"Elected to govern a city roiled by racial and economic crises, Richard M. Daley adroitly wielded the tools of power in the rough-and-tumble world of Chicago politics. His achievements ranged from rebuilding a dying downtown to the creation of the iconic Millennium Park to replacing the city's notorious public housing high rises with affordable new communities. But corruption and graft, City Hall's role in calamities like the 1995 heat wave, and inaction in the face of evidence of police torture tarnished Daley's many accomplishments. A two-time Daley chief-of-staff, Forrest Claypool draws on his long career in local government to examine the lasting successes, ongoing dramas, and disastrous failures that defined Daley's twenty-two years in City Hall. Throughout, Claypool uses Daley's career to illustrate how effectual political leadership relies on an adept and unapologetic use of power--and how wielding that power without challenge inevitably pulls government toward corruption. A warts-and-all account of a pivotal figure in Chicago history, The Daley Show tells the story of how Richard M. Daley became the quintessential big city mayor"--