Starting Monday, someone with a last name other than Daley is going to be sitting in the mayor's office in Chicago. For the last 56 years, that's something that hasn't happened very often.
This isn't just the end of Richard M. Daley's 22-year tenure -- the longest any Chicago mayor has ever been in office. It's also the end of a mayoral dynasty unlike any in America's history.
Daley and his father, the late Richard J. Daley, together served 43 years as mayor of one of the largest cities in the country. Through their successes and controversies, both men leave behind powerful legacies.
But more so than his father, Richard M. Daley will likely be remembered in a largely positive light.
"He'll be remembered positively for shepherding Chicago through the transformation from a manufacturing and service economy to becoming a global city," UIC political science professor Dick Simpson told Reuters.
The inauguration happens Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the Pritzker Pavillion inside Millennium Park. NBC Chicago will bring you every moment of the inauguration, with a live video stream and a live blog.
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M. Daley will also be remembered for sending bulldozers to tear up Meigs Field in the middle of the night; for the over-budget, over-deadline Millennium Park, that's now known internationally as a symbol of a renewed Chicago; for tearing down the country's largest public-housing high-rises at Cabrini-Green.
Daley has largely succeeded in moving the city from a gritty, industrial powerhouse, to an international mecca for tourism and business.
His successor, though, has plenty of challenges of his own to face. When Rahm Emanuel is sworn in at Millennium Park on Monday, he'll be literally standing inside Daley's legacy. But he'll quickly have to step out and create his own.
Many of Chicago's neighborhoods have prospered, while others remain mired in poverty and violence. The city's public school system continues to hobble along, with a dropout rate of more than 40 percent. While addressing problems like those, Emanuel will also have to fix a $500 million budget deficit for 2011.
Emanuel's leadership style has become clearer in the weeks leading up to Monday's inauguration. The Tribune has called him a "study in the kind of caution and focus common to the White House." He stays on message, and doesn't let those under him speak off the cuff.
Bringing his Washington credentials and contacts to bear on Chicago's problems is exactly what Emanuel plans to do. The wild card is how Chicago's political machine will react to Emanuel's heavy-handed style of leadership. A showdown between him and powerful, old-guard aldermen may already be building. And after Emanuel takes the reigns on Monday, we'll quickly see how willing the city's leaders are to bend to a new boss.
