Americans were captivated by the muckrakers and their ability to provide names, dollar amounts, and other titillating specifics". The articles that make up "The Shame of the Cities", especially the Minneapolis article, thus played a key role in popularizing muckraking and its spread to other publications. Steffens' account of Folk helped him rise to political prominence in Missouri. The two St. Louis articles, along with another follow-up piece Steffens wrote in April 1904, helped rally support for Folk and helped him be elected governor of Missouri later that year. In the introduction to "The Shame of the Cities", Steffens himself draws attention to reform in St. Louis. "The Shamelessness of St. Louis", he claims, finally drove the city's people to action against the reigning machine, as they worked to prove wrong his claim that the public was apathetic: "From that moment the city has been determined and active, and boodle seems to be doomed". Steffens' and the other muckrakers' work also helped change the national political climate. Palermo credits the muckrakers and their calls for reform for helping progressive reformers rise to political power in the states, and, to a lesser extent, in Congress, by 1906. Newly elected governors and members of Congress, he notes, followed the muckrakers' example, and "thundered forth their condemnation of the 'interests,’ 'the system,’ and 'privilege.' Within four years, the progressive movement would be the most potent force in American politics." "The Diagnosis and Cure of Municipal Corruption". "Outlook" 76, no. 16 (April 16, 1904): 916. Downs, Robert B. "Books that Changed America". New York: Macmillan, 1970. Hartshorn, Peter. "I Have Seen the Future: A Life of Lincoln Steffens". Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2011. Hodder, Alfred. "NINE BOOKS OF THE DAY.: LINCOLN STEFFENS' "THE SHAME OF THE CITIES." "The Bookman" (May 1904): 302. Kaplan, Justin. "Lincoln Steffens: A Biography". New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974. Palermo, Patrick F. "Lincoln Steffens". Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1978. "Review 1 -- No Title". "The Independent" 56, no. 289 (June 23, 1904): 1449.