William "Boss" Tweed

William "Boss" Tweed was one of the most powerful and influential people of the civil war era. He was a political figure in New York City from 1950 to the mid 1870's. He was originally on the democratic committee and by the time he had be imprisoned for being a corrupt leader he was the deputy street commissioner and the deputy commissioner of public works for New York City. While he was in power "Boss" Tweed …

…tried to escape at one point of his prison term he managed to get to Cuba and Spain before being captured and sent back to jail. If he had not gotten greedy tweed could have changed NYC for the better and made it a much easier place to live. Tweed died in prison after suffering from bronchitis as well as having severe heart trouble. He is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.