William "Billy" Meehan was the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

leader of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

for the second half of the twentieth century, though he formally held a title of " of counsel"."The History of the United Republican Club" , url=https://www.urcphila.com/terms-of-service-4/ , access-date=1 March 2023 His father was

Austin Meehan Austin Andrew Meehan, Sr., (August 29, 1897 – October 5, 1961) was a Republican politician in Philadelphia who served as county sheriff. Before entering politics, Meehan ran his family's paving business and was known as a local basketball sta ...

, also an influential Philadelphia Republican and former sheriff of Philadelphia.The Philadelphia Republican Party, in the wake of the political realignment in Philadelphia politics starting with the

Home Rule Charter Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

in 1951 and the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

of "reform" Democrats,

Richardson Dilworth Richardson K. Dilworth (August 29, 1898 – January 23, 1974) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 91st mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962. He twice ran as the Democratic nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, in 1 ...

and

Joseph S. Clark Joseph Sill Clark Jr. (October 21, 1901January 12, 1990) was an American writer, lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 90th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1952 to 1956 and as a United States Senator from Pennsylvani ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, entered a period of gradual and persistent decline, after having dominated the city's politics for a century prior to home rule. Meehan managed the party with an accommodating practice to his counterparts on the Democratic side, often favouring for minor

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

-related jobs for party activists in various levels of city government. Meehan dominated the Party in a structure roughly analogous to old-style

machine politics In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership con ...

, with an emphasis on strong personality leadership. With only one exception ( Frank Rizzo in 1991), no Republican Party candidate was able to be nominated for citywide office without Meehan's blessing. Meehan was noted for the annual summer

clambake The clambake or clam bake, also known as the New England clambake, is a traditional method of cooking seafood, such as lobster, mussels, crabs, scallops, soft-shell clams, and quahogs. The food is traditionally cooked by steaming the ingredients ...

, which he held at his residence in the Somerton section of Philadelphia, a heavily Republican stronghold. He was succeeded in the role of guiding the Philadelphia Republican Party, in an unofficial manner, by his son, Michael "Mike" Meehan.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Pennsylvania Republicans {{Pennsylvania-politician-stub