Plunkitt of tammany hall - Book Report/Review Example

In fact, William puts it that Plunkitts talks exposed all that rational politicians in the history would ever speak publicly and that which is only whispered across boardrooms or hotel corridors amongst the political elites. This therefore explains the reason that compelled William to have the collection put together in order to safeguard the rich talks which otherwise would only be lost through the print media of the time. He puts the collection together in barely seven chapters that revolve around particular subjects of his talks.

In Chapter one, William revisits the talks of the Ex-senator concerning the much debated upon subject of the wealth of the political class. It is often assumed that politician amass pools of wealth through dishonest means which Plunkitt stood openly to challenge. There are two grafts through which the politicians gain and amass wealth; the honest as well as the dishonest grafts. The book quotes own examples that the ex-senator sought to explain his source of wealth through the honest gain. For instance, he qualified the means of being strategic and through prior information, he would know the plans by a political party or political class to buy a certain property which he would buy before and latter sell it to them at a profit.

He reasoned that this was the means through which his riches were gained and would reason that many of the political elites followed the same route for their treasures. In this regard, the ex-senator therefore would justify the means as an honest graft which any rational person, let alone politicians would always pursue. According to the book, seeing an opportunity and pursuing it is right and this explained Plunkitt’s opinion of honest graft. In the second chapter, William presents Plunkitt’s advice towards the young who eye political careers and endeavor to become great.

He cautions against going to cast votes with the mentality of perfection through college or forma education. In his reasoning, Plunkitt has it that such a conviction handicaps a person. Moreover, he cautions against practicing oratory competence as a prerequisite to making a political statesperson. He advised on obtaining ‘real marketable goods’ for the game in form of commanding a following in the politic al field. The ability to command a following ad getting votes out rightly boosts a politician’s diplomacy.

The third chapter presents Plunkitt’s view on the civil service reform efforts within the country. With conviction, he would reason that the source of all-evil within the government emanated from the poor civil service law upheld. He would reason that sound civil service within any state or country was a prerequisite to firm government and a successful economy. In the fourth chapter, William put down a collection regarding Plunkitt’s advice and opinion regarding succeeding in politics. He reasons that most of the political reformers who raise from nowhere and intends to command a reform within the system only represents morning glory.

In his argument, Pankitt puts it that the political game requires consistency and as such, success requires one to go through the developmental stages in preparation. In an analogy, he says that just as in an alphabetical ascending, one cannot get to y and z without passing through fundamentals of a, b and c. he therefore postulates the necessity of consistency in the political endeavors in order to