HJ0127 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0127 LRB101 22118 MST 73141 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, James Robert Thompson Jr., the 37th Governor of Illinois, was born on May 8, 1936 in Chicago; as a child and young adult, he pursued an education in the American Midwest, taking college courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Navy Pier) and graduating from Washington University in St. Louis; and

WHEREAS, As an aspiring lawyer, Gov. Jim Thompson studied at Northwestern University's School of Law, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1959; he was subsequently admitted to the Illinois bar and began pursuing a lifelong legal career; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson began his legal career as a practitioner in public service, earning experience in the office of the Cook County State's Attorney, where as a 26-year-old lawyer, he argued the landmark case of Escobedo v. Illinois in the United States Supreme Court; after several years as an associate professor at the Northwestern University School of Law, he joined the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois as First Assistant U.S. Attorney; during this time, he authored several textbooks on criminal law and procedure; and

WHEREAS, In 1971, Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which encompasses all of metropolitan Chicago; and

WHEREAS, As the U.S. Attorney with responsibility for prosecuting federal offenses committed in the greater Chicago area, Gov. Jim Thompson became legendary among his fellow federal prosecutors and among the citizens of Illinois for his aggressive pursuit of criminals in both organized and white collar crimes; and

WHEREAS, During his time as a U.S. Attorney, Gov. Jim Thompson and his office won a string of convictions, with targets ranging from organized criminal figures involved in illegal drug distribution to corrupt elected public officials, including a high-profile conviction of federal judge Otto Kerner, a former governor; and

WHEREAS, In November of 1976, Gov. Jim Thompson ran as a member of the Republican Party on a "War on Crime" platform; he won the office of Governor of Illinois with a landslide margin of more than 1.3 million votes from his fellow Illinoisans; and

WHEREAS, In pursuit of one of the principal planks of his election platform, Gov. Jim Thompson worked with the law enforcement community and with the Illinois General Assembly to develop comprehensive amendatory language within the Criminal Code of 1961, with a focus on illegal drug distribution and violent criminal offenses; and

WHEREAS, A key feature of the rewritten Criminal Code added a new classification of punishment, the Class X felony, for which a variety of serious offenders could be sentenced to serve terms of from six to 30 years in a State correctional center; and

WHEREAS, Due to a quirk in the then-new Illinois Constitution of 1970, the term of office to which Gov. Jim Thompson had been elected in November of 1976 was only two years long; he ran for re-election in 1978, winning by almost 600,000 votes; and

WHEREAS, In his second term, Gov. Jim Thompson faced the worldwide inflationary spiral and energy crisis of 1979-80; as challenges grew, he built alliances downstate, including the selection of sites for new State correctional centers to be built to house the rapidly increasing number of inmates that were the result of the new Class X felony law; and

WHEREAS, In his closest elective contest in 1982, Gov. Jim Thompson was elected to his third term by a margin of 5,074 votes, less than one vote per precinct; the same election saw the Democratic Party win large margins in the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate, which they would enjoy for the rest of his time in office; and

WHEREAS, As a third-term Republican governor facing Democratic legislative majorities, Gov. Jim Thompson turned to the deal-making for which he is remembered; in 1985, he developed and worked with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to enact Build Illinois, the statewide infrastructure program; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson demanded that all citizens of Illinois be included in the progress of this great State; this included the expansion of interstate highways to previously underserved areas of Illinois, as well as securing the Illinois State Fair and the DuQuoin State Fair, where he is still remembered fondly; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson brought his love of art and history to office with him, making cultural preservation a part of state government, including the establishment of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, requiring that all state building construction include budgets for art, and personally orchestrating the purchase of the Dana-Thomas house in Springfield, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece now enjoyed by people from Illinois and around the world; and

WHEREAS, Running on a platform that included continuance of Build Illinois initiatives, Gov. Jim Thompson sought election to his fourth and final term, winning in November of 1986 by a landslide margin of almost 400,000 votes; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson chose not to seek re-election in November of 1990, retiring from the Governor's Mansion after four terms that spanned 14 years in office, the longest period of time enjoyed as governor by any individual up to that date, or at any time since; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson was a loyal Republican, always responsive to the members of his own party who requested his assistance, but also was willing and eager to negotiate and compromise with Democratic leaders, who controlled one or both houses of the Illinois General Assembly during much of the time of his governorship; and

WHEREAS, After leaving office as governor in January of 1991 and returning to the private sector, Gov. Jim Thompson once again took up the active practice of law, joining the international firm of Winston & Strawn as CEO and building a network of legal professionals that would, by the time of his retirement from that firm, span the globe; and

WHEREAS, In addition to his work with Winston & Strawn, Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed to a series of positions that reflected his standing in the highest ranks of American private citizens; in 1990, he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to chair the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, the panel that protects independent oversight over the national security/intelligence organs of the United States, serving in this role until 1993; and

WHEREAS, In 2002, Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed to serve on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly known as the 9/11 Commission, to examine and report on U.S. preparedness for the events of 9/11/01; he helped draft the commission's report, of which the public portion was completed and released in 2004; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson is best remembered as a loyal friend and peerless mentor; in his professional life, his proudest moments were watching the myriad successes of his protegees; as a prosecutor, governor, and an attorney in the private sector, he fostered the careers of countless women and men who have moved to the highest ranks in their profession; as governor, he sought out the highest levels of talent and selected for promotion a list of public servants that includes his successor Jim Edgar, the 38th Governor of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson was happiest with his beloved family, including his wife of 44 years, Jayne Carr Thompson, and his daughter, Samantha; in later years, he was often found babysitting his granddaughter, Persephone, who was the light of his life; and

WHEREAS, As a politician, a public servant, a lawyer, and a senior legal executive, Gov. Jim Thompson was noted for his gregarious personality; his larger than life persona enabled him to convey an effortless atmosphere of power and dignity; even when sliding down the giant slide at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, his joyous embrace of the governorship endeared him to citizens from all over the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we mourn the death of James R. Thompson, elected four times as Governor of Illinois, the longest period of time enjoyed by any Illinoisan in our State's highest office; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Gov. Jim Thompson's widow, Jayne Carr Thompson, and to his daughter, Samantha, his son-in-law, Anastasios Thomazos, and his granddaughter, Persephone.