A survey of America's big city mayors from the beginning of the modern office in 1820 to the 1990s. Holli explains the results of the survey, gives biographical sketches of the 10 best mayors, as well as some attention to the worst, and explores mayoral success and failure.
The American Mayor offers a unique ranking of the nation's big-city mayors by expert scholars. Although the mayoralty is one of the most important political executive offices, it has escaped the kind of evaluations by which scholars have ranked American presidents. Now, thanks to Melvin Holli, we have a comparable survey of the "best" and "worst" mayors, covering some 730 mayors from the big-fifteen cities, from the beginning of the modern office in 1820 to the 1990s. The poll of historians, biographers, and social scientists produced a remarkably strong consensus.
