A political organization in which a person or small group with authority that has enough votes or is popular enough to have control over political administration or any type of government in a city, county, or state. One famous political machine is the Boston machine headed by James Michael Curley. He started as a US Senator, then was elected mayor of Boston. His first mayoral term was the real beginning of his political machine. Curley favored the working class and the Irish Catholic votes in Boston and built them parks and hospitals at the cost of near-bankruptcy to the city. When Roosevelt's New Deal funds were paid to Curley, he used them unstintingly to build an infrastructure of public works including roads and bridges. Imprisoned for mail fraud, Curley was pardoned by President Truman.
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