Anton (Tony) Joseph Cermak (Czech: Antonín Josef Čermák, pronounced [ˈantɔɲiːn ˈjɔzɛf ˈtʃɛrmaːk]; May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was the mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1931 until his assassination by Giuseppe Zangara in 1933.
Born in Kladno, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic), Cermak emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1874. He began his political career as a precinct captain and in 1902 was elected to the Illinois state ...
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Anton (Tony) Joseph Cermak (Czech: Antonín Josef Čermák, pronounced [ˈantɔɲiːn ˈjɔzɛf ˈtʃɛrmaːk]; May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was the mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1931 until his assassination by Giuseppe Zangara in 1933.
Born in Kladno, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic), Cermak emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1874. He began his political career as a precinct captain and in 1902 was elected to the Illinois state legislature. Seven years later, he would take his place as alderman of the 12th Ward (Bridgeport, the home base of future mayors Richard J. Daley, Michael Bilandic and Daley's son Richard M. Daley). Cermak was elected president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1922, chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party in 1928, and mayor of Chicago in 1931. In 1928 he ran for the United States Senate and was defeated by Republican Otis F. Glenn, receiving 46% of the vote.
His mayoral victory came in the wake of the Great Depression and the...
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