James Robert Thompson Jr. (May 8, 1936 – August 14, 2020) was an American politician and federal prosecutor who served as the 37th governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991. He was Illinois's longest-serving governor, serving four consecutive terms over fourteen years.
A moderate Republican, he was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois during the early 1970s. As the U.S. Attorney, he tried and convicted several high-profile Illinois politicians, including former Democratic governor Otto Kerner Jr. Elected governor of Illinois in a landslide in 1976, he went on to win reelection three times, including in a historically close race against Adlai Stevenson III in 1982.
Following his tenure as governor, Thompson led a Chicago law firm for over a decade. In later years, Thompson served as a member of the 9/11 Commission, charged with investigating the September 11 attacks.
Thompson was born on May 8, 1936 on Chicago's West Side, the son of Agnes Josephine (Swanson) and James Robert Thompson. Both of his parents were originally from rural DeKalb County, Illinois. His father, James, Sr., was a doctor who also worked as a pathologist at the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium.
Through his father, he was of English and Scotch-Irish descent. His direct paternal ancestor, David Thompson, was an early American colonist who is widely considered the founder of New Hampshire. Through his mother, he was also of Swedish descent.
Thompson grew up in Chicago's Garfield Park and Galewood neighborhoods, graduating from North Park Academy. He first attended the University of Illinois Chicago, studying political science at the Navy Pier campus and serving on the student council. When his parents moved to St. Louis, Thompson subsequently transferred to Washington University in St. Louis. However, he never graduated and went on to receive his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University in 1959.
Following law school, Thompson worked in the Cook County State's Attorney's office under Democrat Daniel P. Ward. While working there in the early 1960s, he fought against obsenity and pornography, such as by prosecuting comedian Lenny Bruce. He also argued two cases in front of the United States Supreme Court, including Escobedo v. Illinois. After leaving the State's Attorney's office in 1964, Thompson taught in the law school at Nothwestern University for five years.
In 1969, he joined the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Initially leading the criminal division for around a year, Thompson was subsequently appointed U.S. Attorney by President Richard Nixon following the resignation of William J. Bauer.
Serving from 1971 until 1975, he prosecuted around 350 Illinois public officials and their associates. During 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 top aides of Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, most notably Alderman Thomas E. Keane and County Clerk Matt Danaher, on various corruption charges. Prosecuting these prominent members of Chicago's Democratic political machine gave Thompson the celebrity that fueled his run for governor in 1976.
However, Thompson was bipartisan in his attacks on political corruption in Cook County and Chicago, pursuing not only high-profile Democrats, but also Republicans. Organized crime in Chicago was harder for his unit to crack and there were few notable cases during his tenure.
In the 1976 election, Thompson won 65 percent of the vote over Democratic Secretary of State Michael Howlett, who had defeated incumbent governor Dan Walker in the primary and who had the support of Chicago Mayor and Cook County Democratic Party chairman Richard J. Daley.
Thompson was the first candidate for governor to receive over 3 million votes; his tally of 3,000,395 remains the largest number of votes ever cast for a candidate in an election for Governor of Illinois. His first term was for only two years because Illinois moved its gubernatorial election from presidential-election years to midterm-election years.
Thompson was re-elected to a full four-year term in 1978 with 60 percent of the vote, defeating State Comptroller Michael Bakalis. In 1982.
Thompson was re-elected to a full four-year term in 1978 with 60 percent of the vote, defeating State Comptroller Michael Bakalis. In 1982, Thompson was very narrowly re-elected over former U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III. Thompson won the contest by only 5,074 votes. It remains the closest gubernatorial race in Illinois history.
A rematch in 1986 was expected to be almost as close, but the Democrats were severely hamstrung when supporters of Lyndon LaRouche won the Democratic nominations for lieutenant governor and secretary of state. Stevenson refused to appear on the same ticket as the LaRouchites, and formed the Solidarity Party with the support of the regular state Democratic organization. With the Democrats badly split, Thompson skated to victory in the general election. Thompson was accused of hiding the sad shape that Illinois' economy and budget were in while campaigning, but once elected, called for an emergency session of the Illinois legislature to address the crisis.
During his tenure, Thompson governed as a "Rockefeller Republican," often being called a moderate or liberal Republican. With the Chicago Sun-Times labeling him as a "master campaigner," Thompson was also known for his skill on the campaign trail during his four gubernatorial elections.
In November 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. 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 1989, Governor Thompson agreed to establish a compounding, 3 percent cost-of-living increase for retirees from Illinois government jobs, including public school teachers. Years later, in an interview with a Chicago business magazine, Thompson said he never knew the cost might exceed $1 billion and likely would not have signed it if he had known. The cumulative effect of the 3 percent annual increases has been recognized as one of the major causes of Illinois' ongoing public employee pension crisis.