Influence
With Democracy (1880), All the King's Men (1946), and Advise and Consent (1959), The Last Hurrah is among the more successful novels about American politics.
Perhaps most notably, the phrase '"The Last Hurrah" has since become a common phrase in the English lexicon to mean a swan song or, in politics, the last campaign of a politician.
The success of the novel and the Tracy film adaptation greatly benefited Curley, who by 1956 was no longer in office. In addition to giving him new publicity, Curley sued the film's producers and won $46,000. In addition, Skeffington is depicted as rambunctious yet heroic, and improved the public image of Curley. Now he is looked upon with nostalgia, in part due to the book and film.
Read more about this topic: The Last Hurrah
Famous quotes containing the word influence:
“The private life of one man shall be a more illustrious monarchy,—more formidable to its enemy, more sweet and serene in its influence to its friend, than any kingdom in history. For a man, rightly viewed, comprehendeth the particular natures of all men.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Constitutional statutes ... which embody the settled public opinion of the people who enacted them and whom they are to govern—can always be enforced. But if they embody only the sentiments of a bare majority, pronounced under the influence of a temporary excitement, they will, if strenuously opposed, always fail of their object; nay, they are likely to injure the cause they are framed to advance.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man’s existence: as our skeletons, probably, are not to be distinguished from those of our ancestors.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)