Chicago's historian, Thomas O'Gorman, on Chicago's national conventions

Chicago’s own social scrivener, Thomas O’Gorman, always has his finger on the pulse of Chicago. He’s the beloved featured columnist in the Skyline newspaper who has also penned a very timely book.

Even though it was written in 1996, O'Gorman's book, "Inside the Wigwam," is more relevant today than ever before. This book spans the history of national conventions held in the Windy City, highlighting Chicago's unique role in American political history.

No American city has hosted more national presidential nominating conventions than Chicago. Since Abraham Lincoln was nominated at the Wigwam in 1860, Chicago has hosted 25 national conventions.

Authors R. Craig Sautter and Edward M. Burke (the pseudonym used then by Thomas O’Gorman) describe the historical significance of each major convention. They portray the larger-than-life personalities who became—or aspired to become—president.

The conventions reflected the often-troubled times, from William Jennings Bryan's electrifying "cross of gold" speech in 1896 to the street violence that erupted in 1968 during the height of the Vietnam War. Sautter and Burke/O’Gorman delve into the issues confronting the country, going beyond superficial campaign slogans and partisan speechmaking to reveal what really happened on the convention floor and behind the smoke-filled rooms.

Full of colorful anecdotes, the book also contains photographs of both candidates and nominees, "Facts-at-a-Glance" boxes highlighting important convention details, key political issues of each convention, statistics, and trivia.

Engrossing and thoughtful, "Inside the Wigwam" is a book for and about our times, an exciting examination of the often-raucous political tugs-of-war that determined the fate of the nation.

And here we go again! Prepare yourselves, Chicago, for what’s to come with this fascinating book!

Inside the Wigwam on Amazon