Political Quotes

“in 1978, I was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, running with Michael Bakalis, the Democratic nominee for governor. We squared off against a ticket headed by six-foot-six Governor Big Jim Thompson. Big Jim was 40 years old and a relatively new Governor, only elected 2 years earlier. Bakalis and I were underdogs, but we were hopeful. We shouldn't have been. Our fate was sealed when Jim and Jayne were joined by their beautiful daughter Samantha right after Labor Day. Election day came, and we were clobbered. We found out what many Democrats would learn over the years. Big Jim was hard as hell to beat. Why? He may have campaigned as a partisan, but he governed in bipartisanship. His talent for working to get things done helped make him the longest serving Governor in Illinois history. Last month, Jim passed away. I was honored to call him a friend and, today, I would like to pay tribute to his life. James Robert Thompson, Jr. was born on the West Side of Chicago in 1936. Jim was known to be shy but ambitious. He listed his ambition as ``President-Politician'' in his yearbook. In one classmate's yearbook, he wrote ``Jim Thompson, Pres. of U.S. 1984-1992.'' Jim attended the University of Illinois at its campus on Navy Pier in Chicago. He transferred to Washington University in St. Louis in his junior year and attended law school at Northwestern in 1959.…”