Chicago is renowned the world over. The Second City is the famous metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States, serving as a hub for entertainment, business and general American culture for the middle third of the country. Cook County, Chicago’s proud primary host county, however, is a little less well known outside the area of Northeastern Illinois. Named for Daniel Cook, the second U.S. Representative from the state of Illinois and the state’s first Attorney General, the county was created in 1831 as the 54^th county within the State of Illinois. According to its original boundary, modern day DuPage County residents would find their homes well entrenched within the Cook County borders.Cook County traces its name through history very closely with that of Chicago as a whole. The famous “Chicago Democratic Machine” or simply “Chicago Machine,” a political entity that shaped the face of politics not only in the Midwest, but across the United States, is actually officially known as the “Cook County Democratic Organization.” The county as a whole leans largely to the left, favoring the Democratic Party significantly over their Republican counterparts, which has enabled the organization to play a major role in the development of the city, at times perhaps having too much power, leading leaders down roads of corruption and scandal. Speaking of scandal, Cook County has only voted in favor of one Republican presidential candidate in the past 4 decades, our 37^th President Richard M. Nixon.Today, Cook County is the second large county in terms of population in the entire United States, second only to Los Angeles County in California, with Chicago contributing 54 of its residential base. Cook County is the home of close to 5,294,664 residents, constituting over 43 of all Illinois residents. While Chicago is the county’s greatest contributor, it is obviously not Cook County’s only prevailing interest, home to more than 130 incorporated municipalities in total.