Home > Anton Cermak

Born in Kladno, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic, Cermak began his political career as a precinct captain and in 1902 was elected to the Illinois state legislature. Seven years later, he would take his place as alderman for the 12th Ward (Bridgeport, the home base of future mayor Richard J. Daley). Once elected mayor of Chicago, in 1931, on the resentment Chicagoans had of prohibition, Cermak treated the city as if it were a personal business and tried to provide the best service possible. He was so popular that anyone who went up against him was achieving their own political death. While riding next to then- President-elect Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) in Miami, FloridaThis article is about the city in Florida. for other meanings, see Miami (disambiguation . Miami is a city located in southeast Florida in Miami-Dade County on the Miami River, between the Florida Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean, in the United States. on February 15February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 319 days remaining (320 in leap years). Events 1637 Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor. 1764 The American city of St. Louis is established. 1805 Harmony Society officially, 1933, Cermak was shot when Giuseppe ZangaraGiuseppe Zangara ( 1900- 1933) attempted to assassinate United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Italy. He did a variety of menial jobs in his home town before emigrating with his uncle to the United State tried to assassinate Roosevelt and hit Cermak instead. Cermak died of his wounds on March 6. He was interred at Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago.

Cermak is considered the father of Chicago's great Democratic machine. Before Cermak, new immigrants in the early 1900sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s Years: 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 Events and Trends Technology Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first doc such as Poles, Ukrainians , JewsA Jewish American is an American (a citizen of the United States) of Jewish descent. The United States contains the world's largest Jewish diaspora. Most Jewish Americans are of Ashkenazi descent. History See main articles Jewish history in Colonial Ameri, ItaliansAn Italian American is an American of Italian descent. Many, although proud of their heritage, prefer to be referred to simply as "American. Although Italians arrived early to the new world, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492, and continuing with, and blacks were apolitical. Cermak, with help from FDR on the national level, also gradually wooed blacks into the Democratic fold. The taunt of William Hale Thompson in the 1931 mayor's race, representative of the WASPs who had led Chicago for years, only backfired on him.

Tony, Tony, where's your pushcart at?
Can you picture a World's Fair mayor
With a name like that?

Cermak's reply, "He don't like my name . . . It's true I didn't come over on the Mayflower, but I came over as soon as I could" was something ethnic Chicagoans could relate to. (Making a New Deal, 256)

Cermak's son-in-law, Otto Kerner, was Governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968 and later headed the Kerner Commission, which issued a report on race relations in the United States.

On the south side of Chicago, 22nd street is also called "Cermak Road." The branch of the Blue Line of the Chicago El is known as the "Cermak Branch."