How Frank Rizzo, a high school dropout, became Philadelphia’s toughest cop and a harbinger of MAGA politics
- Written by Timothy J Lombardo, Associate Professor of History, University of South Alabama

In August 2025, the city of Philadelphia agreed to return a statue of Frank Rizzo to the supporters that commissioned the memorial in 1992.
The 2,000-pound bronze tribute to the former police commissioner-turned-mayor had stood in front of the city’s...