History casts Tammany Hall as shorthand for the worst of urban politics:graft and patronage personified by notoriously crooked characters. In hisgroundbreaking work Machine Made, journalist and historian Terry Golwaydismantles these stereotypes, focusing on the many benefits of machine politics formarginalized immigrants. As thousands sought refuge from Ireland’s potato famine,the very question of who would be included under the protection of American democracywas at stake. Tammany’s transactional politics were at the heart of crucial socialreforms—such as child labor laws, workers’ compensation, and minimum wages—and Golway demonstrates that American political history cannot be understood withoutTammany’s profound contribution. Culminating in FDR’s New Deal, Machine Madereveals how Tammany Hall “changed the role of government—for the better to millionsof disenfranchised recent American arrivals” (New York Observer).
