Tom Pendergast, the king of the Kansas City political machine, had refused to support Lloyd Stark for governor in 1932, but when Stark in 1936 received all kinds of endorsements from other Democratic organizations and leaders in Missouri, Pendergast went along. It was one of his bigger mistakes. Lloyd Stark, who pledged “absolute honesty” in his campaign, played a big part in destroying the corrupt machine Pendergast had led for years.
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