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James R. Thompson

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For the NASA official, see James R. Thompson, Jr.

37^th Governor of Illinois
James Thompson

In office January 10, 1977 – January 14, 1991
Lieutenant(s)	Dave O'Neal (R) George Ryan (R)
Preceded by	Daniel Walker
Succeeded by	James Edgar

Born	May 8 1936 (1936-05-08) (age 71) Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jayne Ann Carr Thompson
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Presbyterian

James Robert Thompson Jr. (born May 8, 1936), also known as "Big Jim Thompson", was the longest-serving Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois. A Republican, Elected to four consecutive terms (the first of which was a transitional two-year term, as Illinois changed to an off-Presidential year gubernatorial election), he held the office for 14 years. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Thompson studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago Navy Pier campus, and received his A.B. from Washington University. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University in 1959. Many years after leaving public office, he re-entered the spotlight as a member of the The 9-11 Commission, gaining notoriety for his strong disagreements with former counter-terrorism czar Dick Clarke. Prior to becoming governor, he worked in the Cook County state's attorney's office, taught at Northwestern University's law school and served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. As a federal prosecutor in the early 1970s, he obtained a conviction against former Governor Otto Kerner, Jr., for his use of improper influence on behalf of the racetrack industry. He also tried and convicted many of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley's top aides, most notably Alderman Tom Keane, on various corruption charges. These high-profile cases gave Thompson the celebrity which fueled his run for governor in 1976. During this period, Thompson was criticized for only prosecuting aging Democrats (more high-profile, than influential), while ignoring Republican and organized-crime suspects (even though Illinois was enduring the worst era of organized crime since the 1920s/Al Capone era). In the 1976 election, he won 65 percent of the vote over Democratic Secretary of State Michael Howlett, for a two-year term. Thompson was re-elected in 1978 with 60 percent of the vote, defeating State Superintendent Michael Bakalis. In 1982, Thompson was very narrowly re-elected over former U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III, in a disputed election; Thompson decisively defeated him in their re-match four years later. Thompson was accused of hiding the sad shape that Illinois' economy and budget were in while campaigning, but once elected, calling for an emergency session of the Illinois Legislature to address the crisis. On November 12 1980, Thompson, by his executive order, instituted a hiring freeze for all state agencies, boards, bureaus, and commissions under his control as governor. The order affected approximately 60,000 state positions. These positions could only be filled if the candidates were first approved by an office created by Thompson, the Governor's Office of Personnel. The practice essentially consisted of denying the hiring of persons not affiliated with the Republican Party by conducting inquiries into past Republican Party affiliation and possible future pledges of loyalty. Suit was brought and the Supreme Court held this political patronage practice unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment rights of low-level public employees in Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62 (1990). In 1993, the State of Illinois Center in Chicago was renamed the James R. Thompson Center to honor the former governor. Since 1993, Thompson has served as chairman and CEO of Winston & Strawn LLP, a prestigious Chicago law firm. As chairman and CEO of Winston & Strawn, Thompson practices in the area of government relations and regulatory affairs as well as in international and domestic corporate and litigation matters. The firm has lobbied for American Airlines, and he has previously represented United Airlines. Winston & Strawn is the same firm that represented former Illinois Governor George Ryan pro bono against federal charges relating to the "Licenses-for-Bribes" scandal during Ryan's tenure as Illinois Governor and Secretary of State. On April 17, 2006, George Ryan was convicted on all 18 counts, which included racketeering, misusing state resources for political gain, and fraud. He was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison and began serving his sentence on November 7, 2007. Ironically, Thompson was also the Prosecutor of former Governor Otto Kerner, who was convicted of official corruption.

From 2003 to 2004 he served on the 9/11 Commission, where he came to President Bush's defense by aggressively questioning Richard Clarke. He is also a director and head of the Audit Committee for Hollinger International, the media company founded by Conrad Black (it is also now the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation). Thompson, along with his gubernatorial successor Jim Edgar and state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, have been criticized by some in the Illinois Republican Party for being too "liberal." Such criticism is representative of a debate within the national Republican Party regarding how liberal Republican candidates and office-holders should be (see also Republican in Name Only). In 2005, he donated $1000 to the Hillary Clinton PAC "Friends of Hillary." Recently, Thompson came out in support of former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani's campaign for the 2008 Republican nomination. He stressed that Giuliani was the only Republican in the field that could win Illinois.