Corrupt Illinois: Patronage, Cronyism, and Criminality

by Thomas J. Gradel, Dick Simpson

Public funds spent on jets and horses. Shoeboxes stuffed with embezzled cash. Ghost payrolls and incarcerated ex-governors. Illinois' culture of "Where's mine?" and the public apathy it engenders has made our state and local politics a disgrace.
 
In Corrupt Illinois , veteran political observers Thomas J. Gradel and Dick Simpson take aim at business-as-usual. Naming names, the authors lead readers through a gallery of rogues and rotten apples to illustrate how generations of chicanery have undermined faith in, and hope for, honest government. From there, they lay out how to implement institutional reforms that provide accountability and eradicate the favoritism, sweetheart deals, and conflicts of interest corroding our civic life.
 
Corrupt Illinois lays out a blueprint to transform our politics from a pay-to-play–driven marketplace into what it should an instrument of public good.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2015

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly light overview of Illinois political corruption going back to the 19th century. There are chapters on governors, Chicago aldermen, judges. The authors make the important point that illegality, criminality, has its foundation in legal systems: the patronage system, machine politics, nepotism, are all things that are legal (though the authors, importantly and necessarily, call them corruption), and these things give rise to lawbreaking. In other words, it is often a short hop, skip or jump from the corrupt but legal to the corrupt and illegal. So to everyone who whines "another law won't fix this," shut up. Why is nepotism legal, for fuck's sake? Why is Cook County Assessor and Democratic party boss Joe Berrios allowed to put more than a dozen of his own family members on the government payroll?

The crime rate inside the Chicago City Council (composed of aldermen) is higher, per capita, than the crime rate in Chicago's "ghetto" neighborhoods. Out of about 200 aldermen over the last 40 years, 33 have been convicted of federal crimes.

Through 2013, the costs related to police captain Jon Burge's torture of defendants have cost the city $98 million, and that number will rise since cases are still in the pipeline. Because Burge was never investigated in a timely fashion, the statute of limitations on his and his deputies' crimes ran out long ago, and the U.S. Attorney's office was only able to convict him on perjury charges. Richard M. Daley, later mayor for 22 years, was state's attorney during Burge's tenure and declined to properly investigate and prosecute Burge.

The book, just published, has a few sentences about investigations into former Congressman Aaron Schock's expenditures. Schock, known for his preppy outfits and hard abs, plus a Capitol Hill office modeled after Downton Abbey, has since resigned, the federal investigation is expanding, a grand jury is looking at everything related to his office and campaign, and he will almost certainly be indicted and go to prison.

One of former Speaker Dennis Hastert's real estate deals that enormously enriched him is mentioned, but the book came out too soon to detail Hastert's federal indictment for paying hush money to his sexual assault victim.

The book also doesn't discuss the recent revelations about secret Chicago police interrogations and alleged abuse at the Homan Square facility.

Almost certainly (in my opinion) Richard M. Daley was involved in some kind of illegal corruption, but he covered his tracks carefully. You can be certain the feds had Daley under a microscope. Whenever Daley was questioned in court, he suffered terrible amnesia. His successor, Rahm Emanuel, appears to be a tad more open, but Emanuel's administration has already seen the red-light traffic camera scandal, and the city comptroller hired by Emanuel received a 15 year federal prison sentence for a bribery and money laundering scheme he oversaw in Ohio, before Emanuel hired him. The head of Chicago Public Schools appointed by Emanuel in 2012 recently resigned under a cloud of suspicion, as the feds investigate her awarding of a $20.5 million no-bid contract to a former employer.

What is it with these people? Is it so hard to be honest?

The book barely touches on Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, who runs Illinois. I suppose everything Madigan does is "legal" - in the sense we now understand it, as corrupt but not prosecutable.

The book could have used a more thorough copy-editing; I counted about 10 typos. There are certainly more, as I didn't read all the endnotes.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive and detailed account of the corruption prevalent in Illinois and which is endemic at all levels of government. Illinois is the 3rd most corrupt state in the US and this exposé is both far-reaching and extremely shocking. A clarion call for reform and a warning to other corrupt entities that the truth always ultimately emerges.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book, timely, and titillating. It is also hastily written and somewhat disorganized. And it lacks the thoughtful analysis the writers promise. And it is dated. (Illinois politicians manage to render historical works on this subject almost immediately outdated.)

Four Illinois governors (in my lifetime) have gone to prison. It was all about money for each of them. Other issues throughout the state’s history have been about political machines, sex scandals, drugs and drunk driving, government coverup of police brutality, and election stealing. But money is king when it comes to Illinois corruption.

Corrupt Illinois has chapters on stolen elections, aldermanic corruption in Chicago, suburban scandals, police abuse, judicial corruption, and congressional crooks. The book is sometimes repetitive. It quotes a couple scholars who have “theories” about what makes Illinois so corrupt, but those arguments seem thin and incomprehensive.

As one reads through this book—it begins to feel like reading a phone book: page after page of names and briefly noted crimes. It gets fatiguing.

The authors rightly note that while stories of corrupt politicians are entertaining, the corruption itself is costly: financially (to the tax payers) and spiritually (good people want nothing to do with politics and governing.) The Trump administration (2025) is blatantly involved in pay-to-play schemes and bribery (Qatar offering the president an airplane.) The fact is, Americans are increasingly tolerant of corruption. This book, with all its flaws is a wake up alarm.

For a more up to date account of Illinois corruption, check out the 2024 Chicago Tribune series of articles: https://www.chicagotribune.com/tag/co...

[Mike Ginocchio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corrupt Illinois. With a title like that, you cannot say that you don't know what you're getting. For over 200 pages, Thomas Gradel takes us on a comprehensive history of crooked political skullduggery in the Land of Lincoln. That's really about it. It's breezily written, which makes it easy to read and read quickly. And it's easy to follow, as the author (and his shadowy co-author Dick Simpson) breaks corruption down by various political structure on a chapter-by-chapter basis. On one hand, it's a bit depressing to read just how deep the corruption seeps into Illinois. On the other hand, there's a sense of motivation that the book gives you: get involved, pay attention, and for god's sake stop mindlessly voting because someone has the preferred political letter next to their name.

A good read, but nothing all that surprising in the end.

[Phil K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not academic enough to be considered a text book. But too much like a text book to be enjoyable non-fiction. A series of blurbs taken from headlines and newspaper articles chronicaling various examples of corruption throughout Illinois history.

I definitely learned a lot that I did not know. But there was so much to cover in so few pages (thankfully) that many details were omitted.
In a way it read like an academic paper. But in another way I got a sense that the authors had an ax to grind and were trying a little too hard to be witty.

[Dorothy Hynous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing info. Somewhat repetitive.