alternatehistory.com

In Inside U.S.A., John Gunther noted (in 1946) that Philadelphia's political machine was the only one that was Republican; all others belonged to the Democrats. Understandable, in many senses: Philadelphia, home of the Union League, was a bastion of establishment Republicans.

Could any other city in the US have had a GOP machine? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Cincinnati: with a solid German section of the population, you could have a reasonably conservative sector that might well back the Republicans enough to gain a solid grip on city government in the days before it went over to the city manager system.
  • St. Louis: see Cincinnati
  • Milwaukee: see Cincinnati
  • Boston: don't laugh. If somehow Irish immigrants can be squeezed out of politics by the Boston Brahmins and the middle Yankees who for years kept Massachusetts as one of the more conservative states in the union, perhaps those of the same party persuasion as Henry Cabot Lodge could seize long-term control of the city government.
  • Indianapolis: something of a stretch here to view Indy-no-place as a major city but...it's still the biggest city in arguably the most Republican state in the Midwest, so it would seem a candidate.
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