Mason B. Williams
@masonbwilliams.bsky.social
Historian. Assoc. Professor at Williams College; books from W.W. Norton.
For what it's worth, the thing they're saying is "politically charged" and out of line with scientific discourse has been a settled question among historians for like four years now www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/m...
Is It Fascism? A Leading Historian Changes His Mind.
www.nytimes.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:44 PM
For what it's worth, the thing they're saying is "politically charged" and out of line with scientific discourse has been a settled question among historians for like four years now www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/m...
Yes! Was going to mention her but held off because she didn't have anything like Ravitch's impact as a historian. (I say "impact" because Ravitch's historical work was widely read but highly controversial -- another story....)
July 6, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Yes! Was going to mention her but held off because she didn't have anything like Ravitch's impact as a historian. (I say "impact" because Ravitch's historical work was widely read but highly controversial -- another story....)
This is kind of niche, but Diane Ravitch started her career as a historian of education before becoming a hugely important figure in the politics of education reform
July 6, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This is kind of niche, but Diane Ravitch started her career as a historian of education before becoming a hugely important figure in the politics of education reform
Plus, of course, they both ran on cost-of-living issues -- preserving the nickel subway fare was one of La Guardia's first big municipal causes, and he later persuaded the federal gov't to bring rent control to New York -- and anticorruption, though La G's was aimed at Tammany rather than big money.
June 30, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Plus, of course, they both ran on cost-of-living issues -- preserving the nickel subway fare was one of La Guardia's first big municipal causes, and he later persuaded the federal gov't to bring rent control to New York -- and anticorruption, though La G's was aimed at Tammany rather than big money.
You're totally right about both of them mobilizing new voters -- by the time La Guardia won reelection in 1937, the electorate was 56% larger than it had been in 1929. Some of that was organization, some of it was that the New Deal made gov't feel more important to people.
June 30, 2025 at 6:57 PM
You're totally right about both of them mobilizing new voters -- by the time La Guardia won reelection in 1937, the electorate was 56% larger than it had been in 1929. Some of that was organization, some of it was that the New Deal made gov't feel more important to people.
The main difference of course is that LaG had a lot more experience and had been on the scene a long time -- Congress, president of the Board of Aldermen...1933 was his third run for mayor. There was also an establishment component to LaG's coalition -- a bit about it here: bsky.app/profile/maso...
The long version is in chaps. 3, 6, and 8 of my first book. I'll give a short version a shot. When he first won election in 1933, after the big Tammany scandals of the early '30s, La Guardia was a traditional "fusion" candidate with one important difference....
June 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
The main difference of course is that LaG had a lot more experience and had been on the scene a long time -- Congress, president of the Board of Aldermen...1933 was his third run for mayor. There was also an establishment component to LaG's coalition -- a bit about it here: bsky.app/profile/maso...
La Guardia's victory in 1933 signaled the political emergence of one of the largest new immigrant groups in much the way Mamdani's does now.
June 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM
La Guardia's victory in 1933 signaled the political emergence of one of the largest new immigrant groups in much the way Mamdani's does now.
There are some personal similarities -- they're both cosmopolitan and multilingual, have tremendous energy and a knack for making themselves omnipresent. They both radiate care and concern for people's wellbeing. They're both adept at the emergent media -- La G newsreels and, later, radio.
June 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM
There are some personal similarities -- they're both cosmopolitan and multilingual, have tremendous energy and a knack for making themselves omnipresent. They both radiate care and concern for people's wellbeing. They're both adept at the emergent media -- La G newsreels and, later, radio.
Ok, one more (can't help myself) -- all this pearl-clutching about socialism....La G ran (successfully) for Congress in 1924 with the Socialist Party's endorsement. He helped establish the ALP, created by avowed socialists, & ran on its line twice. There's lots of socialism in NYC mayoral history!
June 26, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Ok, one more (can't help myself) -- all this pearl-clutching about socialism....La G ran (successfully) for Congress in 1924 with the Socialist Party's endorsement. He helped establish the ALP, created by avowed socialists, & ran on its line twice. There's lots of socialism in NYC mayoral history!
Thanks for looping me in!
June 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Thanks for looping me in!
One last thing -- between 1973 and Tuesday, NYC's electoral politics were mostly predictable and bland. The fact that Tuesday's primary was *exciting and interesting* just shows how much Mamdani has done to awaken democratic spirits that were dormant in NYC for a long, long time
June 26, 2025 at 7:59 PM
One last thing -- between 1973 and Tuesday, NYC's electoral politics were mostly predictable and bland. The fact that Tuesday's primary was *exciting and interesting* just shows how much Mamdani has done to awaken democratic spirits that were dormant in NYC for a long, long time
Anyhow, that's the basics. It's a truly crazy story, and the details are amazing. In 1937 he was supported by both John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the Communist Party (then in Popular Front mode)!
June 26, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Anyhow, that's the basics. It's a truly crazy story, and the details are amazing. In 1937 he was supported by both John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the Communist Party (then in Popular Front mode)!
I was chuckling about this to myself when everyone was lamenting the fact that foreign policy had become such a big part of NYC mayoral politics. Unfortunate, but definitely nothing new! Foreign policy played a big role in the mayoral elections of 1917, 1941, 1989....
June 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I was chuckling about this to myself when everyone was lamenting the fact that foreign policy had become such a big part of NYC mayoral politics. Unfortunate, but definitely nothing new! Foreign policy played a big role in the mayoral elections of 1917, 1941, 1989....
In 1941, something fascinating that *no one* remembers happened: He almost lost, for a few reasons, the most important of which was b/c his support among Italian NYers collapsed. Why? Because of his outspoken support for FDR's foreign policy....
June 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
In 1941, something fascinating that *no one* remembers happened: He almost lost, for a few reasons, the most important of which was b/c his support among Italian NYers collapsed. Why? Because of his outspoken support for FDR's foreign policy....
He also won a much larger share of the vote in Jewish and Black neighborhoods, mostly b/c of his progressive record in office and support for the New Deal. Social groups moving toward FDR in national politics were moving toward the adamantly pro-New Deal Republican La Guardia in mayoral politics
June 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
He also won a much larger share of the vote in Jewish and Black neighborhoods, mostly b/c of his progressive record in office and support for the New Deal. Social groups moving toward FDR in national politics were moving toward the adamantly pro-New Deal Republican La Guardia in mayoral politics
La G in 1937 kept most of his 1933 coalition and added a *much* stronger labor component, mostly through the American Labor Party, which the needle trade unions had formed in 1936 to support FDR's reelection....
June 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
La G in 1937 kept most of his 1933 coalition and added a *much* stronger labor component, mostly through the American Labor Party, which the needle trade unions had formed in 1936 to support FDR's reelection....
This is where it gets weird. (Chap. 6 of City of Ambition is titled "From Fusion to Confusion"). La G was a good-govt reformer but also strongly pro-labor and pro-New Deal, and the New Deal itself reshuffled NYC politics, especially with the rise of the labor mov't....
June 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
This is where it gets weird. (Chap. 6 of City of Ambition is titled "From Fusion to Confusion"). La G was a good-govt reformer but also strongly pro-labor and pro-New Deal, and the New Deal itself reshuffled NYC politics, especially with the rise of the labor mov't....
(Fusion candidates usually being silk-stocking WASPs). La Guardia probably would have won a two- (or three-, inc the Socialist candidate) way race in 1933. It happened the Dems split into pro-New Deal (the Bronx and Brooklyn machines) and anti-New Deal (Tammany) camps & La G won with 40% of the vote
June 26, 2025 at 7:45 PM
(Fusion candidates usually being silk-stocking WASPs). La Guardia probably would have won a two- (or three-, inc the Socialist candidate) way race in 1933. It happened the Dems split into pro-New Deal (the Bronx and Brooklyn machines) and anti-New Deal (Tammany) camps & La G won with 40% of the vote
A similar coalition of elites chose La Guardia (over a few people, including Robert Moses) as its candidate in 1933. The important difference w/ LaG in 1933 is that he also had a lot of support among Italian NYers, which gave him a voting bloc typical fusion candidates didn't have....
June 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
A similar coalition of elites chose La Guardia (over a few people, including Robert Moses) as its candidate in 1933. The important difference w/ LaG in 1933 is that he also had a lot of support among Italian NYers, which gave him a voting bloc typical fusion candidates didn't have....
"Fusion" meant an alliance of the GOP; non-/anti-machine Democrats; the financial, business, and real estate communities; good-gov't orgs and civic watchdog groups; clergy; the Bar Association; various intelligentsia, etc., coordinating on a slate of candidates they could all agree on.
June 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
"Fusion" meant an alliance of the GOP; non-/anti-machine Democrats; the financial, business, and real estate communities; good-gov't orgs and civic watchdog groups; clergy; the Bar Association; various intelligentsia, etc., coordinating on a slate of candidates they could all agree on.
The long version is in chaps. 3, 6, and 8 of my first book. I'll give a short version a shot. When he first won election in 1933, after the big Tammany scandals of the early '30s, La Guardia was a traditional "fusion" candidate with one important difference....
June 26, 2025 at 7:38 PM
The long version is in chaps. 3, 6, and 8 of my first book. I'll give a short version a shot. When he first won election in 1933, after the big Tammany scandals of the early '30s, La Guardia was a traditional "fusion" candidate with one important difference....