New Deal

            The "Tweed Ring" in New York was a ring of cronies working together in order to steal millions of dollars from New York companies. Led by William Marcy Tweed later know as Boss Tweed. While it was the ring was in business it gathered somewhere between 30,000,000 to 200,000,000 dollars cash. Tweed was a bookkeeper and a volunteer fireman when elected aldermen on his second try in 1851. A year later he was elected to a term in congress. Strengthening his position as he went along he was eventually put into high public office. All of this time of course, his other cronies were being elected into the same positions elsewhere, thus beginning the Tweed Ring. By the time 1860 rolled around he was the head of Tammany Hall's general committee and by being in that position he controlled the Democratic Party's nominations to office positions around the city. He fixed elections in his sleep. Later he opened a law practice in the city and began to receive large funding from various corporations for his "legal services". He was a lot like Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. He was fixing elections and receiving funding to do so. Later that year he became a senator and also grand sachem (principal leader) of Tammany Hall. Tweed was doing very well in his corrupt doings. By controlling the Democratic Party and had his people elected to three positions in both the city and the state. He had his candidates elected as mayor of New York City, governor, and the speaker of the state assembly. In 1870 he forced the passage of a new city charter thus creating a board of audit by means that he and his cronies could control the city's treasury. The Tweed Ring proceeded to take from the city's treasury by faking leases, padded bills, false vouchers, unnecessary repairs, and overpriced goods and services bought from people on the inside of the ring. Again he was also fixing elections through vote fraud and bribery.