The Great McGinty

The story opens with Dan McGinty recounting his life to the bar's dancing girl and a suicidal American, Tommy. This framing device sets up the long flashback that follows, contrasting his past corruption with the present moment. The narrator's perspective hints at the moral weight of his memories.

McGinty, a tramp, is paid $2 to vote under a false name in a rigged mayoral election, doing it 37 times at different precincts. The scheme catches the attention of a powerful local political boss who sees his potential as a tool for control. This marks the start of his ascent through the city's corrupt machine.

Impressed by McGinty's nerve, the boss elevates him from enforcer to political protégé. Their alliance blends intimidation with strategic ambition as the boss consolidates power across parties. McGinty's loyalty becomes the backbone of their growing empire.

During a public push for reform, the boss decides McGinty should run as a reform-minded mayor. The boss controls all parties, while McGinty negotiates the public image of honesty. The arrangement promises change while masking ongoing corruption.

With no suitable spouse, McGinty agrees to a marriage of convenience proposed by his secretary. The union gives him legitimacy and a personal anchor as he steps into office. It also complicates his relationship with the boss, who wants calculated loyalty.

McGinty is elected mayor and keeps the corrupt system intact, rationalizing that public works still benefit the people. He justifies bribes and manipulations as necessary for progress. His wife's influence remains distant as power solidifies around him.

The mayor and his wife actually fall in love, and he begins taking her reform ideas seriously. Her perspective nudges him toward a more conscientious approach to governance. Yet old habits and the boss's reach still pull at him.

Despite growing conscience, McGinty believes he isn't powerful enough to defy the boss. He remains dependent on the corrupt system for political protection and personal advantage. The tension between conscience and loyalty defines his tenure.

Five years after becoming mayor, the boss engineers McGinty's rise to governor and he is elected. The new office lends an air of legitimacy to their scheme, but the boss's shadow looms over every decision. McGinty feels briefly empowered, yet apprehensive.

On inauguration day, McGinty tells the boss that they're through, attempting to sever ties. The boss responds with fury, firing a gun at him inside the governor's mansion, forcing his arrest. The moment crystallizes the peril of challenging the machine.

McGinty and the boss end up in adjacent jail cells, where the boss orchestrates an escape for both. The scheme preserves their bond and power, showing that their partnership survives confinement as well as politics. The encounter intensifies the mentor-pupil dynamic even behind bars.

In a defining moment of the flashback, McGinty phones his wife to reveal money he has hidden to provide for her and her children. The confession reveals the lasting consequences of his 'one crazy minute' of honesty mixed with decades of compromise. It ties his past to the present tension.

We return to the bar where the former political boss still exerts control over McGinty. The old power dynamic continues to fuel their violent disagreements in the present. It becomes clear that the political machine survives breachless both in memory and in workplace reality.

The tale closes with McGinty continuing to recount his life to the bar's company, acknowledging the gulf between his hopeful past and the troubling present. The cycle of corruption and personal conflict remains unresolved. The audience is left with a haunting sense of how one minute of honesty can ripple through a lifetime.