QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND ILLINOIS POLITICS.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND ILLINOIS POLITICS. Queen Elizabeth II is visiting the US and is at the Kentucky Derby today. I remember when she visited Chicago in 1959 in connection with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. My brother and I were aware that a former mayor of Chicago had campaigned on the promise to punch King George V of England in the nose if they ever met, and we speculated on how Mayor Daley would greet Queen Elizabeth. Daley (the first Mayor Daley) was of course gracious, but the story about the punch in the nose gives a flavor of Illinois politics early in the last century. (When I grew up, the Illinois constitution stated that the official language of Illinois was American–not English.)

The mayor who would have punched the king in the news was William Hale Thompson, the last Republican mayor of Chicago. My mother used to speak with disdain of how he campaigned with two live rats who represented his opponents. The wikipedia article on Thompson mentions that on his death $1.5 million in cash was found in two safety deposit boxes. This brought to mind Paul Powell, who was Secretary of State when I lived in Illinois and who died with $800.000 in a shoe box. (not strictly true apparently–the cash was stuffed in a lot of places). Powell managed to serve as Speaker of the Illinois House no matter whether Democrats or Republicans controlled the House.