Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma

by Paul Grondahl

Erastus Corning 2nd was elected mayor of Albany eleven times, serving forty-two consecutive years, a tenure unsurpassed in American political history. Now available in paperback, Paul Grondahl's thoroughly researched and comprehensive biography of Albany's "mayor for life" offers a full, sweeping portrait of Corning, the charming, cunning, patrician front man for the dictatorial Albany Democratic machine. Filled with insight and anecdotes, this biography reveals the enigmatic mayor in ways even his closest associates never imagined.

Genres: Politics

626 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Grondahl’s Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma, was a book that ripened for some time on my bookshelf before I picked it up this year; this biography of the man who was the longest-serving mayor of any American city to date (Erastus Corning was elected mayor of Albany, New York in 1941 and died in 1983 while still in office) was first published by Washington Park Press in 1997 and in trade paperback by the State University of New York Press in 2007. Fellow Albanians are probably the prime audience for this book (I grew up and went to school in Albany, the kind of environment that leaves one marinated in politics and cynicism, before heading off to college, then moved back to Albany in 1996), but anybody interested in an intimate and well-researched look at the lives of upper-class WASPs in the early and middle twentieth centuries combined with what amounts to a workshop in machine politics as practiced by a master of the art, Daniel O’Connell, who ran Albany behind the scenes for decades and clearly provided William Kennedy with some of the material for his novels, will appreciate this biography. Grondahl offers a novelistic portrait of Corning, who turns out to be a much more complex and interesting character than I expected. Each section of the book covers a different facet of a man (the brilliant but lonely prep school student, the politician, the aristocrat who chose to join the U.S. Army during World War II as an enlisted man instead of as an officer, the distant husband and father, the beloved and awe-inspiring mayor) who was adept at presenting an entirely different persona to different groups of people, perhaps a necessity for any successful politician. Albany is still marked by Corning’s tenure, for better and for worse, while the closest companion and confidante the mayor had during his life, his former secretary Polly Noonan (another member of the O’Connell political machine) was the grandmother of Kirsten Gillibrand, one of New York’s current U.S. Senators. This biography convinces me that Polly Noonan also deserves a book, either a biography or maybe a novel, of her own. (This review also appears in my recent post at Ambling Along the Aqueduct, the blog of Aqueduct Press.)

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was poorly organized, resulting in situations being repeated in several chapters in the book. It was an interesting look at the Albany political machine, but could have been half the size if things had not been repeated.

[Michael Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

You might wonder why anyone who's not a native of Albany, New York would subject himself to 538 pages on the life of Erastus Corning 2nd, long-time mayor of that city. In fact, Paul Grondahl's biography is fascinating reading. Corning is like a tragic character in a John O'Hara novel. Born into one of the wealthiest "old money" families in the nation, educated at Groton and Yale, Corning seemed to have an unlimited political future ahead of him. Instead, he opted to play a secondary role in the political machine of Albany boss Dan O'Connell. O'Connell rewarded the young patrician Corning with the mayoralty at the age of 32, and the "boy mayor" was content to remain in the party chairman's shadow for the next four decades. Eschewing opportunities to seek higher office (with the exception of one unsuccessful race for lieutenant governor), Corning remained as Albany's "mayor for life" for 42 years. His personal life was also worthy of an O'Hara novel. He died in office in 1983, leaving behind few lasting accomplishments. The story of Erastus Corning 2nd is the story of a man who squandered his great potential and lived a life that was largely unfulfilled.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative, but much too long. If you're doing serious research into Corning and Albany history, you won't find a more encyclopedic work. If you're casually interested in the topic, you'll find it difficult to believe that it merits 500+ pages.