The price of honor

the long version

This is a biography of George Brinton McClellan, Jr. (1865-1940), the son of the Civil War general by the same name. He was a Tammany Hall Democrat. He held a couple of offices in New York City--Treasurer of the Brooklyn Bridge Board and President of Aldermen--before becoming NY's 12th district's representative to Congress. In 1904, he became the 93rd mayor of New York. He managed to create the foundation for the modern city we know today, despite breaking with the Boss of Tammany Hall and ending up in a recount dispute with William Randolph Hearst. When he left office, his political career had been smashed. He taught economic history in Princeton for 18 years. He was a ordnance office in WWI and is buried in Arlington. His life and work has a significance for all New Yorkers today and for Americans living in the 21st century.