Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello: Reflections on Twenty-Two Years in the Illinois Senate

Cover

ROCK ILLINOIS “There is wit and wisdom in this story. And the reader is presented with the remarkable making of a remarkable man. Phil Rock is too self-effacing for such praise, but the pages of Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello embody that formula of character that makes Phil’s years in the Illinois Senate a powerful exercise in human success. His stories brim with insight and sometimes never-before-told history.” —Alderman Edward M. Burke “Phil Rock is a compassionate leader with guts, smarts, and savvy who knows when to hold them and when to fold them. Now you can see how and why he enriched public service in Illinois in this marvelous new political biography—almost a political thriller!” —Jim Thompson, governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991 “Phil Rock has always combined high degrees of integrity and political savvy. In this fascinating book, Phil takes the reader inside the process of hammering out major public policies in Illinois during the 1970s through 1990s, providing lessons about both politics and life.” —James D. Nowlan, coauthor of Illinois Politics: A Citizen’s Guide “Rock’s time in the Senate is proof that a legislative leader can adopt a problemsolving outlook, rather than exclusively pursue partisan advantage, and still be enormously successful. That outlook is so lacking in current leaders that readers need to be reminded that there were times when self-promotion and self-preservation were not the primary motives driving the actions of legislative leaders. This work will make an invaluable contribution to understanding politics in Illinois , and is extremely important for those interested in understanding what real political leadership is all about.” —Paul Kleppner, author of Chicago Divided: The Making of a Black Mayor southern illinois university press 1915 university press drive mail code 6806 carbondale, il 62901 www.siupress.com Printed in the United States of America Jacket illustration: Senator Rock in the 1980s. Courtesy of the author and Illinois Issues. Reflections on Twenty-Two Years in the Illinois Senate Philip J. Rock with Ed Wojcicki Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello Ahighly principled public official who worked with many legends of Illinois politics—including Mayor Richard J. Daley, Governor James Thompson , and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan—Democrat Philip J. Rock served twenty-two years in the Illinois Senate. Fourteen of those years were spent as Illinois senate president, the longest tenure anyone has served in that position. This nuanced political biography, which draws on dozens of interviews conducted by Ed Wojcicki, is a rare insider’s perspective on Illinois politics in the last three decades of the twentieth century. A native of Chicago’s West Side, Rock became one of the most influential politicians in Illinois during the 1970s and 1980s. As a senator in the 1970s and senate president from 1979 to 1993, he sponsored historic legislation to assist abused and neglected children and victims of domestic violence, ushered the state through difficult income tax increases and economic development decisions, shepherded an unruly and fragmented Democratic senate caucus, and always was fair to his Republican counterparts. Unlike many Illinois politicians, Rock, a former seminarian, was known for having a greater interest in issues than in political outcomes. Considered a true statesman, he also was known as a skilled orator who could silence a busy floor of legislators with his commentary on important issues and as a devoted public servant who handled tens of thousands of bills and sponsored nearly five hundred of them himself. Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello, which takes its title from the volume of calls and visits to elected officials from constituents in need of help, perfectly captures Rock’s profound reverence for the institutions of government, his respect for other government offices, and his reputation as a problem solver who, despite his ardent Democratic beliefs, disavowed political self-preservation to cross party lines and make government work for the people. Taking readers through his legislative successes, bipartisan efforts, and political defeats—including a heartbreaking loss in the U.S. Senate primary to Paul Simon in 1984—Rock passionately articulates his belief that government’s primary role is to help people. Philip J. Rock served as Illinois senate president for fourteen years. He now practices law in Chicago. Ed Wojcicki teaches in the public administration program at the University of Illinois–Springfield. The former publisher of Illinois Issues, he also has been a staff writer and contributor to many magazines and newspapers. He is the author of A...