William M. Boyle

William Marshall Boyle Jr. (February 2, 1902 – August 30, 1961) was a Democratic political activist from Kansas. Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1949 to 1951, he was a friend of President Harry S. Truman and is credited with engineering Truman's upset victory over Governor Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election. He was forced to resign as chairman of the Democratic National Committee after being charged with financial corruption.

Boyle was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1902; he became politically active as a Young Democrat at age 16, thereby attracting the attention of Kansas City, Missouri political boss Thomas Pendergast, who made Boyle a precinct captain before his 21st birthday. Boyle's parents were friends of Harry Truman and the future president took him under his wing. Boyle took a law degree, practiced law and was active in Democratic politics in Kansas City. He played an active role in Truman's successful run for the U.S. Senate in 1934. He became police director of Kansas City in 1939.

In 1941, he moved to Washington to take a job as counsel to the Truman Committee and personal assistant to Truman in 1942. In 1944, Boyle joined the Democratic National Committee, where he helped steer Truman's 1944 Vice-presidential campaign. Boyle opened an office in Washington. In the 1948 campaign, he persuaded Truman, at the time an underdog, to launch a whistle stop tour of the Midwest.

In 1949, Truman made Boyle the executive vice chairman and then chairman, of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In 1951, a Senate subcommittee under Senator J. William Fulbright opened a probe of loan decisions by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The subcommittee report charged Boyle with exerting political pressure on the RFC to provide loans to political allies. Truman said the allegations were "asinine." However another Senate subcommittee opened a probe that revealed Boyle used his influence to obtain a $565,000 loan for an $8000 fee. Boyle admitting accepting fees, but denied pressing for the loan He resigned from the DNC, citing poor health.

Boyle was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1903, though his family moved across the state line. He attended Westport High School, where he soon organized a "Young Democrats Club" in the prosperous Fourth Ward of Kansas City. He then attended Kansas City Junior College. Boyle's political activities came to the attention of Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast, who made him a precinct captain—though Boyle was still too young to vote himself.

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