The Last Hurrah

by Edwin O’Connor

 The Last Hurrah is the story of a fictional mayor of Boston, who wages a losing last campaign in the late 1950’s. The novel’s hero, Frank Skeffington, is a lightly disguised James Michael Curley.

The novel paints a vivid picture of old-time Boston politics, rooted in tribal (Irish) loyalties, personal relationships, and favors-for-votes transactions. There are scenes of Skeffington at home in JP, where he receives a string of petitioners every morning, and usually manages to do something for each of them. One chapter is devoted to the wake of a scoundrel, who is heartily praised in death, and whose wake provides the occasion for all manner of social and political exchanges.

The story of Skeffington’s last campaign is told through the eyes of Skeffington’s nephew, who recognizes the campaign as “the last hurrah” for that brand of old-time politics. It is explained to him as having been destroyed by Roosevelt, who took “the handouts out of local hands” though Social Security, unemployment insurance, etc.  Skeffington loses to a much younger, relatively bland (but Irish) candidate backed by the business community, who sees him as the key to a more “modern” Boston, focused on economic development. The challenger’s campaign relies entirely on television, rather than on precinct organizing or endless hand-shaking.

A few days after his loss Skeffington suffers a fatal stroke. After a three-day wake, his funeral is the largest ever held in the city.

The real Curley lost to John Hynes, who had served as acting mayor while Curley was briefly imprisoned. The real Curley lived to see the publication of The Last Hurrah. Although his first impulse was to sue O’Connor for libel, he quickly realized that the publicity around the novel could only help his reputation.  He wrote an autobiography which he called I’d Do It Again, which says it all. When Curley did die, his funeral was the largest ever held in Boston.

Our book club, which includes may long-time Bostonians, discussed the several “last hurrahs” that the novel depicts. Mostly, though, we simple reveled in the colorful history of an earlier Boston.

- Mary Jo Bane