John H. Stroger Jr. (May 19, 1929 – January 18, 2008) was an American politician who served from 1994 until 2006 as the first African-American president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (the primary executive officer of Cook County, Illinois). A member of the Democratic Party. Stroger also served as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (the legislative body of the county) from 1970 until 2006. He additionally served as president of the National Association of Counties from 1992 through 1993.
Cook County's Stroger Hospital was renamed in his honor.
John Stroger was born May 19, 1929, in Helena, Arkansas. In 1953, he graduated from Xavier University in Louisiana with a B.S. in business administration.
In 1953, Stroger relocated to Chicago and became active in the Democratic Party organization in the South Side of Chicago. After only a year, Stroger was appointed as an assistant auditor in the Municipal Court of Chicago. Stroger then served as personnel director at the Cook County Jail from 1955 to 1961. Stroger attended law school at the DePaul University College of Law and graduated in 1965. While earning a law degree he worked for the financial director of the State of Illinois. In 1968, Stroger was elected 8th Ward committeeman.
First six terms on the Cook County Board of Commissioners (1970–1994)
In 1970, Stroger was elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners as one of several members representing Chicago. (at the time, ten members were elected to represent Chicago at-large, while another seven members were elected to represent suburban Cook County at-large).
In his time on the county board, Stroger spent time as a chair of every major committee (including finance, health, building and zoning). He sponsored legislation on the committee aimed at assisting minority- and female-owned businesses.
In 1980, Stroger unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in Illinois's 1st congressional district against incumbent Bennett Stewart. Both lost to Harold Washington.
Stroger served as president of the National Association of Counties from 1992 through 1993.
County presidency and additional terms on the county board
In 1994, Stroger was both elected county board president while also winning re-election to the board. He would hold both positions simultaneously until 2006. The 1994 election was the first in which board members were elected to represent single-member districts, and Stroger was elected to represent the 4th district.
As president, ultimately Stroger completed much of what he set out to do when he campaigned in 1994. This included balancing the county's $2.9 billion budget. He also instituted a Juvenile Drug Court, appointed a Commission on Women's Issues and opened a new AIDS treatment and research facility. Stroger served on the Chicago Metropolitan Healthcare Council and the board of South Shore Hospital. The new Cook County Hospital was renamed the John H. Stroger Jr. Cook County Hospital after Stroger while he was serving as county board president.
In the 1990s, he was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton to serve as a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.
First term as president (1994–1998)
In the Democratic primary of the 1994 county board presidential election, Stroger defeated two opponents. Incumbent president Richard Phelan had forgone re-election that year in order to unsuccessfully run for Democratic nomination for governor, which left the county president race open. In the general election, Stroger trounced Republican Aurelia Pucinski. To the surprise of many "machine" watchers, he even beat her in many of Chicago's white ethnic wards.
Stroger successfully advocated for the county's purchase of the Brunswick Building, arguing that consolidating many county offices into the building would save the county money in the long-term.
Second term as president (1998–2002)
In the 1998 Democratic primary, he defeated a suburban challenger, Cook County commissioner Calvin Sutker.