William Marcy Tweed (1823-1878) was an American politician and leader of Tammany Hall. The Tweed ring, which defrauded New York City of millions, made his name a symbol of civic corruption.

William Tweed was born in New York City on April 3, 1823. His father was a chair manufacturer. Tweed left school to learn chair making at the age of 11. At 13 he was apprenticed to a saddlemaker; at 17 he became a bookkeeper in a brush business, at 19 joined the firm, and at 21 married the daughter of the firm's chief owner. But Tweed, "full of animal spirits," as one contemporary described him, found greater excitement in New York's volunteer fire department. In 1850 he became foreman of the celebrated "Americus No. 6" company, which, a year later, helped elect him Democratic alderman.

In Tammany Hall politics there were at least two classic routes to power--hard work combined with loyalty, or aggressiveness and luck...