Throughout his career in Washington, Rostenkowski returned to Chicago almost every weekend. In his early days he would drive to and from Washington with two other young Illinois Congressmen, Republicans Harold Collier and future Republican leader Robert Michel. Upon his return every Friday, Rostenkowski met with Mayor Richard J. Daley at his City Hall office to discuss Chicago's agenda in Washington. Besides Daley, Rostenkowski worked with five other Chicago Mayors, Michael Bilandic, Jane Byrne, Harold Washington, Eugene Sawyer and Richard M. Daley. During the 1980s "Council Wars" pitted the mostly white City Council against Mayor Washington, Chicago's first Black mayor. The city was dubbed "Beirut on the Lake" by "The Wall Street Journal". During this turbulent period Rostenkowski was a tower of stability. "He made sure the city got its fair share, no matter who was mayor", said Bill Daley "Danny felt he had to help the pathetic armatures in the Mayor's office because he had a love for the city. "He did more for the city than anybody else", said Alderman Edward M. Burke, chairman of the City Council's finance committee. "But he never asked for credit. He just went to the mayor. That's the way it's done in Chicago." Local political scientist Paul Green said, "During a decade of chaos, he became an insurance policy for the city".