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From the 1950 mayoralty fiasco, however, De Sapio drew an invaluable lesson that his predecessors had ignored. He realized that never again would hack candidates be elected merely because Tammany Hall had so ordained. Was there still a place for Tammany? De Sapio thought there was. As the regular New York County Democratic organization, working with party leaders in other boroughs, Tammany could 1) select popular candidates, and 2) manage their campaigns, keeping them on a straight, carefully planned track. Unwittingly, the New York newspapers helped him by vastly exaggerating Tammany's power, persuading many an ambitious young lawyer that Tammany could give him what he wanted.
The Herbivorous Kitten. Consolidating his leadership, De Sapio played for time, fighting off rebellion from within Tammany and constant attack from without. At one time, less than two years ago, he came within three votes of losing his leadership post. But when the time came (in the 1953 mayoralty primary) to take the offensive, De Sapio was ready with Robert Wagner Jr., the politically popular son of a politically famed father. Wagner won overwhelmingly (Impy ran a sorry second). The victory came because New Yorkers had wanted to vote for Wagner, not because Tammany Hall had told them to. Nevertheless, De Sapio and Tammany were back in the sun.
This year De Sapio greatly multiplied his gains by selecting Harriman to run for governor instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., who, before the elections, was believed by many to be a stronger candidate. The election proved De Sapio right. Harriman was narrowly elected, while Roosevelt was trounced for attorney general.
The revival of Tammany does not mean that the voracious Tiger prowls the streets of New York again. In U.S. politics, as in business, the age of the carnivores is past. Where the great bosses of yesterday gave orders to Senators and governors, De Sapio will give technical political advice —sorely needed in an age of amateur politics. Where the old bosses hammered out tickets by the skillful balancing of desperate rivalries, De Sapio, like any political-science professor, makes postcard polls of voter preference. Where they had satchelmen to carry bribe money, De Sapio has bright young ghosts to write solemn speeches on good government. Where they had plug-uglies, he has a tangerine peeler.