William Emmett Dever, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

William Emmett Dever

American mayor

Date of Birth: 13-Mar-1862

Place of Birth: Woburn, Massachusetts, United States

Date of Death: 13-Sep-1929

Profession: judge, lawyer, politician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

William Emmett Dever (March 13, 1862 – September 3, 1929) was the mayor of Chicago from 1923 to 1927.
He had previously served as a municipal judge and before that an alderman.
As an alderman and judge he would work to become the Democratic candidate for mayor for over two decades.
Born in Massachusetts but moving to Chicago in young adulthood, William Dever became an alderman and prominently supported municipal ownership of mass transit.
He was a member of the Dunne wing of the local Democratic party. As mayor, he focused on reform and infrastructure during his tenure.
Later he would turn his attention to the enforcement of Prohibition despite his personal opposition to it.
Such enforcement was initially effective, but indifference from government at other levels limited its efficacy and the lower amount of alcohol increased violence among bootleggers, souring Chicagoans' view on it.
Losing to William Hale Thompson in 1927 over the issue, he is the last Democratic nominee in a partisan Chicago mayoral election to lose.
Never in particularly good health, he retired from politics after the election and would die of pancreatic cancer two years later.