George W. Plunkitt

George Washington Plunkitt (November 17, 1842 – November 19, 1924) was an American politician from New York State, who served in both houses of the New York State Legislature. He was a leader of the Tammany Hall political organization, a vehement critic of the Civil Service, and notably responsible for a series of colloquial and practical short talks recorded in "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall," which comprise his observations and successful mastery of machine politics.^[1]

George W. Plunkitt
Member of the New York Senate from the 17th district
In office January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1904
Preceded by	Charles B. Page
Succeeded by	Martin Saxe
Member of the New York Senate from the 11th district
In office January 1, 1892 – December 31, 1893
Preceded by	Eugene S. Ives
Succeeded by	Joseph C. Wolff
In office January 1, 1884 – December 31, 1887
Preceded by	Frank P. Treanor
Succeeded by	Eugene S. Ives
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 17th district
In office January 1, 1869 – December 31, 1870
Preceded by	Frederick H. Flagge
Succeeded by	Edmond Connelly
Personal details
Born	George Washington Plunkitt (1842-11-17)November 17, 1842 Manhattan, New York City, United States
Died	November 19, 1924(1924-11-19) (aged 82) Manhattan, New York City, United States
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary
Children	George Edward Plunkitt
Parents	Patrick "Pat" Plunkitt (father) Sarah OBrien (mother)
Relatives	Brothers: Daniel Plunkitt (his twin), James Plunkitt, Harry Plunkitt, Martin Plunkitt Sister: Phebe Plunkitt
Profession	Politician

Biography

He was born on November 17, 1842, in Manhattan, New York City.^[2]

"Years later Plunkitt recalled that he was born on 'Nanny Goat Hill', just 'twenty feet inside the Central Park wall at [West] 84th Street....'" ^[3]

He served in the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 17th D.) between 1869 and 1873.^[4]

He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1884 to 1887 (11th D.),^[4] in 1892 and 1893 (11th D.), and from 1899 to 1904 (17th D.). He sat in the 107th, 108th, 109th, 110th, 115th, 116th, 122nd, 123rd, 124th, 125th, 126th, and 127th New York State Legislatures.

George Washington Plunkitt, center

Plunkitt became wealthy by practicing what he called "honest graft" in politics.^[5][6] He was a cynically honest practitioner of what today is generally known as "machine politics," patronage-based and frank in its exercise of power for personal gain.^[7]

In one of his speeches, quoted in Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, he describes the difference between dishonest and honest graft. For dishonest graft, one works solely for one's own interests. For honest graft, one pursues, at the same time, the interests of one's party, state, and person.^[8][9]

He made most of his money through the purchase of land that he knew would be needed for public projects. He would buy such parcels and then resell them at an inflated price. This was honest graft. Dishonest graft, according to Plunkitt, would be buying land and then using influence to have a project built on it.^[9][10]

Plunkitt defended his own actions, saying: "I could get nothin' at a bargain but a big piece of swamp, but I took it fast enough and held on to it. What turned out was just what I counted on. They couldn't make the park complete without Plunkitt's swamp, and they had to pay a good price for it. Anything dishonest in that?"^[11][12]

Plunkitt was also a thoroughgoing party man, believing in appointments, patronage, spoils, and all of the practices curtailed by the civil service law.^[13][14] He saw such practices as both the rewards and cause of patriotism. He hated the civil service system and fought against it politically.^[15]

Plunkitt is also remembered for the line he used to defend his actions: "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em."^[8][9][16]

On October 7, 1905, he underwent an operation for retro-peritoneal abscess, and almost died.^[17]

He died on November 19, 1924, in Manhattan, New York City.^[18][19] He was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Queens.^[20]

References

1. Plunkit of Tammany Hall. Penguin Group. 1995. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-451-47413-1.
2. The Tammany Times. Tammany Publishing Company. 1895. pp. 317–.
3. The Park and the People. Cornell University Press. 1998. p. 66. ISBN 0-8014-9751-5.
4. Annual Record of Assemblymen and Senators from the City of New York in the State Legislature. The Club. 1893. pp. 103–.
5. John Thomas Noonan (1987). Bribes. University of California Press. pp. 547–. ISBN 978-0-520-06154-5.
6. William Safire (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 322–. ISBN 978-0-19-534061-7.
7. Jerome Krase; Charles LaCerra (1991). Ethnicity and Machine Politics. University Press of America. pp. 30–. ISBN 978-0-8191-8236-4.
8. William L. Riordon; Terrence J. McDonald (15 November 1993). Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 978-0-312-08444-8.
9. Margo Berman; David Berman (18 February 2015). State and Local Politics. Routledge. pp. 257–. ISBN 978-1-317-45944-6.
10. William L. Richter; Frances Burke (2007). Combating Corruption, Encouraging Ethics: A Practical Guide to Management Ethics. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-0-7425-4451-2.
11. Kenneth T. Jackson; David S. Dunbar (January 2002). Empire City: New York Through the Centuries. Columbia University Press. pp. 489–. ISBN 978-0-231-10908-6.
12. Stephen M. Bainbridge (1 January 2013). Research Handbook on Insider Trading. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-0-85793-185-6.
13. Martin Tolchin; Susan J. Tolchin (22 December 2015). PINSTRIPE PATRONAGE. Taylor & Francis. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-1-317-25418-8.
14. Sandy L. Maisel; Mark D. Brewer (16 November 2009). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-1-4422-0103-3.
15. George Washington Plunkitt (1 April 2007). Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-1-59986-883-7.
16. New York Media, LLC (13 July 1992). "New York Magazine". Newyorkmetro.com. New York Media, LLC: 58–. ISSN 0028-7369.
17. "Plunkitt Near Death After An Operation" (PDF). New York Times. October 9, 1905.
18. "Old-Time Tammany Leader Saw His Opportunities and Took Them". New York Times. November 23, 1924. Retrieved 2010-04-17. In George Washington Plunkitt, the eighty-two-year-old veteran Tammany politician who died last week, was a picturesque character that in these days seems to belong to the realm of fiction than to chronicles of fact
19. Kenneth F. Warren (2008). Encyclopedia of U.S. campaigns, elections, and electoral behavior: A-M. SAGE. pp. 500–. ISBN 978-1-4129-5489-1.
20. Michael D'Antonio (19 March 2009). Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Penguin Publishing Group. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-1-101-02451-5.

Further reading

Riordon, William L., Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics, Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1993. (Originally published in 1905)

External links

• History Matters
• George W. Plunkitt at Find a Grave
• Works by George Washington Plunkitt at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about George W. Plunkitt at the Internet Archive
• Works by George W. Plunkitt at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

New York State Assembly
Preceded by Frederick H. Flagge	New York State Assembly New York County, 17th District 1869–1870	Succeeded by Edmond Connelly
New York State Senate
Preceded by Frank P. Treanor	New York State Senate 11th District 1884–1887	Succeeded by Eugene S. Ives
Preceded by Eugene S. Ives	New York State Senate 11th District 1892–1893	Succeeded by Joseph C. Wolff
Preceded by Charles B. Page	New York State Senate 17th District 1899–1904	Succeeded by Martin Saxe