In with Flynn, the Boss Behind the President

By: Malcolm MacKay

Narrated by: Tony Weiner

"'Flynn gave the Bronx a reputation for political independence, intelligence and integrity. It was ‘the goo boroug', even ‘a capital of civilized thought’.” (Allen Nevins, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer)

Malcolm MacKay’s new political biography of Edward J. Flynn is a lively and extremely relevant study of politics in New York State from the 1920s through the 1940s that illuminates the critical interplay of statesmanship and politics in New York State, and throughout the New Deal in Washington.

MacKay’s book underlines the importance that the gubernatorial administration of Al Smith played as an intellectual and political precursor of the New Deal, and highlights the critical importance of Ed Flynn as both a politician and a statesman, as well as a vital link between Democratic Party politics and the accomplishment of New Deal policy initiatives. In this time of political drift and anomie, it is a vital reminder of this continuing relationship between politics and statecraft.

Portrayals of key players such as Al Smith, Wendell Willkie, James Farley, and Fiorello La Guardia are colorfully and finely etched.

©2020 Malcolm MacKay (P)2022 J. T. Colby & Company, Inc.