Daniel Walker

Daniel Walker (born August 6, 1922) is a former Democratic governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1973 to 1977.

He was born in Washington DC and served as a naval officer in World War II. A graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, Walker later became an executive for Montgomery Ward while pursuing anti-machine Democratic politics in Chicago. He rose to prominence as head of the Chicago Study Team which issued a report on police conduct at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Walker concluded that in effect a "police riot" occurred.

Walker announced his candidacy for Governor in 1972, attracted wide attention by walking the length of Illinois, and won the Democratic primary by upsetting then-Lt. Governor Paul Simon. In November, he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Richard B. Ogilvie.

The enmity between Walker and Mayor Richard J. Daley's political organization was deep. In 1974, Walker supported legislative candidates against Daley allies. A year later, members of Walker's administration demanded Daley resign as chairman of the Cook County Democratic organization.

The dislike was personal. Walker's deputy Governor, Victor deGrazia later said: "... I knew from the beginning that every time Daley looked at Walker, he saw the Church of England and the British suppression of the Irish, and when Dan would look at Daley, he would see the quintessential politician who was only interested in political gain."[1]

Walker did not repeal the income tax that Ogilvie had enacted and, wedged between Republicans and machine Democrats, had little success with the Illinois legislature during his tenure.

In 1976, Walker lost the Democratic primary to Secretary of State Michael Howlett, the candidate supported by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

In the 1980s, Walker entered the private sector with a chain of self-named quick oil-change franchises and a pair of troubled Savings and Loans. In 1987 he was convicted of improprieties related to the latter, and spent nearly two years in federal prison. He currently resides in California.

Sources

Oral History Project at the University of Illinois at Springfield[2]