Rhinelander Waldo

Rhinelander Waldo (May 24, 1877 – August 13, 1927) was appointed the seventh New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor William Jay Gaynor on January 13, 1910. He resigned on May 23, 1911, less than two months after the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to accept an appointment as the eighth New York City Police Commissioner. On December 31, 1913, he was dismissed by the outgoing acting mayor, Ardolph Kline. Among other achievements in office, Waldo contributed to the motorization of both departments.

Rhinelander Waldo was born on May 24, 1877 in New York City to Francis Wilson Waldo, a stockbroker who died in 1878, and Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo. He joined the Seventeenth Infantry Regiment of the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1899, after the United States had occupied the Philippine Islands in the Spanish–American War. In the course of nearly four years in the Philippines, he served under General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., was on the staff of General Leonard Wood during the Moro rebellion, and commanded a battalion of Philippine Scouts. He resigned from the Army in 1905 with the rank of Captain, and became New York's First Deputy Commissioner of Police in January 1906, at the age of 28. He married Virginia Otis Heckscher on April 20, 1910 in New York City.

Waldo, who had served as New York City Fire Commissioner since the beginning of Mayor Gaynor's term in January 1910, was in office at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which occurred on March 25, 1911 and killed 146 people.

On June 9, 1911, only 17 days after taking office as Police Commissioner, Waldo founded the motor-cycle squad, organized under the Office of Street Traffic Regulation Bureau. Another of his early acts as Police Commissioner was the appointment of three "Strong Arm" anti-vice squads and their commanders—one of whom, Charles Becker, was later executed for complicity in the July 1912 murder of the bookmaker Herman Rosenthal (shortly after Rosenthal had told the press of extortion by Becker and other police).

Acting Mayor Ardolph Kline's elected successor, John Purroy Mitchel, indicated before taking office at noon on January 1, 1914, that he would not keep Commissioner Waldo in office. Waldo tendered his resignation effective at midnight December 31, 1913, after transferring or accepting resignations from most of the department's senior officers and specialists. Amid much confusion and discord, Mayor Kline (who had taken office after Mayor Gaynor's death in September 1913) refused to accept Waldo's resignation (which would have left the Department without leaders for the first 12 hours after New Year's Eve) and fired him instead.

He died on August 13, 1927 in Garrison, New York of septicemia.

Waldo was portrayed by James Cagney in the 1981 film, Ragtime, despite the age difference (Cagney was 81 years old when he filmed this movie; the real Rhinelander Waldo was only 32 at the time in which the movie was set and died at age 50.) However, in E.L. Doctorow's original novel Ragtime (published in 1975), Waldo's role is minor while Charles S. Whitman, the real-life Manhattan District Attorney at the time, performs most of the fictional words and deeds that the film based on Doctorow's book would later assign to Waldo.

• Gaynor Puts Waldo In Cropsey's Place - Tells Him to Banish Favoritism from Police as He Did from Fire Department - New York Times article: May 24, 1911, page 1, retrieved on June 21, 2008. This article reprints (among several other documents) a letter from outgoing Fire Commissioner Waldo to Acting Fire Chief John Kenlon, in which he claims, "During my administration I inaugurated the use of motor apparatus. I believe this will become more general and greatly increase the efficiency of operation." However Donald J. Cameron's article on "firefighting" in The Encyclopedia of New York City (edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, Yale 1995, ISBN 0-300-05536-6) says that the Department started installing motor engines in 1907 and completed the process by 1922.
• Mayor Stays Away From Waldo Dinner - Much Comment Among 600 Guests at Testimonial to Commissioner - No Explanation Given - Mr. Kline Was Chairman of Committee That Arranged Function and Was to be Toastmaster. The New York Times, Tuesday, December 30, 1913, page 2, retrieved on June 20, 2008 - This story reports Commissioner Waldo's farewell remarks, including a review of his own record.