Henry George (1839-97) went to sea on a merchant ship at age 15 and by the end of the 1850s was working in San Francisco as a typesetter. A career in journalism followed, and George gradually become a successful popular speaker on the issues of his day as well as an effective writer. He moved to New York around the time Progress and Poverty was published and ran for mayor, losing in an election that may have been marred by fraud. His second campaign for mayor ended with a fatal stroke. Thousands turned out for his funeral, which was described as the largest in New York's history (or at least the largest since the death of Abraham Lincoln); even George's bitterest opponents at Tammany Hall flew their flag at half-staff on that day.

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