Few names resonate through the annals of Kansas City history as thoroughly as does that of Pendergast. For most who recognize it, the reference seems to indicate Tom Pendergast who indeed “held court” at 1908 Main Street from 1928 until his downfall in 1939. True aficionados will possibly throw in the name of Jim Pendergast who was indeed the oldest of the brothers and founder of the political dynasty.

But, there was another Pendergast—Mike. If you had asked Harry Truman about the Pendergasts, he would have told you he respected Tom, but he loved Mike. You see, it was Mike and his son Jim who appeared in Harry Truman’s haberdashery in the spring of 1922 to suggest that the former Army captain run for political office in Jackson County. That has to have been one of the all-time most important political parleys in Kansas City history, and Tom Pendergast was not in the room!

The Trumans and the Mike Pendergasts went way back before even that. In 1901, Harry’s father had lost the small family fortune betting on wheat futures on the Kansas City Board of Trade. The family had to sell its home on West Waldo and rent a house in Kansas City itself. They chose a place in the 2500 block of Park Street. This rental property happened to be right across the street from the newly acquired residence of the Mike Pendergast family.

Harry later recalled spending summer evenings on the Pendergast porch listening to his father and Mike talk politics. It is almost certainly during this period that Harry’s propensity toward Pendergast or “Goat Democrat” politics took shape.

Nonetheless, by all accounts, it was Mike’s boy, Jim who actually stimulated the critical visit with Harry in 1922. The two had served together during “The Great War.” When Harry later talked about all the Irish Catholics in Battery D, he would have included “Young Jim” Pendergast in the group. In the event, Mike’s boy Jim was elected Lieutenant of another battery in the regiment.

Mike Pendergast was always the least publicized of the politically active brothers [except for John who spent his life tending bar for Jim]. Where Jim and Tom centered most of their political involvement on the City, Mike was much more involved with Jackson County concerns. He spent a number of years working in the Register of Deeds office, but his ultimate purpose was to keep his ear to the ground for possibilities for increasing Pendergast influence at the County level.

Almost certainly it was Mike who brought the need to the table in 1922 that led to the invitation to Harry. Young Jim responded with the name, but Mike would have recognized it immediately from their former days on Park Street.

Mike never advanced to elective office, apparently in part because of his temper. He seems to have been predisposed to using his fists against opponents in the heat of the campaign. This tendency proved to be counter-productive for elective purposes, but helped to “rev up the troops” in the trenches of city and county political warfare.

Sadly, after 1925, Mike’s health declined. He died in 1929 after a long illness, just as Tom and Young Jim established 1908 Main Street as the Jackson Democratic club headquarters upstairs at 1908 Main. By that date, Harry was well-ensconced in his Jackson County Judge position. Without question, Mike would have been amazed at the later ascendancy of Truman to national prominence; however, it was a rise in which Mike played a crucial role at an important time.

Mike Pendergast—the forgotten Pendergast who deserves to be remembered.

Dr. Bill Worley, Instructor in History-MCC-Blue River