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To Boss or To Manage?
Part I: The Boss System
 Time needed: 1 hour (plus reading time outside of class)
At the turn of the twentieth century, George Barnsdale Cox was the political superpower of Cincinnati, Ohio. As one historian writes, "From 1886 to 1916, he held the southwestern Ohio city in the palm of his beefy hand. He was the vortex of all political life, the 'entire show in Cincinnati,' the 'head and front' of her political machine, the man who made all vital decisions" (Tucker 137). Cox himself boasted in 1905, "I am the Boss of Cincinnati. I never dodged that statement in my life. I've got the best system of government in this country. If I didn't think my system was the best I would consider that I was a failure in life" (qtd. in Dingilian 313). Yet, Murray Seasongood, one of Cox's political enemies, wrote a few decades later that Cincinnati under Cox's leadership was "the worst governed city in the United States" (Seasongood 1).
Challenge students to find out whose view (if either) is more accurate by reading a variety of primary and secondary sources on Cox's form of governance. Before introducing the sources, explain briefly the difference between primary and secondary sources (review handout 1b). Then invite them to read the following:
- George B. Cox, "Cox in Words of His Own …"
- Excerpt from Lincoln Steffens, The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (chapter 18).
- Excerpt from Zane L. Miller's Boss Cox's Cincinnati: Urban Politics in the Progressive Era (chapters 4-6).
Make copies of Handout 1c. After reviewing the handout and some possible answers for each question, invite students to complete Handout 1c on biography and biographical writing for each of the biographical or autobiographical texts they read. As a class, discuss students' responses to the handout questions. Do you think that boss politics advances democracy? Why or why not?
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?? Mystery Question ??
Unlike many political leaders, George Barnsdale Cox did not like to write down anything. Instead, he preferred to use the telephone because telephones could never testify against him.
Cox's biographer, Zane L. Miller, wrote in a footnote, "Cox left no personal papers except a few scattered letters... There is, however, no dearth of information regarding his career." So, where do you think Miller gained enough information on Cox to write an entire book about him?
Get the answer
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Photo from the Collection of The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
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