Eugene Schmitz

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Eugene E. Schmitz August 22, 1864–November 20, 1928 was a US American politician and mayor of San Francisco, California notorious for his corruption.

Born August 22, 1864 in San Francisco, Handsome Gene was professionally an orchestra leader and president of the Musicians' Union, before he became mayor in 1902. He was the mayor of his hometown when the famous 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed a prodigious amount of the city. He was later convicted on multiple charges of graft and bribery but soon had the charges cleared. He attempted to run for mayor in again in 1915 and 1919, but was soundly defeated due to his past reputation. Elected to the Board of Supervisors where he remained until 1925. He lived in San Francisco until his death November 20, 1928.

By all accounts he was known as San Francisco's worst mayor, and one of the worst mayors in American history. Schmitz was very corrupt and inept at the job as he was mostly a caretaker position to that of local political boss Abe Ruef and other political and business leaders and interests.

[edit] References

Bean, Walton (1981). Boss Ruef's San Francisco: The story of the Union Labor Party, big business, and the graft prosecution. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-23211-3.