, he said he had no plans to return to office

Jimmy Walker had run City Hall since January 1926 as the city's most stylish and least punctual mayor, a Broadway fixture who governed by night and rarely showed up before noon. Judge Samuel Seabury's investigation into municipal corruption traced large sums from businessmen chasing city contracts straight into Walker's accounts, money Walker insisted on calling "beneficences" rather than bribes. Governor Franklin Roosevelt, who needed Tammany Hall's backing for a presidential run and also needed to look tough on corruption, held off acting until his own nomination was locked up. With the political cover gone, Walker resigned as mayor on September 1, 1932, and soon after left for Europe with Betty Compton, the Ziegfeld girl he would later marry in Cannes.

In their words

The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.

  1. no desire or intention of ever holding public office again

    Jimmy Walker, speaking aboard the SS Conte Grande, November 12, 1932

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. A reformer is a guy who rides through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat.

    Jimmy Walker, one of his best-known sayings as mayor

    Source: Wikipedia

Why it still matters

Walker's fall is the city's clearest lesson in how long a charming mayor can outrun a corruption inquiry, and how fast that runs out once the politician protecting him no longer needs Tammany Hall's vote.

Sources

Get the day it happened, the day it happens.

Every morning brief ends with this day in New York history, and every day adds a page to this almanac. Free, in your inbox.

Free to start. The unsubscribe link actually works.