Full Text of HJR0127 101st General Assembly
HJ0127 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, James Robert Thompson Jr., the 37th Governor of | 3 | | Illinois, was born on May 8, 1936 in Chicago; as a child and | 4 | | young adult, he pursued an education in the American Midwest, | 5 | | taking college courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago | 6 | | (Navy Pier) and graduating from Washington University in St. | 7 | | Louis; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, As an aspiring lawyer, Gov. Jim Thompson studied | 9 | | at Northwestern University's School of Law, earning his Juris | 10 | | Doctor degree in 1959; he was subsequently admitted to the | 11 | | Illinois bar and began pursuing a lifelong legal career; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson began his legal career as a | 13 | | practitioner in public service, earning experience in the | 14 | | office of the Cook County State's Attorney, where as a | 15 | | 26-year-old lawyer, he argued the landmark case of Escobedo v. | 16 | | Illinois in the United States Supreme Court; after several | 17 | | years as an associate professor at the Northwestern University | 18 | | School of Law, he joined the office of the United States | 19 | | Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois as First | 20 | | Assistant U.S. Attorney; during this time, he authored several | 21 | | textbooks on criminal law and procedure; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, In 1971, Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed by |
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| 1 | | President Richard Nixon to serve as the United States Attorney | 2 | | for the Northern District of Illinois, which encompasses all of | 3 | | metropolitan Chicago; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, As the U.S. Attorney with responsibility for | 5 | | prosecuting federal offenses committed in the greater Chicago | 6 | | area, Gov. Jim Thompson became legendary among his fellow | 7 | | federal prosecutors and among the citizens of Illinois for his | 8 | | aggressive pursuit of criminals in both organized and white | 9 | | collar crimes; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, During his time as a U.S. Attorney, Gov. Jim | 11 | | Thompson and his office won a string of convictions, with | 12 | | targets ranging from organized criminal figures involved in | 13 | | illegal drug distribution to corrupt elected public officials, | 14 | | including a high-profile conviction of federal judge Otto | 15 | | Kerner, a former governor; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, In November of 1976, Gov. Jim Thompson ran as a | 17 | | member of the Republican Party on a "War on Crime" platform; he | 18 | | won the office of Governor of Illinois with a landslide margin | 19 | | of more than 1.3 million votes from his fellow Illinoisans; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, In pursuit of one of the principal planks of his | 21 | | election platform, Gov. Jim Thompson worked with the law | 22 | | enforcement community and with the Illinois General Assembly to |
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| 1 | | develop comprehensive amendatory language within the Criminal | 2 | | Code of 1961, with a focus on illegal drug distribution and | 3 | | violent criminal offenses; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, A key feature of the rewritten Criminal Code added | 5 | | a new classification of punishment, the Class X felony, for | 6 | | which a variety of serious offenders could be sentenced to | 7 | | serve terms of from six to 30 years in a State correctional | 8 | | center; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Due to a quirk in the then-new Illinois | 10 | | Constitution of 1970, the term of office to which Gov. Jim | 11 | | Thompson had been elected in November of 1976 was only two | 12 | | years long; he ran for re-election in 1978, winning by almost | 13 | | 600,000 votes; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, In his second term, Gov. Jim Thompson faced the | 15 | | worldwide inflationary spiral and energy crisis of 1979-80; as | 16 | | challenges grew, he built alliances downstate, including the | 17 | | selection of sites for new State correctional centers to be | 18 | | built to house the rapidly increasing number of inmates that | 19 | | were the result of the new Class X felony law; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, In his closest elective contest in 1982, Gov. Jim | 21 | | Thompson was elected to his third term by a margin of 5,074 | 22 | | votes, less than one vote per precinct; the same election saw |
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| 1 | | the Democratic Party win large margins in the Illinois House of | 2 | | Representatives and the Illinois Senate, which they would enjoy | 3 | | for the rest of his time in office; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, As a third-term Republican governor facing | 5 | | Democratic legislative majorities, Gov. Jim Thompson turned to | 6 | | the deal-making for which he is remembered; in 1985, he | 7 | | developed and worked with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle | 8 | | to enact Build Illinois, the statewide infrastructure program; | 9 | | and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson demanded that all citizens of | 11 | | Illinois be included in the progress of this great State; this | 12 | | included the expansion of interstate highways to previously | 13 | | underserved areas of Illinois, as well as securing the Illinois | 14 | | State Fair and the DuQuoin State Fair, where he is still | 15 | | remembered fondly; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson brought his love of art and | 17 | | history to office with him, making cultural preservation a part | 18 | | of state government, including the establishment of the | 19 | | Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, requiring that all | 20 | | state building construction include budgets for art, and | 21 | | personally orchestrating the purchase of the Dana-Thomas house | 22 | | in Springfield, a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece now enjoyed by | 23 | | people from Illinois and around the world; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Running on a platform that included continuance of | 2 | | Build Illinois initiatives, Gov. Jim Thompson sought election | 3 | | to his fourth and final term, winning in November of 1986 by a | 4 | | landslide margin of almost 400,000 votes; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson chose not to seek re-election in | 6 | | November of 1990, retiring from the Governor's Mansion after | 7 | | four terms that spanned 14 years in office, the longest period | 8 | | of time enjoyed as governor by any individual up to that date, | 9 | | or at any time since; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson was a loyal Republican, always | 11 | | responsive to the members of his own party who requested his | 12 | | assistance, but also was willing and eager to negotiate and | 13 | | compromise with Democratic leaders, who controlled one or both | 14 | | houses of the Illinois General Assembly during much of the time | 15 | | of his governorship; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, After leaving office as governor in January of | 17 | | 1991 and returning to the private sector, Gov. Jim Thompson | 18 | | once again took up the active practice of law, joining the | 19 | | international firm of Winston & Strawn as CEO and building a | 20 | | network of legal professionals that would, by the time of his | 21 | | retirement from that firm, span the globe; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In addition to his work with Winston & Strawn, | 2 | | Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed to a series of positions that | 3 | | reflected his standing in the highest ranks of American private | 4 | | citizens; in 1990, he was appointed by President George H.W. | 5 | | Bush to chair the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, the | 6 | | panel that protects independent oversight over the national | 7 | | security/intelligence organs of the United States, serving in | 8 | | this role until 1993; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In 2002, Gov. Jim Thompson was appointed to serve | 10 | | on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United | 11 | | States, commonly known as the 9/11 Commission, to examine and | 12 | | report on U.S. preparedness for the events of 9/11/01; he | 13 | | helped draft the commission's report, of which the public | 14 | | portion was completed and released in 2004; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson is best remembered as a loyal | 16 | | friend and peerless mentor; in his professional life, his | 17 | | proudest moments were watching the myriad successes of his | 18 | | protegees; as a prosecutor, governor, and an attorney in the | 19 | | private sector, he fostered the careers of countless women and | 20 | | men who have moved to the highest ranks in their profession; as | 21 | | governor, he sought out the highest levels of talent and | 22 | | selected for promotion a list of public servants that includes | 23 | | his successor Jim Edgar, the 38th Governor of Illinois; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Gov. Jim Thompson was happiest with his beloved | 2 | | family, including his wife of 44 years, Jayne Carr Thompson, | 3 | | and his daughter, Samantha; in later years, he was often found | 4 | | babysitting his granddaughter, Persephone, who was the light of | 5 | | his life; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, As a politician, a public servant, a lawyer, and a | 7 | | senior legal executive, Gov. Jim Thompson was noted for his | 8 | | gregarious personality; his larger than life persona enabled | 9 | | him to convey an effortless atmosphere of power and dignity; | 10 | | even when sliding down the giant slide at the Illinois State | 11 | | Fairgrounds, his joyous embrace of the governorship endeared | 12 | | him to citizens from all over the State of Illinois; therefore, | 13 | | be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 15 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 16 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we mourn the death of James R. | 17 | | Thompson, elected four times as Governor of Illinois, the | 18 | | longest period of time enjoyed by any Illinoisan in our State's | 19 | | highest office; and be it further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 21 | | presented to Gov. Jim Thompson's widow, Jayne Carr Thompson, | 22 | | and to his daughter, Samantha, his son-in-law, Anastasios | 23 | | Thomazos, and his granddaughter, Persephone.
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