On May 9, 1917, the day after Jersey City's mayoralty election, The Jersey Journal forecast that Frank Hague would become the "undisputed Democratic leader in Hudson County" and bring "far-reaching changes in city government" as mayor. The election of 1917 opened a new playbook on Hudson County politics and launched 30 years of Hague's unprecedented control over the political landscape.

Hague entered local politics under the tutelage of Democratic Mayor H. Otto Wittpenn (1908-1913), capturing his first political victory in 1896 as a ward constable and then appointment as custodian of City Hall in 1908. When Democratic boss Bob Davis died in 1911, Hague saw his chance to rise to political boss. After election as street and water commissioner in 1911, he broke with Wittpenn and championed municipal charter reform to replace the mayor-council form of government with a commission plan under the Walsh-Leavitt Act of 1911.

In 1913, Jersey City voters adopted the commission plan believing it could end boss rule. Under the plan, the mayoralty went to the top vote-getter from the elected commissioners, each heading a specific department. It was a game plan waiting for Hague's next move.

In the first commission administration under Republican Mayor Mark M. Fagan (1913-1917), Hague became director of public safety, heading the police and fire departments. It allowed him to control appointments and secure future patronage.

In 1917, Hague ran on a five-man ticket on the Democratic Party slate using the campaign slogan "The Unbossed." The voter tally placed A. Harry Moore, a future governor, ahead of Hague, 19,883 to 18,648, in a crowded field of candidates, including the incumbent Mayor Fagan. The other elected commissioners were George F. Brensinger, Michael J. Fagen, and Charles. F.X. O'Brien.

Following the election, they met in Atlantic City to determine commission assignments and other appointments. Moore, the would-be mayor, and the other commissioners, deferred to Hague to be Director of Public Affairs and thereby the new mayor. Brensinger had let it be known he would like to be mayor if offered. He became Director of Revenue and Finance and thereby Vice Mayor. O'Brien became Director of Public Safety, Hague's former commission. Fagen became Director of Public Improvements and Streets. Moore retained his position with the commission of Public Buildings and Parks from the Fagan administration due to his popularity and accomplishments improving the city's parks.

Hague was born in 1876 in the Second Ward, or "Horseshoe" district, a poor Irish-Catholic immigrant neighborhood. He identified with the working people of the city and, as mayor, he championed their causes. His ward leaders, who intervened at City Hall for those in need, distributed jobs, food baskets, summer picnics and excursions, and paid funeral and health care expenses, won the loyalty of many potential voters.

Hague's machine perfected the often-used political tactics of canvassing, transporting voters to the polls and telephoning potential voters. In spite of an unsavory reputation for suppressing political dissent, his ability to deliver a plurality of votes to Democratic candidates of his choice in local, state and national elections became the basis for Hague's wide-ranging political influence.

Women became eligible to vote from adoption of the Suffrage (19th) Amendment in 1920 and Hague saw an opportunity to expand his voter-support base. He recruited future Congresswoman Mary T. Norton to garner their support for his administration and anointed candidates.

Often at odds with The Jersey Journal over his heavy-handed tactics, Hague famously tried to rename Journal Square to Veterans Square, an effort that failed.

As mayor, Hague reportedly earned a salary between $7,500 and $8,000 a year. But his lifestyle defied that salary range. He lived in a 14-room duplex apartment on the ninth and 10th floors at 2600 Kennedy (then Hudson) Blvd. Hague had homes in Deal, New Jersey, and Miami Beach; he also used a rented suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and took frequent vacations to Paris with his wife.

What was the source of Hague's wealth? The revenue for his extravagances, it is claimed, came from paybacks from real estate deals in the city, a percentage of the city's gaming operations, and local patronage. The latter came from the 3 percent salary kickback, known as "rice pudding," charged to the annual salaries of municipal employees and the mandatory 30 percent return on salary raises.

After 30 years in City Hall, Hague retired in the middle of his eighth term as mayor on June 4, 1947, at age 72, and his nephew was appointed as his successor. Hague's personal control of Jersey City formally came to an end with the mayoralty election on May 10, 1949. John V. Kenny, who campaigned on the Freedom Ticket, removed Hague's successor Eggers by a margin of 4-to-3 or 22,000 votes.

Hague also left a lasting mark on Hudson County architecture. The Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, named for Hague's mother, and the Jersey City Medical Center Complex (now the Beacon Condominiums), as well as public school buildings show his determination to improve the quality of public health care and education. Hague died in his apartment at 480 Park Ave. New York City, on Jan. 1, 1956, at age 79, and is buried in an impressive mausoleum at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.

Editor's note: This piece examines one of Hudson County's top 25 news stories since The Jersey Journal's founding in 1867, as selected by the paper's editorial staff and local historians.

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