Fiorello La Guardia - Essay Example

However, in 1933, he became the mayor of New York. He introduced and implemented many infrastructural reforms that totally revamped the map of the New York City. In the subsequent parts of this paper, first, early life and education, political career and then reforms of La Guardia are described. Early life and education Fiorello Henry La Guardia was born on December 11, 1882 in the New York City. La Guardia spent most of his early life in Prescott, Arizona where he attended high school. He also passed his part of life in Hungary.

Soon after his father’s death, he secured a job in the American consulate in Budapest, Hungary. In the year of 1906, he returned to New York and become an interpreter at Ellis Island and at the same time, he started and completed Law degree from the New York University in the year of 1910. Due to his Law degree and being an owner of visionary and dynamic personality, La Guardia turned to politics with an intention of serving the people of New York. Political career La Guardia became the mayor of New York City after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives (1917, 1918-21, 1923-33).

After completing his education, La Guardia joined politics when he was elected as a Republican to the House of Representative in the year of 1916. In 1919, he was honored with the presidency of New York City’s Board of Aldermen. . Reforms His reforms are permeated in economic, infrastructural, and political grounds. The New York City was experiencing worse economic condition, its budget was controlled and managed by bankers; and one in six New Yorkers subsisted on relief. The 1910 Census revealed that only 26,000 factories had employed three-quarters of a million people (Jeffers, 2002, pp.39). In order to revamp the economic condition, La Guardia introduced and implemented an Economy Bill, putting the city of New York on the road leading to financial stability and also by declaring a war on corruption by implementing measures strengthening merit basis of the civil service.

And, at the same time, La Guardia established a humane relief policy. Modernizing the city of New York was envisioned by La Guardia. To meet the needs of a world class metropolis, he devised his ambitious plan for modern new infrastructure. First, La Guardia introduced urban vision to City Hall. As the population was rapidly growing, he clearly embarked on such infrastructural strategy facilitating and fulfilling the needs of growing population without compromising the quality of life. In order to develop and construct new infrastructure such as bridges, subways, airports, public housing, slum clearance and street repair, he collected engineers, architects and building experts, suggesting each project with a realistic price label and plan for the generous utilization of relief labor (New York World Telegram, 1933).

As the mayor of New York, he instead of supporting, fought against Tammany Hall, and, introduced more civic reforms through low-cost housing and social welfare services inside the city of New