Mayoral Inaugurations Through the Years
Fiorello H. La Guardia
1934–1945
The first man in modern history to be elected mayor for three consecutive terms, Fiorello H. La Guardia – the "Little Flower" – has become the model of what it means to be the leader of New York City. Running on a Republican and Fusion ticket, he defeated incumbent John P. O'Brien, who was backed by Tammany Hall, the notoriously corrupt Democratic Party machine. Mr. La Guardia held no formal inauguration ceremony; instead on his first day he went straight to work, setting the tone of dynamism, reform and anticorruption zeal that were to become his trademarks. In a radio address he declared, "New York City was restored to the people this morning at one minute after midnight." Promising to "clean house and clean it thoroughly," he took what he described as the oath of the young men of Athens, saying: "The oath was taken in the temple before Zeus. 'We will never bring disgrace to this our city by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks. We will fight for our ideals, and sacred things of the city, both alone and with many.'" The mood of the city was brightened by the fact that his inauguration coincided with the first New Year's Eve celebrations since the end of Prohibition.
William O'Dwyer
1946–1950
Front page, 1/2/46 William O'Dwyer, an Irish-born Democrat universally known as "Bill-O," won the 1945 election by a huge majority, and was inaugurated before a crowd of 700 people in the City Hall council chambers, with the celebratory song, "It's a Great Day for the Irish." But he resigned just five years later, after he had secured re-election, as a police corruption scandal involving a large gambling ring closed in. He was appointed ambassador to Mexico by President Harry Truman, and left New York immediately.
Vincent R. Impellitteri
1950–1953
After serving as acting mayor under his scandal-scarred predecessor, Vincent R. Impellitteri, an immigrant cobbler's son who was born in Sicily, won a special election held after Mr. O'Dwyer's abrupt resignation, and became the 101st mayor. Given the circumstances, he held the briefest of inaugurations, speaking for three minutes without a band or platform and pledging to "do my level best to justify the confidence you have reposed in me." He ran without the support of a major party and served the remaining three years of the term, but had angered Tammany Hall and failed to get re-elected in 1953.
Robert F. Wagner
1954–1965
Front page, 1/2/54 The son of a German immigrant who became a United States senator, Robert F. Wagner, a Democrat, was Manhattan borough president when he beat Mr. Impellitteri in the 1953 election. At his inauguration he promised to act in "the best interest of all people" and hailed public service as "among the most noble challenges." He went on to become the first three-term mayor since Mr. La Guardia. During his 12 years, New York hosted the 1964-65 World's Fair and saw a massive highway and bridge construction, including the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Mr. Wagner also used state and federal funds to clear slums and build public housing, although critics said he was overly cautious in tackling postwar social changes. He failed in attempts to follow his father into the Senate.
John V. Lindsay
1966–1973
John V. Lindsay's election in 1965 marked a generational change in New York politics, with the arrival of a charismatic and telegenic young politician who was as at home on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson as he was touring urban ghettos. He was the first Republican to hold the office for two decades, coming off four terms in the United States House of Representatives. His very first day was marked by a transit strike that forced him to abandon plans for a tour of the city and overshadowed his inauguration, in which he warned that if his new administration were allowed to fail, cynics would conclude that "great cities are no longer governable." He won re-election in 1969, and served two terms during an era of growing racial unrest, fiscal problems, strikes and protests against the Vietnam War, but fewer riots, with Mr. Lindsay often out late at night on the streets of Harlem and the Bronx, personally touring the areas in an effort to maintain calm.
Abraham D. Beame
1974–1977
Front page, 1/2/74 Abraham D. Beame, a former city comptroller, inherited a spendthrift city that was already on the road to fiscal crisis, until finally banks became unwilling to lend. His administration was scandal-free, but he was unable to win over critics, who accused him of timidity and indecision. He served only one term.
Edward I. Koch
1978–1989
The antithesis of his predecessor, Edward I. Koch was a voluble, charismatic and streetwise politician who courted headlines and was not one to shirk controversy. He served three terms, from 1978 to 1989, and relished his image as a New Yorker's New Yorker, with his ubiquitous catchphrase, "How'm I doin?" Born in the Bronx, he served nine years in Congress before being elected mayor as a reform Democrat from Greenwich Village. Three decades before Bill de Blasio campaigned on the slogan "A Tale of Two Cities," The New York Times greeted the incoming mayor with a grim line drawn from another Dickens novel: "Welcome to hard times. Today Edward I. Koch officially becomes Mayor of New York City – a place that has hit financial bedrock and now, as outgoing Mayor Abraham Beame observed last week, is ready for years of rebuilding." Mr. Koch drew praise for leading the city back from near bankruptcy, but by his third term was consumed by his handling of corruption scandals and racial divisions, and he was faulted for an inadequate response to the crack, homelessness and AIDS crises that were afflicting the city.
David N. Dinkins
1990–1993
In 1990 David N. Dinkins became the city's first black mayor after defeating two giants of New York politics. In the Democratic primary he beat Mr. Koch, and went on to defeat the Republican candidate, Rudolph W. Giuliani, by 47,000 votes, the narrowest electoral margin in the city's history. In his inauguration speech he pointedly said that he would be "mayor of all the people of New York," and told the audience, "I stand here before you today as the elected leader of the greatest city of a great nation, to which my ancestors were brought chained and whipped in the hold of a slave ship." The city was in fiscal trouble, but he succeeded in bringing down crime figures. However, Mr. Dinkins, who called New York a "gorgeous mosaic," found that race remained a defining issue during his single term. He drew criticism for his handling of the 1991 race riots in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He failed to get re-elected, losing the rematch with Mr. Giuliani.
Rudolph W. Giuliani
1994–2001
Front page, 1/2/94 Rudolph W. Giuliani's two terms as mayor were characterized by a relentless focus on crime and security, not surprising for a pugnacious former prosecutor who made his name by going after mafia and white-collar criminals. In his campaign he promised fiscal responsibility and to make the streets safer for New Yorkers, and was more liberal than the national Republican Party on social issues such as immigration and abortion. But the defining event of his mayoralty came at the end of his second administration, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. He won plaudits for leading the city out of the crisis. But his image had already been damaged by severe racial tensions and allegations of civil-rights abuses. His last-minute attempt to extend his time in office after Sept. 11 raised anew accusations that he had tried to foster a cult of personality, and had come to see himself as indispensable.
Michael R. Bloomberg
2002–2013
Michael R. Bloomberg took over as mayor in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and presented himself as a safe pair of hands to steer New York through a period of crisis. Mr. Bloomberg is a self-made billionaire, and his business acumen made him a reassuring figure to the financial markets. He used his inauguration speech to proclaim, "New York is safe, strong, open for business." As prosperity grew, so did his popularity. But his improvements in public health and infrastructure of the city were overshadowed during his second term by the financial crash, and the widespread disgust at the excesses of Wall Street, with which he was inextricably linked. He secured a controversial third term after successfully persuading legislators to overturn the city's two-term limit for elected officials. That, combined with growing unease at the widening gap between rich and poor provided the springboard for his successor, Bill de Blasio, to campaign on a slogan that it was time to end what he termed the "tale of two cities."
By STEVEN LEE MYERS 31 Dec, 2013
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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/30/nyregion/nyc-mayor-inaugurations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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