Voting Station

Anton Cermak

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Mayor

The Resume

    (May 9, 1873-March 6, 1933)
    Born in Kladno, Czech Republic
    Mayor of Chicago (1931-33)
    Shot by Giuseppe Zangara while making a public appearance with U.S. President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami (February 15, 1933)
    Died of the gunshot wound three weeks later in a Miami hospital at age 59

Why he might be annoying:

    His Irish political rivals in Chicago nicknamed him Pushcart Tony.
    In 1928, he ran as a Democrat for a seat in the U.S. Senate and lost.
    A major tax revolt hindered his effectiveness during his tenure as mayor.
    There is debate whether he or FDR was the intended target.
    Radio personality Walter Winchell implied he was the target as ordered by imprisoned crime boss Al Capone for not playing ball with Chicago mob members.
    Accounts vary as to whether he was shot in the lung or the stomach.
    His son-in-law was corrupt Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, Jr.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He grew up in poverty and his family immigrated from Bohemia to the U.S. to seek a better life.
    When he ran for mayor, incumbent 'Big Bill' Thompson hurled ethnic slurs at him.
    His reply was, 'He doesn't like my name... it's true I didn't come over on the Mayflower, but I came over as soon as I could.'
    Ethnic voters (Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians, Jews & Italians) were tired of Chicago politics as usual and came out in numbers to vote for him.
    He persuaded the black voters to switch parties from Republican to Democrat, which was the start of the 'Democratic Machine' in Chicago.
    He was one of six people shot by Zangara and the only fatality.
    On his way to the hospital with FDR by his side, he was thought to have told him, 'I'm glad it was me instead of you.'
    A plaque with those words stands at the assassination site.
    After his death, 22nd Street on Chicago's West Side with a large Czech population, was renamed Cermak Road.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 72 Votes: 65.28% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 25 Votes: 48.00% Annoying