Wet shoes

They joked that Christopher Cohen wore wet shoes.

Legislators who wanted to dodge a vote were said to hide in the bathroom when the roll was called. To avoid being found, they stood on the toilet seat. If they weren’t careful, they’d slip, and their feet would fall into the bowl. So, they returned to the chamber with wet shoes.

Machine Democrats were never in danger of losing City Council votes, but they expected their troops to stand up and be counted all the time. And they didn’t feel they could always count on Cohen, who was elected to the 46th ward seat in 1971.

His father, Wilbur, had been Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in President Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet, and Chris seemed to be more of a national Democrat than a local one.

He occasionally voted with Independents on minor matters, but rarely on issues of importance. He supported the Machine while at the same time trying not to look like part of it.

He carved a niche for himself in the City Council by scouring the municipal code for outdated ordinances that needed to be repealed, such as a ban on kite flying in parks on Sundays, and a requirement that women wear hatpins on windy days.

He also assisted Chicago police on undercover operations. In one case, he wore an expensive wristwatch while posing as a passed-out derelict in the subway. Police had planned to use the sting to nab a thief, but there was a mix-up in their signaling system and the criminal got away with the watch. 

In 1977, Cohen snared a federal appointment in the administration of newly elected President Jimmy Carter and resigned his Aldermanic seat.