Tom Pendergast House

The mansion, completed in 1927, served as the extravagant home of Kansas City's Democratic Party boss, Thomas J. Pendergast. "Boss Tom" Pendergast wielded his power as the area's infamous political machine between the mid-1920s and mid-1930s, expanding the control built by his brother. Pendergast had enormous influence over almost every aspect of Kansas City's political, economic, and cultural life. Moreover, Boss Tom chose candidates for office who voted in line with his wishes, which secured prized city contracts for Pendergast's businesses, providing him with immense wealth that allowed him to build and reside in the historic mansion. However, the political corruption he orchestrated led to a federal indictment and time in prison, and millions of dollars in gambling debts left him broke. 

Pendergast's mansion speaks to his power and wealth, as well as the broader trend in powerful political machines present in U.S. cities during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition to the Pendergast machine, famous political machines include  William M. Tweed in New York, James M. Curley in Boston, and Richard J. Daley in Chicago. Although urban political machines occasionally produced beneficial results, they routinely came at the expense of corruption, exacerbated racial and ethnic tensions, and deficient civic services (because jobs went to individuals as political rewards rather than those qualified to perform the work). 

One can credit the genesis of the Pendergrast machine to Thomas' brother, James, who built a political network with revenue from saloons, gambling, and brothels. James moved to Kansas City in 1876 at roughly twenty years old and took work as a laborer, working ten to twelve-hour shifts six days a week. Still, James managed to save enough of his earnings (and gambling winnings) to purchase the American House in 1881, a saloon, boarding house, and hotel located in Kansas City's West Bottoms neighborhood, known for its rampant drinking, gambling, and prostitution; the American House helped foster that vice lifestyle. 

James opened a second saloon and entered the political scene a few years later. He began as a ward delegate and then eventually alderman. In fact, James spent nearly two decades in the city council, serving nine terms as an alderman until he died in 1911. Early in his political life, James learned how to turn favors into political influence, giving birth to the machine that sustained his career and one his brother would ultimately expand significantly. 

Thomas served as an alderman briefly before becoming chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party and effectively its "machine boss." As the party chief, he exerted immense influence to win elections for hand-picked candidates, including padding voting ballots by using the names of the headstones of dead democrats, known as the "ghost vote." Thomas Pendergast also hired numerous influential block, precinct, and ward captains, amounting to one captain for every five voters. By 1918, the Pendergast machine staffed polling places with election officials dedicated to Pendergast and guarded by thugs and ruffians. In one instance, Pendergast's machine-controlled police refused to intervene when a voter was beaten unconscious and bloodied because he supported the wrong candidate.  

Pendergast's businesses (and those he supported) also benefited from his machine-controlled political system. He threatened to hand out code violations to any First Ward saloon that declined to purchase liquor from his newly created T. J. Pendergast Wholesale Liquor Company. Boss Tom also arranged for the Ross Construction Company, owned by one of his ward captains, Michael Ross, to acquire lucrative city and county road paving contracts. Pendergast also operated as a silent partner in the city's garbage disposal company. Furthermore, he benefited by contributing to Kansas City's Ten-Year Plan in 1930, which involved building downtown skyscrapers and several miles of city and county roads, mainly with Pendergast Ready-Mix concrete. Also, Pendergast worked with his puppet city manager, Henry McElroy, to take federal funds obtained via the Works Progress Administration and use them to award financially rewarding contracts to and hire loyal city employees, who provided kickbacks to Pendergast's bookkeeper.

Although he benefited financially enough to build a mansion, he managed to sustain support from the working class. As chairman, he procured millions of federal dollars for Kansas City during the Great Depression. His patronage and leverage over the police allowed illegal gambling, prostitution, and liquor sales to thrive during Prohibition. Finally, Pendergast routinely met with the unemployed, even providing them financial aid and money for medical bills because, as he noted, "They vote for the fellow who gives it to them…We never ask them about their politics. We know pretty well how they will vote after we help them."

Still, despite all the perceived good he did for the "lower classes," his machine-controlled police, and having his leverage reach as far as state and federal governments, his mob-like operation, under-the-table support of gambling and prostitution, and rampant fraudulence eventually led to his demise. Activists, political enemies, journalists, women's groups, and clergy members spoke out about Pendergast's corruption. But, Pendergast's biggest mistake came when he actively supported James A. Reed instead of the eventual president, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). Roosevelt retaliated by appointing Maurice Milligan, a Pendergast adversary, to the position of U.S. District Attorney for Western Missouri. Pendergast also backed Lloyd C. Stark in the 1936 Missouri gubernatorial race, who won the governorship, turned his back on Pendergast, and began working to dismantle Pendergast's political network and influence. Stark and FDR ate away at Pendergast's machine and worked with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Treasury, which led to an indictment of Pendergast and a sentence of fifteen months in federal prison (Leavenworth Penitentiary). 

While the mansion stands as a monument to Boss Tom's power and wealth, he effectively went to prison broke. He developed a gambling addiction that included losses of nearly $6 million. By the late 1930s, his debt to bookies and gamblers gave those he owed virtual control of Pendergast business. 

Alexander, Kathy. "Pendergast Era of Kansas City, Missouri." Legends of America. legendsofamerica.com. June 2023. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/pendergast-kansas-city/.

Herndon, Sarah and Clio Admin. "Gravesite of Tom Pendergast." Clio: Your Guide to History. March 12, 2023. https://theclio.com/entry/164781.

Roe, Jason. "Thomas Joseph Pendergast." The Pendergast Years: Kansas City in the Jazz Age & Great Depression. May 2, 2024. https://pendergastkc.org/article/biography/pendergast-thomas-joseph.

Powers, Mathew and Clio Admin. "Jackson County Democratic Club (Tom Pendergast Headquarters)." Clio: Your Guide to History. September 6, 2022. https://theclio.com/entry/156605.

Worley, William. The Decline And Fall Of The Pendergast Machine, The Pendergast Years. Accessed May 2, 2024. https://pendergastkc.org/article/decline-and-fall-pendergast-machine.