Frank Rizzo: The Last Big Man in Big City America

This is truly a must read for anyone interested in understanding rough and tumble urban politics. It unflinchingly tackles the sharp ethnic and racial divisions that created a politician like Frank Rizzo. Rizzo was every bit as flawed and gigantic in character as the late Mayor Daley of Chicago. As police commissioner and then mayor, he made a lasting imprint on Philadelphia and drew rigid lines of racial demarcation in order to gain political favor with white ethnic voters. At the same time he was also capable of a profound understanding of black Philadelphians while also taking pains to politically malign, redline and subjugate them. Rizzo practiced a no holds barred, bruising, take no prisoners brand of ward politics. This book fully interrogates those methods while illuminating the times that created them.

Interesting to read, chock full of historical detail not just on the Rizzo record but also on all kinds of tangential matters- for example, that if James Tate (Rizzo's predecessor) had not promised to reappoint Rizzo as police commissioner, Arlen Specter might have beaten him in 1967. (And who knows what that might have led to - Nixon/Specter 68 anyone?) I do, however, think the author is being overly romantic when he suggests that Rizzo could have beaten Ed Rendell in 1991 had he lived. A white Democrat (especially one as personable as Rendell) usually beats a white Republican in Philadelphia- and though Rizzo had many good qualities, his tax and spend record as mayor suggests that using Frank Rizzo to fix Philadelphia's fiscal crisis would be like using a hammer to destroy a wasp nest- the right tool for the wrong job.

Sal Paolantonio, who used to cover politics for the Philadelphia Inquirer (and who now is a football commentator for ESPN), takes a concise yet comprehensive look at the political life of Frank Rizzo, perhaps the most colorful mayor in Philadelphia history and the archetype of the old-school, white-ethnic political leader who faced a rapidly changing urban America in the 1960s and 70s.Even if you are not familiar with Philadelphia politics, Paolantonio does a wonderful job to paint the political picture of the day and examines the "hows" of Rizzo's mayorality and the "whys."This book was one of the most enjoyable political biographies I've read. Pick it up, and you won't put it down until you're done reading it.

I am a voracious reader of biographies, and I can say without hesitation that this is one of the best I've ever read. Sal captures the charisma of a compelling, John Wayne figure. Sal's study is fair-minded, balanced and complete. But what makes this book so fascinating is that it reads like a great novel -- engrossing from first page to last. You really care about Frank Rizzo, despite his shortcomings. There may be no better portrait of big-city politics than this terrific book.

Palantonio paints a realistic portrait of the most colorful mayor in Philadelphia's history. His deft intermingling of the life of Rizzo with local, state and national politics makes this essay hard to resist.. He also chronicles the hardships associated with bieng an Italian -American in the Early Twentieth Century. He then describes in judicious detail the deads which catipulted Rizzo from a High School dropout foot patrolman to Police Commisioner and then Mayor. Palantonio allows Rizzo's deeds as Police Commisioner and mayor to stand on their merits without the aid of colorful hyperbole. Rizzo is portrayed as a man's man with heroic virtues and overt flaws. Palantonio does not (to his credit) attempt to shade or hide these shortcomings in any manner. The author's realistic account of the late Philadelphia Mayor is a very brave testament due to Palantonio's association with the left-leaning Philadelphia Inquirer who from the early 1970's to the present day launched a massive campaign to besmirch his name. Finally Palantonio editorializes on Rizzo's chances at winning the mayoral race in 1991 had he not died in the middle of the Campaign. He also shares his thoughts on the popular libral accusation that Rizzo was indeed a racist which resulted from the mayor's strict adherance to the American legal concept that justice is indeed blind. An excellent book for Political Science students who crave a realistic portrayal of the true dynamics of Big city politics.