The Bishop and the Butterfly by Michael Wolraich

Author:Michael Wolraich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Tammany’s power was on full display in Manhattan the following Tuesday as 20,000 New Yorkers, many in military uniform, marched up Fifth Avenue to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Trumpets blared, snare drums rattled, and bagpipes wailed as 200,000 cheering onlookers waved Irish and American flags. A light green car trimmed with nickel led the slow procession from Midtown to East Harlem. In the back seat sat the grand marshal of the parade, John F. Curry, looking slightly less dour than usual. A cold wind tugged on the handles of his gray mustache and snatched at wisps of white hair whenever he tipped his top hat to the crowd. Governor Roosevelt wasn’t present in the reviewing stand as Curry rumbled past, but later that evening, he paid tribute to the patron saint of Ireland at a charitable dinner. In an anodyne speech, he lauded New York’s Irish American leaders, including his predecessor, Al Smith. He neglected to mention the city’s proudly Irish mayor, however.33

When Roosevelt returned to his Manhattan residence on East 65th Street at 10:30 p.m., he found two unwelcome visitors waiting in his study. Rabbi Stephen Wise and Rev. John Haynes Holmes had come to present him with yet another petition to investigate the mayor, which they’d drafted on behalf of their organization, the City Affairs Committee. FDR accepted it curtly and promised to read it, but as they turned to leave, his pent-up temper boiled over. “I have listened to you,” he snapped. “Now you sit down and listen to me.” Then he proceeded to lecture the stunned civic leaders for half an hour about an unrelated affair before finally sending them off.34

After venting his spleen at Wise and Holmes, Roosevelt caught a midnight train to Albany, but he found no peace when he returned to work at the Capitol on Wednesday. Reporters crowded the Executive Chamber and clamored to know how he intended to respond to the City Affairs petition. On edge and in need of sleep, he responded testily, refusing to answer their questions and admonishing them for politicizing what he described as “a matter for judicial consideration,” though he was not a judge. He even threatened to charge the correspondents with contempt of court if they speculated about his decision, a threat that the Times described as “wholly without precedent.”35

“Will you give Mayor Walker an opportunity to answer the charges before you decide to investigate him?” one reporter asked.

“That is a matter for judicial consideration,” Roosevelt replied.

“Have you notified Walker that the charges are now in your hands?” asked a second.

“That is another matter for judicial consideration,” he answered.

“When do you expect to decide whether or not you will order an investigation of Walker on these charges?”

“That also is a matter for judicial consideration,” he repeated, “and I cannot give out any information on the point until I have reached a decision.”36

It took him another week to make up his mind. He couldn’t ignore the new petition as he had the others. Wise and Holmes were respected public advocates, and the document was cleverly crafted.

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