Left to right: John Coughlin, alderman, First Ward; Anton J. Cermak, mayor; Herman Bundesen, health commissioner; J. Hamilton Lewis, U.S. Senator; Al J. Hoover, municipal court bailiff; Michael Kenna, committeeman, First Ward; John J. Sullivan, Cook County Superior Court judge; Clayton Smith, recorder, Cook County, and chair, Democratic Party Managing Committee. Cermak's election as mayor in 1931 was attributable in large part to his use of incentives and threats to secure the support of different factions of the Democratic Party, including former rivals like Smith and Bundesen. As president of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County since 1922, and the dominant county Democratic leader after 1928, Cermak commanded considerable patronage. Rival Democratic leaders had expected to maintain Irish control of the party, although other ethnic groups (Poles, Germans, Jews) constituted larger proportions of the city's population. Some Irish ward stalwarts, such as Kenna and Coughlin, had long been allied with Cermak. Others fell into line as Cermak outmaneuvered his opponents and constructed a new, multiethnic, citywide Democratic "machine" that would be reinforced by his successors.

Photographer: Unknown
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-09764)