William M. Boyle
William Marshall Boyle Jr. (February 2, 1903 – August 30, 1961) was a Democratic political activist from Kansas. Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1949 to 1951, he was a friend of President Harry S. Truman and is credited with engineering Truman's upset victory over Governor Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election.
Boyle was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1903; he became politically active as a youth. His activities came to the attention of Kansas City, Missouri political boss Thomas Pendergast, who made Boyle a precinct captain before his 21st birthday. Boyle's parents were friends of Harry and Bess Truman; when Harry Truman learned of young Boyle's political interest, the future president took him under his wing.
Boyle practiced law and served in Democratic politics in Kansas City until 1941, when he moved to Washington to take a job as counsel to a committee Senator Truman chaired. When Truman's assistant went into the Army, Boyle took the job. He helped manage Truman's 1944 Vice-presidential campaign. In 1948, he persuaded Truman to conduct a whistle stop tour of the Midwest, which won the President the states needed for his reelection.
In 1949, Boyle became assistant executive director, and then chairman, of the DNC. In 1951, he became implicated in a loan scandal. Though he refused to resign over the scandal, he left his office soon afterwards, citing health reasons. Boyle died in 1961 in Washington, D.C.
Early life
Boyle was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1903, though his family moved across the state line. He attended Westport High School, where he soon organized a "Young Democrats Club" in the prosperous Fourth Ward of Kansas City. He then attended Kansas City Junior College. Boyle's political activities came to the attention of Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast, who made him a precinct captain—though Boyle was still too young to vote himself.[1]
Boyle left Kansas City for two years beginning in 1922 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, though he returned home to secure his law degree at the Kansas City School of Law. He joined the Missouri Bar in 1926.[1]
Political involvement
Boyle's parents were friends of the Trumans, and Harry Truman, also a member of the Pendergast machine, took young Boyle under his wing. Boyle was promoted to Democratic leader of the Eighth Ward, and also practiced law.[1] He also became secretary to the Kansas City director of police. When an income tax investigation wrecked the Pendergast machine in 1939, Boyle survived the crash, becoming acting director of police, winning praise for his work there, and working for a time in the prosecutor's office.[1]
Truman had been elected senator in 1934. In 1941, Boyle followed him to Washington as assistant counsel to the Truman-chaired War Investigating Committee. When Truman's secretary (or assistant) left to return to the Army, Boyle replaced him.[1]
In 1944, Boyle helped manage Truman's successful run for Vice President on Franklin D. Roosevelt's ticket. After Truman became President, and sought reelection in 1948, Boyle helped manage his campaign. He worked towards a high voter turnout, reckoning that since there were more Democrats than Republicans, a high turnout would favor his candidate. He persuaded Truman to embark on a "whistle stop" train tour of Southern Illinois and Ohio, which The New York Times credited with turning the election for Truman.[1]
In 1949, Boyle became the salaried assistant executive director of the DNC, and then was elected chairman in August 1949. However, in 1951, he was implicated in an influence peddling scandal involving loans made by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. While a Senate investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by Boyle, he resigned later that year due to "ill health".[1] He returned to the practice of law in Washington, remaining there until he died in his sleep in 1961.[1]
Boyle appeared on cover of the October 9, 1951 issue of Time magazine.