[1] Rostenkowski's political career, however, ended abruptly in 1994 when he was indicted on corruption charges relating to his role in the Congressional Post Office Scandal, and then narrowly defeated for reelection by Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan.

As a child, Dan and his two sisters, Marcie and Gladys, often saw their family home double as a meeting place for precinct captains who, like Walter Kmiec from his father's ward organization, would later assist him in bringing in the vote in 1960 for John Kennedy.

[5] The Rostenkowski home was on the second floor of 1349 Noble Street in Chicago, above the tavern owned by Priscilla and adjacent to the alderman's insurance agency and the headquarters of the regular Democratic 32nd ward organization.

[8] In 1955 his father lost his aldermanic seat after supporting then-County Clerk Richard J. Daley for Mayor over a fellow Polish leader named Ben Adamowski.

[citation needed] Following his graduation from St. Stanislaus Kostka grammar school, Rostenkowski attended St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin,[3] where he earned letters in baseball, football, basketball and track.

His relationship with Massachusetts Reps. Edward Boland and Torbert Macdonald as well as John F. Kennedy aides Larry O'Brien and Kenny O'Donnell led to his involvement in JFK's run for the White House.

[citation needed] During his early years in congress, Rostenkowski's record was typical of a northern Democrat with close ties to a powerful big city political organization.

And in the face of white backlash from his district, he supported civil rights legislation and the various social welfare programs that made up President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty.

Four years later, at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Johnson would again ask Rostenkowski to take the podium, but this time the results proved costly to the young congressman's future in Washington.

House Majority Leader Carl Albert, the convention chairman, and Rostenkowski's boss, was unable to control the rowdy behavior of the delegates inside the hall.

Rostenkowski happened to be manning the phones on the podium when a furious Lyndon Johnson called from his Texas ranch and ordered him to take over the gavel to quiet the proceedings on the convention floor.

But to his surprise, the Texas delegation nominated their colleague, Olin Teague, a popular war hero and Chairman of the Veteran's Affairs Committee.

"[16] In the early 1970s with his hopes of a leadership position lost, President Johnson out of office and Daley out of favor with the Republican administration, Rostenkowski began to rebuild his career.

Though he rarely spoke on the floor, he was offering legislation on his own, such as anti-pollution bills, subsidies to local museums, and a proposal to grant renters the same tax breaks as homeowners.

Rostenkowski received criticism during his early years as chairman, with the media speculating that he was, "in over his head" leading the complex tax writing committee.

[citation needed] He lost his first few legislative battles with new President Ronald Reagan in 1981, but, in 1983, he successfully piloted a complex overhaul of the Social Security System.

"[19] A profile of Rostenkowski in the July 1989 issue of National Journal said "The chairman is a man of action, not words; a doer, not a rhetorician; one who thrives at the negotiating table, not the speaker's lectern....he has nourished an image as a legislative strategist that is perhaps unsurpassed on Capitol Hill.

"[citation needed] On May 28, 1985, he rose to national prominence when he delivered the televised Democratic response to an Oval Office address by President Reagan calling for tax reform.

Chris Matthews, then press secretary to House Speaker O'Neill said "He spoke right to the Knights of Columbus guy who voted for Reagan last time and might do it again, and he told him he's watching out for his interests.

In a case led by future U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Rostenkowski was indicted on corruption charges for his role in the House Post Office scandal.

Charges against Rostenkowski included: keeping "ghost" employees on his payroll (paying salaries at taxpayer expense for no-show "jobs"); using Congressional funds to buy gifts such as chairs and ashtrays for friends; diverting taxpayer funds to pay for vehicles used for personal transportation; tampering with a Grand Jury witness; and trading in officially purchased stamps for cash at the House Post Office.

"[25] Rostenkowski acknowledged breaking House rules regarding stationery-store purchases and employing individuals who did little or no work – practices that his supporters argued were common on the Hill.

"[26] Former President Gerald Ford, whose lone pardon letter in all his post-White House years was on behalf of Rostenkowski, told a biographer, "Danny's problem was he played precisely under the rules of the city of Chicago.

[citation needed] In his book Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, author Charles Wheelan wrote "We Chicagoans can drive around the city and literally point to things that Rosty built."

When the Chicago White Sox baseball team was considering moving to Florida, Rostenkowski secured a $150 million bond authority for the construction of US Cellular Field.

Once nearly abandoned and left in disrepair, he ensured $75 million in tax-free bonds for the remodeling of Navy Pier, which today has become Chicago's preeminent tourist attraction.

Mayor Jane Byrne and other civic leaders appealed to Rostenkowski to assist them in obtaining a federal Urban Development Action Grant to save the theater.

Rostenkowski called his friend Vice President George H. W. Bush, "If I don't get that grant, you're going to have one very pissed off chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for your administration's pending tax bill".

[37] In a move that was controversial at the time, Rostenkowski won tax breaks for local developers to build Presidential Towers, a large four-tower apartment complex in the middle of what was then a Skid Row neighborhood.

[4][39][40] A funeral was held on August 17, 2010, at the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in northwest Chicago,[41] with his body being buried in Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery, at Niles, Illinois.