For decades, Tom Pendergast ran Kansas City like his own political fiefdom. He had a record of graft, strong-arm tactics,fraud, murder, and connections with the Mafia. Thomas Joseph Pendergast was born July 22, 1872, in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1893 he followed his older brother James to Kansas City, Missouri. James was a former saloon keeper who built a political base among the Catholic blue-collar wards in Kansas City. Pendergast learned from his brother who was known among his constituents as Alderman Jim. When James retired in 1910, Tom took over the family machine. Boss Tom slowly extended his influence across the city, through his political sway and his ownership in the Ready Mix Concrete Company, and his partnership in the W. A. Ross Construction Company.

By the 1920s, Pendergast was in full control of Kansas City's political machine. He ran everything from his office at 1908 Main Street, which also housed...