1932

On February 15, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak is shot while visiting President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Florida. Most assume the Mayor is the unfortunate casualty of an assassination attempt on Roosevelt. Some, however, maintain Cermak was targeted by the imprisoned Al Capone, as retribution for a Cermak-ordered attack on mobster Frank Nitti. Cermak lives for two weeks, succumbing finally to an infection caused by the bullet.

1933

Former IFC President Ed Kelly is chosen to complete Cermak’s unexpired term. Kelly will be elected to three full terms as Mayor of Chicago. Over time, his name—along with that of his friend and ally, Pat Nash—will become synonymous with Chicago’s Democratic Machine.