Integrity in Illinois
These days it’s easy to forget that there was ever any integrity in Illinois politics. Illinois papers are full of stories on Governor Ryan’s conviction and upcoming trip to the big house, including one featuring former Governor Dan Walker’s account of his experience in federal prison. Prior to Ryan and Walker, former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner spent 3 years in federal prison for accepting bribes. (Fun fact: former Governor Jim Thompson prosecuted Kerner and is now defending Ryan.) Before Kerner, former Republican Gov. William Stratton was charged with tax evasion, but he was acquitted of those charges.
Of our last nine Governors, two spent time in federal prison, one is on his way, one was acquitted of tax evasion charges, and one is Rod Blagojevich.
Despite our long history of corrupt Governors, many in Illinois would likely consider Blagojevich the worst of the lot. (A little over a year ago, Rich Miller wrote an article about a poll where 41% of Illinois residents believed the Blagojevich administration was more corrupt than the Ryan administration.)
Despite these blackmarks on our state’s reputation, we have much to be proud of. Below is a quick list of those who help us hold our head high. (please add your own in the comments)
Governor John Peter Altgeld: The “Eagle Forgotten” sacrificed his political career with the Haymarket pardons, and is the only governor featured in JFK’s Profiles in Courage.
Governor Adlai Stevenson: Adlai Stevenson was a lifelong champion of peace and public integrity and he was probably the last Presidential candidate to write all/most of his own major speeches. He was imminently quotable and represented Midwestern decency to the entire world.
Governor Jim Edgar: He had the courage to say “no” and hold the line on budget issues, and is considered by many in Illinois to be the only honest politician they remember. My only criticism is that he did nothing when he knew (or at least should have known) our death penalty system was broken. The case that troubles me most is that of Girvies Davis, who Eric Zorn wrote numerous columns about regarding the likelihood that he was actually innocent. Despite this significant misstep, Governor Edgar was a principled public servant who gave the people of Illinois his best.
Senator Paul Simon: He was everything a Senator should be: a personable policy wonk with values that outpaced his ambitions. He retired because of the growing burden of fundraising on public servants. On his retirement, he said “I have an obligation to the people of Illinois, to the Senate and to myself to leave the Senate while I am still eager to serve, not after I tire of serving.” In his retirement he created a lasting gift to the people of Illinois, a public policy institute he called a “do tank” rather than a think tank. The institute focuses on promoting ethical conduct in government, creating opportunities and fair treatment for people throughout the world, and promoting responsible citizenship.
Oh, Lincoln too. Even if he did suspend Habeas. One short story that moved me: when he laid in state in the Old State Capitol in Springfield two banners were suspended in the House Chamber. The first said “Washington Father” the second said “Lincoln Savior.”
Some of you may object to Obama not making my list, despite my love for him, his many “present” votes in the Illinois Senate made me trust him a little less.
What about today’s political leaders in Illinois? I personally believe the following people to be mostly honest and ethical: Lieutenant Gov. Quinn, Sen. Dan Rutherford, Sen. Jacqueline Collins, Sen. John Cullerton, & Rep. Bill Black.
One explanation for our culture of corruption that many of you might not be aware of: there are legal limits on the amount of money individual and corporations can donate to federal representatives. Not so with state representatives. Illinois has less regulation, outside of disclosure, than virtually any other state in the Union. If you doubt me, look up some writings by UIS Prof. Kent Redfield.
Comment by tet on 25 August 2007 at 11:09 pm:
I have to definitely agree with you as far as Governor Edgar and Senator Simon go. I’m more than willing to forgive Jim Edgar on the death penalty issue, even if you’re not.
One more for your list. I didn’t agree with quite a bit of his politics, but he was the only Republican that I can think of that was the equal to Lyndon Johnson in real political power.
Everett Dirksen–for a person of my age, he was the spokesman we remember for the Republican Party and, as an orator, the equal of John Kennedy.
He led the Republican backers of both the 1964 Civil Rights act and the 1968 Voting Rights act. He was a conservative economically before there was such a thing in the Party, backing Taft in the early 50s.
His tenure was marred somewhat by his association with McCarthy (who was his mentor in the Senate,) but he realized early on that Tail-Gunner Joe had lost his mind, even if he refused to censure him.
He was also a hawk on Vietnam. He backed the war out of idealism, I believe, buying into the myth of the domino theory rather than believing that his support of Johnson would give him any political gain.
Dirksen was a giant of a man, and Illinois politics would have been the poorer without him.
He also won a Grammy.
Tom
Comment by Anonymous on 26 August 2007 at 6:34 am:
You’ve got to be kidding to list Jim Edgar as one of the honest ones. Have you forgotten the Central Management scandal? The multi-million dollar no-bid contract that went to a big campaign contributor and resulted in Edgar getting some personal goodies? The campaign contributors went to prison and I’ve always thought the only reason Edgar himself wasn’t indicted is because of a back room deal that he would never again run for public office. There is no other accounting for him to retire at the peak of his political power. Also, you have to remember, Ryan did not walk into a pristine secretary of state’s office. Who was his predecessor who set up the “pay for play” culture? Edgar.
Comment by Augur on 26 August 2007 at 10:34 am:
Tet - I almost added Sen. Paul Douglas, but I didn’t add Dirksen for one reason.
I recently learned that while in the Senate he was also practicing law and billing a client for whom he agreed to get certain legislation passed, which he did get passed. I’m foggy on the details, but it was the kind of practice where he put his own business before the people’s business. Then again, this was more acceptable in his day.
Anon: I must plead ignorance of the Edgar scandal you mentioned. Are you sure he was directly involved? Or do you think it was more of an issue where he knew enough to maintain deniability?
I had always heard that Edgar’s reasons for ending his political career were more personal, involving his health and his marriage. I wont speculate to the truth of those rumors, but at a minimum Edgar does seem to be remembered by most people as being mostly honest and ethical. That’s more than we can say for most of our Governors.
Comment by Jon on 26 August 2007 at 1:11 pm:
Tom:
Why are you “more than willing” to forgive Edgar’s record on the death penalty? That’s an interesting one to take lightly, in my opinion.
Comment by tet on 26 August 2007 at 4:37 pm:
Jon, you’ve got an established procedure involving judgment by a jury of one’s peers versus a new and possibly inadequately proven technological advance.
He made a call, and he made a wrong decision. I’m not sure that I would not have done the same in his position.
Tom
Comment by Augur on 26 August 2007 at 5:47 pm:
In a few of these cases there was overwhelming evidence of innocence, such as the one I linked to. Commuting death sentences wasn’t really something Republican governors did in the mid-1990s, and in fairness, there wasn’t as much data then as there is now about the failings of the system. Also, making death penalty decisions is a very minor part of what governors do, but it’s definitely one of those “it mattered to that one” kind of issues.
Back when I was an agitating campus liberal, I had a question that I always intended to ask Governor Edgar at one of his big lectures on campus. I’m glad I never did because having him at UIUC is a big feather in our collective cap. This is the sort of question he probably couldn’t answer, but one he should be able to answer:
“Governor I have two closely related questions: 1) how many people were executed on your watch as Governor; and 2) what were there names.”
Comment by Augur on 29 August 2007 at 7:46 am:
He was probably my favorite republican for a while because I got the feeling we both disliked most members of the republican party. I left him off the list b/c of his lack of class. I heard a story that on one evening he insulted the wives of Dennis Hastert, Jim Edgar, and George Ryan, all three in one night. I think wives and children should generally be off limits in political pissin’ matches. But I do love a Maverick.
Also, its easier to avoid being a whore when you’re not in Congress for very long. Hard to say if Fitzy would have held up had he been in public life for 20+ years
Comment by Brenda Kay on 29 August 2007 at 8:36 am:
Senator Peter Fitzgerald. He stood up to everyone, even to the point of standing completely on his own. He never toed the party line. The party bosses couldn’t control him so he bowed out graciously before getting the boot.