what was the tweed ring
United States History. The Tweed Ring. William Boss Tweed began his rise to influence in the late 1840s as a volunteer fireman in New York City. From this inauspicious beginning, Tweed managed to build a power base in his ward. He served as an alderman in 1852-53 and then was elected to a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1853-55.
The inner circle of the Tweed Ring were Mayor A. Oakey Hall, city comptroller Richard B. Slippery Dick Connolly, city chamberlain Peter Barr Bismarck Sweeny, and William M. Tweed himself, president of the Board of Supervisors.