Biography

Brennan was born in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and he lost his right leg when he was 13. He had substituted for a switchman who was off on a post-payday drunk, at a coal mine in Braidwood, Illinois

Braidwood, Illinois

eBraidwood is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, approximately southwest of Chicago and south of Joliet. The population was 5,203 at the 2000 census....

. He tried to uncouple two cars from a moving train and his right foot became wedged in a railroad switch

Railroad switch

A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....

. He was "plump and nimble-witted, a poker player and duck hunter, a successful and honest businessman, a philanthropist who gave away several hundred wooden legs." In 1923 he supported William Emmett Dever

William Emmett Dever

William Emmett Dever served as the Democratic mayor of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. from 1923 to 1927.-Biography:...

 as Mayor of Chicago

Mayor of Chicago

The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of Chicago, Illinois, the third largest city in the United States. He or she is charged with directing city departments and agencies, and with the advice and consent of the Chicago City Council, appoints department and agency leaders.-Appointment...

. In 1926, Brennan "bet his bossdom against a seat in the U. S. Senate that Illinois is sick of Prohibition" and lost to Frank L. Smith

Frank L. Smith

Frank Leslie Smith was an Illinois politician. He served as a United States Congressman from 1919 to 1921. He was elected by the people of Illinois to the United States Senate in 1926, but the Senate never allowed him to take his seat.He first ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S....

.