Blagojevich joins 'governors in trouble' list
Gov. Rod Blagojevich joined a rather unpleasant list Tuesday - PardonPower's list of "governors in trouble."
Here is the list, compiled by P.S. Ruckman, the founder of pardonpower.com and an associate professor of political science at Rock Valley College in Rockford:
John Quitman, MS (1851) - indicted, resigned
Zebulon Vance, SC (1865) - arrested as Confederate
David Butler, NE (1871) - impeached, removed, then impeachment was expunged
William H. Holden, NC (1871) - impeached, removed
Rufus Brown Bullock, GA (1871) - resigned, acquitted
Adelbert Ames, MS (1876) - impeached, resigned
William Sulzer, NY (1913) - impeached, removed
James E. Ferguson, TX (1917) - indicted, resigned right before impeachment
John C. Walton, OK (1923) - impeached, removed
Warren T. McCray, IN (1924) - convicted, resigned, then pardoned
Henry S. Johnston, OK (1929) - impeached, removed
Henry Horton, TN (1931) - impeached, then acquitted
William Langer, ND (1934) - convicted, vacated office, then acquitted
Richard Leche, LA (1939) - resigned, convicted, pardoned
Marvin Mandel, MD (1977) - resigned, commutation of sentence
Ray Blanton, TN (1981) - vacated office, acquitted, then convicted after term
Evan Mecham, AZ (1988) - impeached, removed, then acquitted
Guy Hunt, AL (1993) - convicted, then removed
David Walters, OK (1994) - indicted, plead guilty to misdemeanor
Jim Guy Tucker, AR (1996) - convicted, then resigned
J. Fife Symington, AZ (1997) - convicted, resigned, won an appeal, then pardoned
Edwin W. Edwards, LA (1998) - convicted after term, pardon application in
Edward DiPrete, RI (1998) - convicted after term
John G. Rowland, CN (2004) - resigned, then convicted
James McGreevey, NJ (2004) - resigned
Bob Taft, OH (2006) - convicted of four misdemeanors
George Ryan, IL (2006) - convicted after term, pardon application in
Ernie Fletcher, KY (2006) - indicted, charges dropped
Don Siegelman, AL (2006) - indicted, charges dropped, convicted after term
Eliot Spitzer, NY (2008) - resigned, no charges filed
Rod Blagojevich, IL (2008) - charges just filed