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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Governor James "Big Jim" Thompson was born in Oak
3Park to J. Robert and Agnes Thompson on May 8, 1936; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson attended Samuel Morse Grade
5School, North Park Academy, the University of Illinois at
6Chicago, and Northwestern University; he earned a juris
7doctorate from Northeastern University in 1959; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson married Jayne Carr, also of Oak
9Park, and they had a daughter, Samantha; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson was dedicated to public service
11and served as prosecutor in Cook County from 1959 to 1964; he
12then took a position as an associate professor at Northwestern
13University Law School and co-authored several textbooks; he
14accepted a position in the Illinois Attorney General's Office
15in 1969, serving as chief of the Department of Law Enforcement
16and Public Protection; he became a first assistant U.S.
17attorney in 1970; he was appointed a U.S. attorney in 1971, a
18position he used to address public corruption and voter fraud
19in Cook County; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson successfully ran on the
21Republican ticket for governor of Illinois in 1976 and was

 

 

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1subsequently re-elected in 1978, 1982, and 1986, becoming the
2longest-serving governor in Illinois history, serving from
31977 to 1991; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson is credited for his tireless
5efforts to benefit the State of Illinois; he is particularly
6remembered for navigating the State through the economic
7malaise of the 1970s to the economic prosperity of the 1980s,
8retaining the Chicago White Sox in Illinois, creating the
9Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, and constructing the
10Chicago office building, the James R. Thompson Center, that now
11bears his name; and
 
12    WHEREAS, After his retirement from public office, Governor
13Thompson joined the Chicago law firm Winston & Strawn and
14continued to serve the public on a number of boards and
15commissions, most notably the 9-11 Commission; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Governor Thompson passed away August 14, 2020, at
17the age of 84 at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago; his
18death elicited praise for and commemoration of his service to
19the State of Illinois from Republicans and Democrats alike; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, his
21family has chosen not to hold a public funeral or memorial
22service at this time; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare January 10,
32021 as Governor James "Big Jim" Thompson Day in the State of
4Illinois in recognition of the forty-fourth anniversary of his
5inauguration as governor and to recognize Governor Thompson's
6tireless leadership in the development and promotion of the
7State of Illinois; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9presented to Jayne Thompson as a symbol of our respect and
10esteem.