Daniel Walker

This article is about US Governor Daniel Walker. For English sports journalist Dan Walker, see Dan Walker.

Daniel Walker
Dan Walker (right) shaking hands at the 1973 Bud Billiken Parade
36th Governor of Illinois
In office January 8, 1973 – January 10, 1977
Lieutenant	Neil Hartigan
Preceded by	Richard B. Ogilvie
Succeeded by	James R. Thompson
Personal details
Born	August 6, 1922 (1922-08-06) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Roberta Dowse Roberta Nelson Lillian, 3rd wife
Residence	Escondido, California
Profession	Lawyer / Paralegal, Politician
Religion	Methodist

Daniel Walker (born August 6, 1922) was the 36th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1973 to 1977.

Early life and career

Walker was born in Washington, D.C. and raised near San Diego, California. He was the second Governor of Illinois to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. He served as a naval officer in World War II and the Korean War. 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.

Walker served as a clerk for Chief Justice of the United States Fred M. Vinson and was an aide to Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and campaign chairman for the 1970 Senate campaign of Stevenson's son Adlai Stevenson III. He rose to prominence as author of Rights in Conflict, his report on the disturbances of the 1968 Democratic Convention, calling some of the police activities a “police riot.”

Illinois Governor

Walker announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois in 1971 and attracted wide attention by walking 1,197 miles (1,926 km) across Illinois in 1971. He narrowly won the Democratic primary by upsetting then-Lt. Governor Paul Simon, who had been endorsed by the Daley Machine. In November, he defeated incumbent Republican Richard B. Ogilvie by a 51% to 49% margin and at one point in the early 1970s had presidential aspirations.

The enmity between Walker and Mayor Richard J. Daley's political organization was deep. In 1974, Walker supported legislative candidates against Daley allies. 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."

"We never established anything even approaching a personal rapport. To some degree, this was an obvious and natural result of my independent political activity. But it went deeper ---- much deeper," said Walker.^{[citation needed]}

During his tenure, Walker fought constantly with both Republicans and “Daley Machine Democrats” in the legislature. He did obtain passage of the first law requiring disclosure of campaign contributions and issued a series of executive orders prohibiting corrupt practices by state employees.

In 1976, Walker was defeated in the Democratic primary, losing to Secretary of State Michael Howlett, the candidate supported by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, by a 54% to 46% margin. In the general election, Howlett was overwhelmingly defeated by James R. Thompson.

Post political career and criminal conviction

In the 1980s, Walker entered the private sector with Butler-Walker, Inc, a chain of self-named quick oil change franchises later bought by Jiffy Lube and a pair of troubled Savings and Loans. In 1987, he was convicted of a loan impropriety related to the First American Savings & Loan Association of Oak Brook. Media at the time inaccurately reported he received over a million dollars in fraudulent loans for his business and repairs on his yacht, the Governor's Lady.The actual amount was $45,000. Walker served as director, and a subsidiary of that association made many loans to franchisees of First American to enable building of their centers. All these loans were approved by the Federal and State regulatory agencies to which First American was subject.

In 1987, Walker was charged with bank fraud based on two loans. A private contractor borrowed $279,000 from First American to build schools. Walker later personally borrowed $45,000 from that individual on a "handshake" basis. Those two loans—constituting "borrowing from a borrower" while serving as a director—were the unlawful "bank fraud" set forth in the formal Plea Agreement signed by Walker when he pleaded guilty. The agreement was approved by the United States District Court judge handling the case. (USDC ND Ill). Walker was sentenced to four years in prison on this charge. There were two other charges against Walker, one for perjury based on dealings by the Association with his son and the other for filing false financial statements. The first was given a three year sentence and probation ordered on the second, all sentences to be served consecutively. After serving eighteen months in prison on the bank fraud charge, the trial judge ordered that Walker be released from prison based on the "time served" and placed on probation until the two loans in question were repaid. This order eliminated the two other charges.

As to First American, it was declared insolvent and taken over by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. It continued in business as before, run by individuals brought in by FSLIC. There were no bondholders of First American and Walker and his wife were the only stockholders. When the two loans described above were repaid, Walker was released from probation and the case against him was closed. There was no cost to taxpayers for the loans.

None of the charges against Walker on which he was given the seven year sentence as detailed in the Plea Agreement involved any loans other than the two described above. The contemporaneous media accounts to the contrary were erroneous. Loans by First American and its subsidiary on which those accounts were based were never charged with being fraudulent as the media stories stated. None were mentioned in the above-described Plea Agreement's statement of the bank fraud charge to which Walker pleaded guilty.

At his sentencing, U.S. District Judge Ann Williams stated, "It's clear to this court that a pattern was established and that you, Mr. Walker, thought this bank was your own personal piggy bank to bail you out whenever you got into trouble." To put Walker’s actions into further perspective, however, Neil Bush approved unsecured loans of a hundred million dollars to two of his business partners in the disastrous Silverado Savings and Loan debacle that ultimately cost taxpayers 1.3 billion dollars. The Attorney General of the United States ruled that this "borrowing from a borrower," which was Walker's main offense, was a violation of the regulations but not a violation of law. Neil Bush never faced criminal prosecution. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis#Silverado_Savings_and_Loan and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Bush#Silverado_Savings_.26_Loan

In January 2001 Walker requested a pardon from outgoing President Bill Clinton, but his request was not granted.

Walker became the third of four Governors of Illinois in the 20th and 21st Century to be convicted on federal criminal charges. The other three were Otto Kerner, Jr., George Ryan, and Rod Blagojevich. However, unlike Kerner, Ryan, and Blagojevich, Walker's crimes were not related to his term as Governor.

Family

Walker was married in 1947 to Roberta Dowse, a Catholic school teacher from Kenosha, Wisconsin. They had seven children, three boys--Daniel Jr., Charles, and William--and four girls, Kathleen, Julie, Roberta, and Margaret. They were divorced in 1977. Roberta Dowse-Walker died in December 2006 from colon cancer. Walker later married Roberta Nelson, who was 14 years his junior, and was divorced in 1989 while he was in prison. In 2007 he resided in Escondido, California, with his third wife, Lillian. Currently, he resides in a condominium complex in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico.

Author

In 2007, Southern Illinois University Press released The Maverick and the Machine: Governor Dan Walker Tells His Story, in which Walker commented on his business and law troubles, saying "I knew this was against regulations, but, like most businessmen, I saw a huge difference between a law and a regulation." In the book he speaks of his experiences in jail as well as in the political sphere. He also authored The First Hundred Years A.D. 1-100: Failures and Successes of Christianity's Beginning and Thirst for Independence: The San Diego Water Story. He has several other writing projects in the works, including A Government Gone Bad, an Historical Account of the Mob and the Machine, focusing on corrupt politicians and outlaws in Illinois.

See also

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

External links

• Oral History Project at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Dan Walker Oral History and Victor deGrazia Oral History

Political offices
Preceded by Richard B. Ogilvie	Governor of Illinois 1973-1977	Succeeded by James R. Thompson