Michael Madigan is not only the speaker of the Illinois House, he's the chairman of the state Democratic Party. His daughter is Illinois' attorney general. Rod Blagojevich is the son-in-law of Chicago alderman Dick Mell. His daughter is a member of the House that Madigan runs.
My state senator is Ira Silverstein, his wife is a Chicago alderman.
What a state...
I could go on and on but let's move on to the photograph posted here.
On Friday Little Marathon Pundit and I visited my mother and we went through some old photographs that belonged to my late father. Pictured are members of two Illinois dynasties, Adlai Stevenson III (right) and Patrick J. Cullerton, usually called P.J. or Parky.
Cullerton was the longtime Cook County Assessor in 1970 when this photograph was taken, my father--then a Democrat--was a paid staffer for his successful reelection campaign that year. He even drove around in a campaign station wagon with Cullerton's Roman columns logo--the two 'Ls' in his name came in handy. I got to ride in the Cullertonmobile a few times.
Since 1871, when Edward Cullerton was elected Chicago's 6th Ward alderman, there has almost always been a member of the family serving as a public official in Illinois--usually in Chicago's City Council. Parky's grand-nephew, Tim Cullerton, is the current alderman of the 38th Ward--a job Tim's father once held, as did Parky.
As for the street sign, there is a Cullerton Street in Chicago--it honors Edward. My father called a city office to get reproductions for this event.
Illinois' Senate president is John Cullerton, although he's from a different branch of the clan.
Parky was known for silence and amassing wealth as a modestly-paid public servant. The assessor's office is in charge of calculating county property tax rates--and real estate magnates would seek Parky's blessing--with the goal of receiving a favorable assessment. Although he was never formally accused of wrongdoing, three years after this photograph was taken a bribery scandal swept through assessor's office--resulting in 18 convictions. Parky retired the following year.
But Cullerton did talk a little. Another one of his nicknames was "Hi Keed."
Also running for office in 1970 was Stevenson, who was then serving as state treasurer. US Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, the longtime leader of the GOP caucus in the upper chamber, died the year prior; Ralph Tyler Smith was appointed to replace him and was the GOP nominee to fill the remainder of Dirksen's term. Stevenson gained the Democratic nod and trounced Smith, despite the presence of a 19 year-old Utah college student, Karl Rove, on his staff.
Stevenson's father was Adlai Stevenson II, the Democratic nominee for president in 1952 and 1956--Dwight D. Eisenhower crushed him both times. He was also a one-term Illinois governor as well as ambassador to the United Nations during the Cuban missile crisis. That Adlai's grandfather was another Adlai Stevenson, who was Grover Cleveland's second vice president.
Like his father, Adlai III had a reputation as an intellectual. No one ever accused Parky Cullerton of being one. Stevenson won reelection in 1974. He declined to run in 1980 for a third term. Adlai nearly won the governor's office in 1982 in a race against incumbent Republican Jim Thompson; four years later he was once again the Democratic nominee but was paired with a running mate who was a Lyndon LaRouche wacko, which compelled Stevenson to form the Illinois Solidarity Party for the general election. That embarrassment--and straight-ticket Democratic voters who didn't know any better--led to another defeat for Stevenson at the hands of Thompson--although by a much larger margin.
Stevenson is still alive, but Parky left us in 1981.
Back to the picture--it was taken in the old Bismarck Hotel's Walnut Room, I worked at the hotel in the late 1980s.
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