Chicago mayors

Anton Cermak Important Anniversaries

Anton Cermak

Anton Cermak was born on May 9, 1873. As a small boy, he left for America with his parents. He started working in the mines just like his father, but later he started attending night school, changed several jobs, and with the money he saved, bought his own carriage business. He became involved in local politics and in 1900 accepted the post of bailiff. Two years later he was elected to the Illinois State Legislature, and in 1909 he successfully ran for the Chicago City Council as a Democratic candidate. In 1922, he became a Cook County councilman and, from 1928, also the leader of the Democratic Party of this important district with four million inhabitants and a large Czech minority. On April 7, 1931, Anton Joseph Cermak was elected mayor of the city of Chicago.

On February 15, it will be 90 years since the assassination attempt on US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Miami, during which Mayor Cermak, a great supporter of the President, was seriously injured. He succumbed to his injuries in Miami, Florida on March 6, 193

Anton Cermak

American politician (1873–1933)

Anton Cermak

Cermak in 1933

In office
April 9, 1931 – March 6, 1933
Preceded byWilliam Hale Thompson
Succeeded byFrank J. Corr
In office
December 4, 1922 – March 23, 1931
Preceded byDaniel Ryan Sr.
Succeeded byEmmett Whealan
In office
1928–1931
Preceded byGeorge E. Brennan
Succeeded byPatrick Nash
In office
April 1919 – December 1922

Serving with Joseph I. Novak, Joseph Cepak

Preceded byOtto Kerner Sr.
In office
April 1909 – December 1912

Serving with Michael Zimmer, William F. Schulz

Preceded byJoseph Z. Uhlir
Succeeded byJoseph I. Novak
In office
1902–1909
Born

Antonín Josef Čermák


(1873-05-09)May 9, 1873
Kladno, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
DiedMarch 6, 1933(1933-03-06) (aged 59)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathGunshot wound
Resting placeBohemian National Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse

Mary Horejs

(m. 1894

Anton Cermak

Antonín Josef Čermák (May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was an American politician of Czech origin. He was best known as the mayor of Chicago. He was mayor from 1931 until his assassination in 1933.

Biography

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Antonín Josef Čermák was born on May 9, 1873 in Kladno, Austria-Hungary. He was married to Mary Horejas until his death in 1933. They have one daughter, Helena.

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 deep resentment many Chicagoans had of Prohibition and the increasing violence resulting from organized crime's control of Chicago, typified by the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Death

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Cermak was mortally shot while being at a Democratic Party convention for Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 15,

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