The Byrd machine, or Byrd organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the late 1960s, the Byrd organization effectively controlled the politics of the state through a network of courthouse cliques of local constitutional officers in most of the state's counties.
Harry F. Byrd Sr. in the 1930s
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity. The machine's power is based on the ability of the boss or group to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.
In this 1889 Udo Keppler cartoon from Puck, all of New York City politics revolves around boss Richard Croker.
1869 tobacco label featuring William M. Tweed, 19th-century political boss of New York City