James Joseph Hines was an American politician. He was one of the most powerful leaders of Tammany Hall in New York City.
Background
James Joseph Hines was born on December 18, 1876 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of James F. Hines, a blacksmith, and Mary Hines. The family was poor, Irish Catholic, and fiercely loyal to the Democratic party of Tammany Hall. Hines's paternal grandfather had captained an election district for Tammany Hall Boss William Marcy Tweed, as had his father for Boss Richard Croker. In 1884 the Hines family moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Hines's father was rewarded for his service to Croker with lucrative contracts for shoeing police and fire department horses. The spoils of politics had brought prosperity.
Education
At the age of fourteen Hines left eighth grade to work in the business. When his father died four years later, he inherited both the shop and the election district. Politics, not horseshoeing, soon became his life's work.
Career
Personally, attentively, Hines ministered to the needs of the voters in his district. Hines's charm and handsome appearance helped his career.
In 1907 Hines was elected alderman. Three years later he failed to win the leadership of the Eleventh Assembly District in a fraud-ridden election. He lost again in 1911 but won in 1912 after the state legislature prescribed a nonpartisan count of primary results. His growing power was soon acknowledged by Tammany leader Charles F. Murphy. As his political capital rose, Hines sought to improve his financial position. In 1912, foreseeing the end of horsedrawn vehicles, he sold his shop and went into the trucking business. He used his influence to procure city contracts for snow and rubbish removal.
In 1913 he became chief clerk of the Board of Aldermen at $5, 000 per year. Five years later he, a friend (Louis Hartog), and Boss Murphy became partners in a deal to sell glucose to the British government for use in beer brewing. When Murphy withdrew from the deal, Hartog sued Murphy. Hines testified in Hartog's behalf and although the case was settled out of court, a residue of bitterness remained between Hines and Tammany's boss. Murphy vengefully determined to purge his former partner from power. While Hines was serving as a lieutenant in the Motor Transport Corps during World War I, Murphy established a rival organization in his district.
When Hines returned in 1920, he denounced Murphy and in the next primary election defeated the new organization in forty-three of the forty-five election districts within the Eleventh Assembly District. In 1921 Hines just barely failed to win the borough presidency of Manhattan from a Murphy supporter, but his courage in challenging Boss Murphy's ironfisted rule earned the admiration of many Tammany men across the city.
Over the next ten years Hines consolidated his political influence and grew rich. From his office at the Monongahela Democratic Club, he distributed turkeys at holidays, bailed out errant youngsters, found jobs for the unemployed, and helped to solve the complexities of municipal red tape for businessmen. He served constituents efficiently, if not always legally, never permitting regulations to stand in the way of a friend obtaining a needed license, permit, or municipal contract. He was paid well for his services, although the extent of his wealth remained a mystery. Hines kept no bank account. Transactions were made in cash, and his wife handled the financial affairs. She kept a brokerage account and was known to make bank deposits of cash from unidentified sources. There was also an insurance company partnership with Hines's brother Philip and an office furniture company that prospered on city contracts. Hines lived stylishly and gambled heavily.
He was often at the racetrack, accompanied by gangsters such as Charles ("Lucky") Luciano, Frank Costello, and Arthur Flegenheimer, alias Dutch Schultz. He charmed his constituents with his flamboyant life-style. For twenty-six years he donned a party hat and hosted an ice cream and cake party for 25, 000 city youngsters at what was called his June Walk in Central Park. Hines supported New York's Democratic Governor Alfred E. Smith until 1926, when he became disenchanted with Smith's efforts to improve Tammany's public image at the expense of local leaders' money and patronage.
In 1932 Hines broke with Smith and Tammany to endorse Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential nomination. When Roosevelt was elected, Hines was rewarded with the control of all federal patronage in Manhattan. Throughout the 1930s, unproven accusations were leveled against Hines for protecting his underworld friends from prosecution. He responded with casual denials or silence until 1938, when three former members of the Schultz mob gave information to an ambitious, aggressive young Republican district attorney, Thomas E. Dewey.
In September 1938 a New York grand jury indicted Hines for conspiring to protect Schultz's policy racket. The hearing ended in a mistrial, but on February 25, 1939, after a new trial, Hines was convicted on a thirteen-count indictment for selling protection to Schultz. He was sentenced to four to eight years in prison. The man who had been Tammany Hall's most powerful single leader served three years and ten months in prison and twice was denied parole before he was released by the parole board on September 12, 1944. The terms of the parole forbade him from engaging in any political activity. Hines quietly spent the remaining years of his life in the family's Long Island home, far from the political power he had once relished. He died in Long Beach, New York.
Achievements
Hines was a prominent Republican politician and powerful Tammany Hall political boss. Reformers and Republican opponents recalled Hines as a blight on honest urban government. Thousands of ordinary citizens, however, remembered him fondly for his favors, generosity, and for the June Walks.
Religion
Hines was a Catholic.
Politics
Hines was a member of the Republican Party.
Personality
Hines was five feet, eleven inches tall, but seemed taller, with broad shoulders, a jutting jaw, and cold blue eyes. He drank and smoked infrequently.
Connections
In 1904 Hines married Geneva E. Cox; they had three sons.
