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II. MICHAEL A. BILANDIC: THE LAST OF THE MACHINE REGULARS Paul M. Green Unlike most Chicago mayors, Michael Bilandic is most remembered for how he entered and exited office and not for what he accomplished as the city's chief executive. Under any circumstance, the mayor succeeding Richard J. Daley would have found the task of governing the city difficult. Daley was Chicago, and for many citizens the office of mayor died with him. Daley's genius of intertwining government and politics under his sole control left his political survivors the unenviable task of finding a replacement either to handle both tasks or two individuals who would share power. As Chicago's mayor and Cook County Democratic committee chairman, Daley had followed the old Chicago political axiom to his grave: "Don't make anyone who can unmake you." On both the governmental and political levels there was no logical heir apparent to fill the "Old Man's" shoes. However, there were many pols with itchy feet eager to assume power. On 21 December 1976, one day after Daley's death, Michael Bilandic was one of four aldermen to meet in Daley's city hall office to discuss succession. The other three council members present were Edward Vrdolyak, Tenth Ward; Edward Burke, Fourteenth Ward; and Wilson Frost, Thirty-fourth Ward. These men, along with several key Daley aides-Tom Donovon, the city's patronage chief being the most important-would guide the mayoral replacement process. Vrdolyak, Burke, and Frost (the only black) were all powerful Democratic ward committeemen who combined personal ambition with hard-nosed political moxie in pushing themselves to the forefront of city politics. Yet it would be Bilandic who would receive the honor of replacing Daley and the responsibility of maintaining the Chicago political tradition. Who was Michael Bilandic? A lifelong Chicago resident of Croatian descent, 160 Michael A. Bilandic (1976-1979) Bilandic earned a law degree and settled in the Near Southwest Side, bluecollar Bridgeport community. What Eton's playing fields were to the English war effort, Bridgeport's streets and alleys were to Chicago's governmental leadership. Bridgeport was Daley's neighborhood, the backbone of "Hizzoner 's" famous Eleventh Ward Democratic organization and the city's bungalow version of "God's Country." In 1969, Daley selected Bilandic to fill an Eleventh Ward aldermanic vacancy, thereby elevating the middle-aged bachelor attorney to instant political prominence. In the council, Bilandic, a shy and careful politician , demonstrated a sound mind and a willingness to work hard, and with Daley's approval assumed the powerful post of finance committee chairman in 1975. In his meteoric rise to political power, Bilandic was never tested politically or challenged in a fair political fight. In the end, this lack of political experience and acumen would cut short his mayoral career. Potent political forces collided during the urgent and secret negotiations to determine Daley's successor. Frost, the council president pro tempore, asserted he was the city's acting mayor. Backing Frost's mayoral claim was the city's huge black community whose activist leaders, like the Reverend Jesse Jackson, overlooked Frost's nearly impeccable regular Democratic organization credentials. Also openly angling for the mayor's job was Northwest Side Polish alderman Roman C. Pucinski. Chicago's huge Polish community, like the black community, was frustrated at its inability to capture real power in the world's second largest Polish city. Also moving quickly into the mayoral sweepstakes was Ed Vrdolyak, a youngish, tough, and smart Southeast Side alderman. Vrdolyak-called by some the Che Guevara of Chicago politics for his leadership in orchestrating the so-called "Young Turk" aldermanic "Coffee Rebellion " against Daley's iron-fisted council control-was working the hardest and fastest to line up council support. Beyond the constantly shifting political scenarios, two other factors complicated the mayoral selection process. First, who would fill Daley's other crucial position, party chairman? Most political players wanted to avoid a Daley-style replay where one man was both party boss and mayor. Cook County Board President George Dunne, a recognized old pro, was the leading contender for the chair-in part due to his pledge not to seek the mayoralty. Second, the city council could only select an interim mayor since state law required a special mayoral election within six months'-thereby raising the issue of whether the council's acting mayoral choice would be a candidate in the special election . Obviously, if the interim mayor became a special election candidate...

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