The Heroic and the Notorious: U.S. Senators from Illinois

Preface to the 2012 Edition

xiii PREFACE TO THE 2012 EDITION Rarely in the political history of Illinois have U.S. senators made more news outside the halls of Congress than while doing the nation’s legislative business inside. Even during infrequent occasions of scandals, deaths, and short-term appointments, the moments of distraction have had remarkably little impact. That picture changed from 2004 to 2010, by any historical standard a dramatic period of outsized ego, ambition, and controversy . The occurrences, on the short term, have already had a major influence on the nation’s history as well as events in Illinois, making a second edition of this book desirable. When Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 few people across the state took notice. That was because on a larger scale Democrat Richard Durbin won his first term in the U.S. Senate, succeeding his friend and mentor Paul Simon. Two years later, Peter Fitzgerald upset Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African American woman to serve as senator from Illinois. Fitzgerald became the state’s first Republican senator since 1985. All this occurred while Obama won two more elections to the state Senate. During that time the stirrings in him for higher office took command of his life. For breathtaking ambition and success, nothing would match Obama’s rise. Fitzgerald chose not to seek reelection in 2004, and Obama joined several prominent Democrats in the primary. In his first statewide campaign, he outlasted the field. That turned out to be his toughest contest on the road to the U.S. Senate. The beginnings of a nationwide surge of interest in Obama occurred before the general election. Sensing there was something xiv ★ PREFACE TO THE 2012 EDITION special about the man and his qualities as a speaker, officials of the Democratic National Convention invited him to give the keynote speech. A large television audience caught Obama fever as he effectively connected his personal story to a national political theme. He easily defeated a weak Republican candidate in the November election. Largely overlooked by his sudden rise as a national personality was that his victory meant Illinoisans had elected two African Americans to the U.S. Senate, more than any other state. Residents of Illinois had barely adjusted to the presence of Obama in the Senate when rumblings began that he might become a candidate for president. Through the decades a number of Illinoisans had voiced interest in running for the presidency. In the case of Adlai E. Stevenson II, he ran twice and lost both times. Only Abraham Lincoln made it all the way to the White House, unless Ronald Reagan is considered, but he spent few years in Illinois. Obama seemed pleased with the attention as he went to work in his new job. Obama took the Senate by storm in the first two years of his term, gaining widespread approval for his initiatives and impressing fellow senators in both parties. But that did not last long. Obama put in two active years before turning his attention to campaigning full time for the presidency during 2007 and 2008. Obama’s election as president was a moment of great pride for the state and its citizens, but the thrill of it lasted only two months before distractions began. With Obama preparing to assume the presidency in 2009, the process for appointing his successor started. Responsibility for selection rested with Governor Rod Blagojevich. The need to replace a senator who had become president was a first in the state’s history. For many months the Federal Bureau of Investigation had taped the governor’s telephone conversations while probing suspicions of Blagojevich’s actions and decisions. The conversations also involved appointment of a new senator. Soon after the election, the FBI arrested the governor and charged him with violation of several federal laws and for trying to “sell” the Senate seat. Public officials in Illinois, fearing a tainted senatorial appointment, called for the governor to resign, and for altering the appointment process. Under intense political pressure and growing prospects for an impeachment trial, Blagojevich defied everyone by announcing the appointment of Roland Burris, an African American who had held executive state xv PREFACE TO THE 2012 EDITION ★ offices. Burris had expressed an interest in the position before the election outcome. The choice set in motion a complicated series of events that reverberated through Illinois for almost two years, and are chronicled in...