ABSTRACT
Harold Washington's popularity as mayor of the city of Chicago was unquestionable. The Washington route to city hall was one of reform. As a top priority, the Washington reform movement and reform coalition targeted the patronage system for elimination. The loyalty and respect that Washington enjoyed came as a response to the growing power that he was amassing as a result of his solid black constituent base and his expanding multiethnic coalition. Washington's major political accomplishment was the dethroning and subsequent forcing of his political nemesis out of the party. In any political system, a chief executive must command respect and effective political influence within that system in order to govern. Indeed, effective performance and leadership is not possible without some measure of political influence. Minimal political spoils were doled out to the politicians in the form of jobs and appointments that could be passed out to their workers and constituents.
