Jimmy Walker

Walker was the son of Irish-born William H. Walker (1842–1916), a carpenter and lumberyard owner who was very active in local politics as a Democratic assemblyman and alderman from Greenwich Village, belying certain accounts of Walker's childhood that stated he grew up in poverty. Walker was not the best student and dropped out of college, eventually graduating from New York Law School in 1904. Walker's father wanted him to become a lawyer and politician, but he decided that he would rather write songs and be involved in the music industry. He wrote the lyrics for a 1906 hit, "Will You Love Me in December as You Do in May?" with songwriter Ernest Ball. Walker entered politics in 1909 and subsequently passed the bar exam in 1912.

Walker was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 5th D.) in 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1915 to 1925, sitting in the 138th, 139th, 140th, 141st (all four 13th D.), 142nd, 143rd, 144th, 145th, 146th, 147th and 148th New York State Legislatures (all seven 12th D.); and was Minority Leader from 1920 to 1922; Temporary President of the State Senate from 1923 to 1924; and Minority Leader again in 1925. In the Senate he strongly opposed Prohibition.

During his tenure as Temporary President of the State Senate, Walker was often seen on the floor accompanied by reformist activist, future urban planner, and key Al Smith ally Robert Moses. Moses, without an official position and therefore forced to kneel beside Walker's desk rather than sit in a chair, acted sort of as an advisor for Walker. He provided Walker with arguments and facts to be used against Republican adversaries on issues that, according to author Robert Caro, "Walker had no patience to master." Moses also delivered messages to Walker on Governor Smith's behalf.

Walker was elegant and witty, but he was also willing to take down his opponents with no mercy. Ellwood Rabenold was a reformist elected to the State Senate as a Democrat. He was independent-minded and put the party's one-vote majority in 1923 in jeopardy. When Rabenold refused to support a bill that Democrats considered vital and then attacked Walker's character, Walker pledged he would "ruin" Rabenold and dedicated the rest of the term to forcing Rabenold out of politics. Walker would eventually succeed, showing no remorse for destroying his career.

Walker went on a grand tour of Europe with Compton, his Ziegfeld girl. He announced on November 12, 1932, while aboard the SS Conte Grande, that he had "no desire or intention of ever holding public office again." Walker stayed in Europe until the danger of criminal prosecution appeared remote. There, he married Compton while in Cannes, France.

After his return to the United States, Walker acted as head of Majestic Records, which included such popular performing artists as Louis Prima and Bud Freeman. He and Compton would adopt two children, Mary Ann Walker and James J. Walker. In 1940 he had his own radio series on WHN, Jimmy Walker's Opportunity Hour, with Henry Gladstone serving as announcer. The same year, Compton began divorce action against Walker, with the divorce becoming official on March 15, 1941. He died on November 18, 1946, at the age of 65 of a brain hemorrhage. He was interred in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

When Walker was a member of the New York State Senate, he sponsored the "Walker Law" to legalize boxing in New York. He was honored a number of times over the years by the boxing community. Walker is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and was given the Edward J. Neil Trophy in 1945 for his service to the sport.

He also spent many summers in Atlantic Beach, New York, sometimes during his term as mayor, and afterward, for he was friends with its founder, William Austin.

A 1985 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Walker as the fourth-worst American big-city mayor to have been in office since 1820. A 1993 edition of the same survey saw Walker similarly ranked as the third-worst.

Increasing social unrest led to investigations into corruption within Walker's administration, and he was eventually forced to testify before the investigative committee of Judge Samuel Seabury, the Seabury Commission (also known as the Hofstadter Committee). Walker caused his own downfall by accepting large sums of money from businessmen looking for municipal contracts.

One surprise witness in the Seabury investigation was Vivian Gordon. She informed the investigators that women were falsely arrested and accused of prostitution by the New York City Police Department. Police officers were given more money in their paychecks. After her testimony, Gordon was suspiciously found strangled in a park in the Bronx. The incident demonstrated to New Yorkers that corruption could lead to terrible consequences, and led to suspicion that Walker might ultimately, in some way, have been responsible for her death.

With New York City appearing as a symbol of corruption under Mayor Walker, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt knew he had to do something about Walker and his administration. Knowing that the state constitution could allow an elected mayor to be removed from office, Roosevelt felt compelled to do so but risked losing Tammany Hall's support for the Democratic nomination for president. On the other hand, if Roosevelt did nothing or let Walker off, the national newspapers would consider him weak.

Facing pressure from Roosevelt, Walker eluded questions about his personal bank accounts, stating instead that the amounts he received were "beneficences" and not bribes. He delayed any personal appearances until after Roosevelt's nomination was secured. It was then that the embattled mayor could fight no longer. Months from his national election, Roosevelt decided that he must remove Walker from office. Walker agreed and resigned on September 1, 1932.