Experience the Legacy of La Macchina on Paperback

From the Tip of the Boot to the Top of the Heap takes readers on a gripping journey though the rise and eventual fall of La Macchina, a political force that shaped Des Monies for decades. La Macchina wasn’t simply a political machine-it was a way of life for the Italian-American families of Des Monies’ Southside, where loyalty, mutual support, and political savvy collided to create a lasting influence.

In the mind-20^th century, Des Monies’ Southside was home to many Italian immigrants who had limited representation into the city’s power structure. In a city where power was concentrated in the hands of a few elite families, the Southside communities found it self on the outside looking in. La Macchina emerged as a response, uniting a group of individuals determined to change the political landscape. At its core, La Macchina was about survival and seizing control in a city that often overlooked the needs of the working-class immigrant communities.

Ned Chiodo presents the reader with a personal firsthand account, a guide to how La Macchina transformed from a grassroots advocacy collective to shaping everything from local elections to city government. Under the leadership of leaders such as John Mauro, La Macchina expanded its reach beyond the Southside and changed the politics of Des Moines on both the local and state levels. This really was the organization’s strength: loyalty, patronage, and the ability to negotiate in private—in essence, a clan.

However, power relations also evolved with changes in the times. The younger generation of Southside families, no longer keen on the stick and rubber method for change, would demand a new sense of politics. As the city’s political dynamics changed, so did the problems facing La Macchina. More specifically, the decline began with the reelection campaign of John Mauro, who had led La Macchina for more than a decade. But his defeat by challenger Matt McCoy was a harbinger of the new political order and a new Des Moines.

In this paperback part of the book From the Tip of the Boot to the Top of the Heap, it is possible to observe the whole life cycle of La Macchina. In Many Paths to Safety, Chiodo has provided readers with the compelling account of the relationship between the community, politics, and immigration. It was a story about how a group of unconventional individuals formed a political organization that not only changed the political landscape of Des Moines but also reshaped the political machinery of America.

The paperback edition of La Macchina provides readers with an opportunity to examine in detail the intricate history of this dominant operating force in Iowa politics. If one is interested in the political history of various movements, the life of Italian-Americans, or simply a compelling and often overlooked story about the power of community, this edition provides a comprehensible and readable account of La Macchina’s history.