William+“Boss”+Tweed

William "Boss" Tweed

Willaim Tweed was born on April 3, 1823 in New York, New York. In the early parts of his life he held many jobs that ranged from being a chairmaker to being a volenteer fireman. He was the commissioner of public works in New York city. He was in the House of Representives and in 1867 he became a state senator for New York. He used illegal means to make elect his choices for New York governor, mayor, and apeaker of assembly. He used his political power to conn and plunder New York city out of between 30-200 million dollars. This lead to him being sued by the city of New York in a civil suit which lead to his incarceration. He was issued a 12 year sentance that was reduced to 1 and sued by New York for 3 million dollars. December 4, 1875 he escaped from jail and fled to spain where he was identified and returned to New York where he was arrested again. He died April 12, 1878 in jail in New York, New York.

By: Thomas Nast

Tweed was appointed as commisioner of public works in New York city. He used this political power to buy benches for $5 and sell them back to the city for $600.

By: Nick Ricci, Gary Bone, William Paul