John Vincent Kenny

Background

John Vincent Kenny was born on April 6, 1893 in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, one of six children of Edward Kenny and Katherine Ward. His father was a tavern owner in the city's second ward, known as the "horseshoe. "

Education

Kenny attended St. Michael's Parochial School and then went to St. Peter's Prep, graduating in 1911. He considered becoming a writer or reporter, or even a lawyer, but he did nothing to achieve these goals beyond attending the New Jersey Law School for a year.

Career

Kenny became a bookkeeper in the dining car department of the Erie Railroad Company. He made his entrance into the Jersey City Democratic party, controlled by Frank Hague, when he became a committeeman in place of his brother, who was murdered in 1916. Through Hague he then received a number of jobs in the Jersey City and Hudson County governments, including secretary to the county treasurer in 1924 and Jersey City tax commissioner in 1931. Between 1932 and 1941, he served as a member of the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 1931, Kenny was made leader of Jersey City's second ward. In this capacity he worked during the 1930's and 1940's to produce a following; he approached various industries in the area, such as Armour, Swift, and Kraft, to obtain jobs for the ward's residents. Kenny also benefited as a businessman from his Hague connection: in 1931 he founded the Industrial Utilities Corporation to clean, maintain, and renovate railroad cars, and through Hague's influence the company received a contract from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Hague retired in 1947, but Kenny, or "the little guy, " as he was called, was displeased with the succession of Hague's nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, which seemed to thwart Kenny's ambition to become public safety director. His subsequent activities irritated the Hague machine, causing him to be thrown out of the organization in June 1948. The "little guy" responded by assembling a slate of candidates to challenge the Hague forces in the election of city commissioners the following May. Kenny's ticket was ethnically mixed in comparison to the Hague practice of presenting an all-Irish slate. Campaigning vigorously on an anti-Hague theme and using the label "Freedom Ticket" as well as Churchill's victory sign, his associates were victorious and he became mayor. Although the unity of the victors disintegrated during the following year, Kenny was nevertheless able to take charge of Hudson County by gaining the support of the eleven other mayors there; he continued to control the county until 1972, chiefly through patronage and operating as a broker-type boss, making concessions and settling disputes among rival factions. In the 1949 gubernational election he did not support the Hague-backed Democratic candidate, Elmer Wene, with the result that Jersey City went Republican for the first time in twenty years. For the 1953 City elections Kenny put up another ethnically mixed ticket. While he and three of his candidates won, the other two commissioners were his rival, Eggers, and a Republican, Joshua Ringle.

In December Kenny resigned as mayor, preferring to wield power without holding office. He was able to induce Ringle to accept his replacement and choice for mayor by offering the Republican some spoils and patronage. This maneuver left Eggers isolated. In gaining Ringle's support Kenny demonstrated one of his principal tactics, namely to pit opposing forces against one another and then to persuade them to ally with him.

During the early 1950's, Kenny's name came up in the investigation of waterfront crime by various government agencies. In April 1952, the New York County District Attorney issued a report indicating that he had committed perjury when he denied meeting secretly with a racketeer, Anthony Strollo (alias Tony Bender). He later affirmed the meeting, stating it was held to keep peace on the waterfront. In December 1955, Samuel Larner, a court-appointed Newark lawyer, began a two-and-a-half-year probe into Jersey City finances, which was highly critical of the practices of city officials, including Kenny. These revelations hurt the Kenny candidates in the 1957 city elections, and they were defeated by a "Victory ticket, " although its leader, Thomas Gangemi, was not elected.

By this time Kenny was getting ready to retire; when he noticed the disunity among the Victoryites, though, he made a deal with Gangemi to join their political machines and make Gangemi the candidate for county supervisor. In November 1957, Kenny's county slate won by forty thousand votes, and Governor Meyner won reelection. In 1960, Jersey City voters had approved a strong mayor-council form of government, and in the 1961 election Kenny's mayoral candidate, Gangemi, and seven of his council candidates were elected. When Gangemi was forced to resign in 1963, Kenny got his choice, Thomas Whelan, accepted for mayor. In 1969 he opposed the candidacy of Robert Meyner, his old ally, and advised county voters to split their votes between county candidates and Republican William Cahill, who won.

In November 1970, Kenny and eleven of his Jersey City and Hudson County associates were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of extortion bribery; in addition, Kenny was charged with income tax evasion. Because of ill health his trial was severed. In May 1972, he pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and was sentenced to eighteen years in prison, later reduced to eighteen months, and a $30, 000 fine. However, because of his health, he was released in March 1973 and spent the remaining years of his life in a nursing home in Paramus, New Jersey, where he died of heart disease.

Achievements

• Kenny became one of New Jersey's most powerful political leaders. As a head of Jersey City's second ward, he developed ties with the International Long-shoremen's local and founded the Industrial Utilities Corporation. He played a crucial part in the choice and election of Robert B. Meyner as governor in 1953; he also supported and helped to elect Richard Hughes as governor in 1961 and 1965.

Politics

Kenny was a member of the Hudson County Democratic party.

Connections

On April 8, 1918, Kenny married Margaret Smith. They had one daughter.

Father:

Edward Kenny

Mother:

Katherine Ward

References

• Tiger in the Court: Herbert J. Stern, the US Attorney who Prosecuted 8 Mayors, 2 Secretaries of State, 2 State Treasurers, 2 Powerful Political Bosses and 64 other Public Officials