Tom Johnson of Cleveland

A full-scale biography of Tom Johnson, the most famous municipal executive of the Progressive era. As mayor of Cleveland from 1901 to 1909, he made it the best governed city in the United States according to Lincoln Steffens. In that office, he became an outstanding social and structural reformer in the Progressive mold. Yet he does not easily fit into the ideological pigeon-holes created by Progressive historians. He was, argues the author, a true disciple of Henry George, the nineteenth century social philosopher, and George’s single tax theories. The author views Johnson in the light of Progressive historiography, demonstrating that he is probably the outstanding example of a Progressive who does not meet the ‘status’ explanation of the origin of Progressivism.