82 Facts About Frank Hague

Francis Hague, known as Frank Hague, was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1917 to 1947, and vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1924 until 1952.

Frank Hague was born in Jersey City, the son of Irish immigrants, and left school in the sixth grade.

Frank Hague quickly became a power in New Jersey, electing three Democratic governors in succession who would have lost if not for Hudson County.

Frank Hague successfully campaigned to defeat a proposal to move the governor's election to a presidential year, as all three Republican presidential candidates of the 1920s won New Jersey.

Hudson County outweighed the rest of the state to win New Jersey for Roosevelt, and Roosevelt rewarded Frank Hague by steering federal money through him, greatly increasing his power, and by shielding him from possible prosecution.

Frank Hague resigned in 1947 in favor of his nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, who was defeated in the 1949 municipal elections.

John Frank Hague had fled Ireland due to his involvement in a conspiracy against the British, and served as a soldier for the Pope during the Italian War of Independence.

Frank Hague then journeyed to New Jersey, where he served as a blacksmith for the Erie Railroad and later as a bank guard, a job gotten for him by the local Democratic Party leader.

Margaret Frank Hague ruled the family with an iron hand, and was called by one neighbor, "a bitch on wheels".

Frank Hague was raised in Jersey City's Second Ward, an area known as The Horseshoe due to its shape which wrapped around a railroad loop.

Frank Hague was expelled from school for poor attendance and unacceptable behavior before completing the sixth grade at Public School No 21 in Jersey City.

Frank Hague worked briefly as a blacksmith's apprentice for the Erie Railroad, joining his father on the payroll.

Craig was successful enough to allow Frank Hague to buy a few suits that made him appear successful.

In 1896, Frank Hague's apparent prosperity gained him the attention of local tavern owner "Nat" Kenny who was seeking a candidate for constable in the upcoming primary to run against the candidate of a rival tavern owner, though Frank Hague was a lifelong teetotaler.

Frank Hague, the candidate for Constable, is one of the most popular young men in the ward, and is a member of the [Banquet] club.

Frank Hague made a neat speech and urged every member to work hard for the success of the ticket from top to bottom and predicted that the Second Ward would hold her own in the Democratic column with a very big majority.

In entering politics in Jersey City, Frank Hague joined a world where massive voter fraud was commonplace, accompanied by violence, though clubs were more often the weapon of choice than firearms.

Frank Hague's efforts were credited with generating large voter turnout in the Second Ward for the 1897 and 1899 elections.

In 1901, Frank Hague became a precinct leader in the Davis organization.

Frank Hague survived a Republican challenge for another term as constable the following year.

Frank Hague spent much time at City Hall, expanding his political contacts, and occasionally served a summons or took a convict to the state prison at Trenton.

The son, Red Dugan, had been a classmate of Frank Hague's and had been arrested in Massachusetts for forging a check.

Frank Hague ignored a subpoena to testify in Hudson County court and provided an alibi for Dugan.

Frank Hague was fined $100 and stripped of his office as deputy sheriff, but his willingness to help a friend endeared him to the residents of the Second Ward.

Frank Hague rose through the Democratic machine of Hudson County, which drew much of its strength by providing newly arrived immigrants with rudimentary social services.

Frank Hague took a job as a bill collector for a local brewery, leaving him with time to spend in the streets and the local taverns which were hubs of political activity.

Frank Hague broke ties with "Boss" Davis in 1906 over a difference of opinion on a candidate for appointment to the city Street and Water Board.

Davis's death contributed to Frank Hague's rise, since Wittpenn, who desired to succeed Wilson as governor, did not control Democratic politics in Hudson County as thoroughly as Davis had.

One of the greatest boosts to Frank Hague's rise to power was the Walsh Act of 1911.

Originally, Frank Hague opposed commission government, but saw that it would be easier to control a five-member commission than a large city council, and was a candidate, presenting himself as a reformer who was sacrificing two years of his elected term as street commissioner to serve on the new body.

Frank Hague broke with Wittpenn, who was again seeking election as governor following Wilson's elevation to the presidency, backing James Fielder, who defeated Wittpenn for the nomination.

Frank Hague immediately set about reshaping the corrupt police force with tough Horseshoe recruits.

Frank Hague spearheaded crackdowns on prostitution and narcotics trafficking, earning him favor with religious leaders.

Frank Hague took steps to curb the police department's lackadaisical work ethic, purging the force of drunkards and others who had gained and kept their jobs through their political connections.

Frank Hague announced that no longer would it be possible to break the law and bribe a politician to get away with it.

Commissioner Frank Hague led high-profile campaigns against threats to public safety, which had the effect of promoting him as someone who knew how to get things done.

Frank Hague kept his immigrant base onside by ignoring violations of the blue laws by saloons.

Frank Hague's concerns were shown to be valid in July 1916 when the Black Tom explosion caused $20 million in damage, including to the nearby Statue of Liberty.

Frank Hague's influence grew, and he was able to undermine Wittpenn's 1916 campaign for governor.

Frank Hague himself took down the armed killer, who was returned to Jersey City in Frank Hague's car amid a parade of honking vehicles crossing the Hackensack River from Newark.

Frank Hague put together a commission ticket called "The Unbossed".

Frank Hague would remain a power in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey and the nation for the next thirty years.

Frank Hague realized that he needed not only to control Hudson County, but the entire state of New Jersey, and sought a pliable candidate for governor for the next election, in 1919.

Frank Hague decided on Hudson County's state senator, Edward I Edwards, who was best known for his service as state comptroller, during which he had docked Wilson's pay for the time he spent running for president.

Edwards won the primary election by a large margin, and at Frank Hague's urging, ran on the issue of Prohibition, which Frank Hague believed unpopular in the state, with Edwards pledging to make New Jersey "wetter than the Atlantic Ocean".

The revenue from the new taxes allowed Frank Hague to hire his supporters and provide social service programs to the electorate.

Frank Hague proclaimed himself leader of the New Jersey Democratic Party, and Edwards allowed him to recommend dozens of appointments to high state offices.

Frank Hague supported the state's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing women the vote, leading to New Jersey becoming the 29th state to ratify the amendment in 1920.

Thereafter, Frank Hague made sure that his slate of candidates for the legislature always included a woman, beginning with Irene Brown, one of the first women to serve in the state legislature in the United States.

Frank Hague furthered the career of Mary Norton, who had been a social worker who approached Hague for funds for a daycare center, and went on to serve on the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders before being elected, in 1924, to the first of thirteen terms in the federal House of Representatives, representing New Jersey's 12th congressional district.

Frank Hague would go on to chair congressional committees and play a significant role in the passage of the New Deal.

Frank Hague led the opposition to the proposal, which was defeated thanks to Hudson County voters' overwhelming opposition.

Frank Hague's meddling in the 1928 Republican primary led to the last serious effort by Republicans to deny him re-election, in the 1929 municipal elections.

The subsequent report showed that Frank Hague had taken advantage of loopholes in the election laws, but the report did not show he had committed any crimes.

Frank Hague was blocked by an injunction issued by Judge Thomas J Brogan, former Jersey City corporation counsel, who ruled that the supervisor had no power to inspect the boxes even though no votes had been recorded for the opposition in one district.

Frank Hague met the governor of New York, Al Smith, at the 1920 Democratic National Convention.

In 1932, Hague backed Smith against Franklin D Roosevelt during the race for the Democratic nomination.

At the convention Frank Hague alleged that Roosevelt could not win the election and would lose every state east of the Mississippi.

Nevertheless, Roosevelt was nominated, and Frank Hague acted quickly to preserve his influence and power in the party.

Frank Hague telephoned Roosevelt's campaign manager, James A Farley, and offered the New Jersey governor's summer residence in Sea Girt for Roosevelt's campaign kickoff.

Farley accepted, and on August 27,1932, Frank Hague arranged for a crowd of over 100,000 people, many brought by train, to greet Roosevelt.

In most states, these payments went through the governor but in New Jersey, they went through Frank Hague, allowing him to control employment on a large scale.

Frank Hague disliked the Committee for Industrial Organization, in part because he deemed it communistic, and in part because he wanted to give Jersey City a pro-business image.

Frank Hague viewed it as a threat to his control of the state Democratic Party.

Already damaged because of his anti-union activities, Frank Hague's reputation took another blow in 1940, with the publication of David Dayton McKean's book, The Boss: The Frank Hague Machine in Action.

Frank Hague reluctantly agreed to support Edison, and Hudson County turned out in its usual numbers to elect him.

Roosevelt took a nuanced stance between them, knowing Frank Hague was likely to be in office once Edison had left his, and he needed Hudson County to win New Jersey.

Frank Hague's machine continued to weaken as World War II ended.

Frank Hague's role allowed him to gain wealth well beyond his salary, which never exceeded $7,500, with a fourteen-room duplex in Jersey City's finest apartment building, a mansion on the Jersey Shore, and a rented villa in Florida every winter.

Frank Hague was increasingly absent from Jersey City as he aged, spending time on the shore and in Florida.

Frank Hague dropped his opposition to the new constitution, which easily passed in 1947.

However, he was able to have his nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, chosen as his successor.

Frank Hague spent his final years in exile from Jersey City, fearing subpoenas.

Frank Hague divided his time between a luxurious apartment in New York City and a mansion on Biscayne Bay in Florida.

Frank Hague died on January 1,1956, at his duplex apartment in Manhattan, New York City.

Frank Hague's body was taken to Jersey City for the funeral.

Frank Hague went beyond the standard of many political bosses who were shadowy figures behind the scenes, for he was on the ballot every four years.

Suppliers and contractors were expected to kick back ten percent of the value of the contract, and the rackets, such as bookmakers, protected by the Frank Hague organization were expected to pay.

Frank Hague fostered good relations with various organizations in Jersey City, seeking to make them if not appendages of his own organization, then at least places where dissent could not grow.

Frank Hague always included at least one Protestant on his ticket for the city commission.

Frank Hague was trying to allow two boys to go to work, as they wanted, and fulfill their schooling requirements at night school, which he was told by officials was not legal.

Dour, ruthless, and dictatorial, Frank Hague lacked the warmth and wit that have endeared other urban bosses to posterity.