Images of Illinois Governors
Gov. George Ryan, right, and former Govs. Jim Edgar, center foreground, and James R. Thompson, behind Ryan, carry the casket of William Grant Stratton, Tuesday, March 6, 2001, in Chicago. Stratton was Illinois governor from 1953 to 1961.
Associated Press
Illinois Governor James Thompson, shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan on the stage at Eureka College on Feb. 7, 1984 after the President gave a foreign policy speech at the campus in Eureka, Ill.
Associated Press
George Ryan is greeted by supporters at the Kankakee County Courthouse in Kankakee, Ill., after being elected Illinois secretary of state in 1990.
Associated Press
Former Illinois Gov. Dan Walker walks through the federal courthouse in Chicago on Aug. 5, 1987, after his indictment on charges of bank fraud, misapplication of bank funds and perjury were announced.
Associated Press
President Harry S. Truman, left, talks with Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois in Washington, May 21, 1949. Stevenson called on the president at Blair House and rode with him to Union Station to say farewell to President Eurico Gaspar Dutra of Brazil.
Associated Press
Former Gov. James R. Thompson reacts during a news conference at his office in Chicago on Oct. 25, 2007, where he spoke about fellow former Gov. George Ryan's corruption conviction.
Paul Beaty | Staff Photographer
Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidates, U.S. Rep. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., right, and Roland Burris, left, get together during Democratic Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield on Aug. 16, 2001.
Associated Press
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, takes the oath of office as his wife Patti looks on in Springfield on Jan. 8, 2007.
Associated Press
George Ryan gets into a van pulled next to the garage of his home in Kankakee on Nov. 6, 2007. Ryan lost his final bid to delay starting his prison term when Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens turned down his request to remain free on bail.
Associated Press
Sen. Edward Kennedy, right, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Adlai Stevenson, center, talk as they finish a series of appearances on Oct. 14, 1982, Chicago, Ill. Kennedy was in Illinois drumming up support for state democratic candidates.
Associated Press
Former Gov. James Thompson, rear, listens as Lt. Gov. George Ryan speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Sept. 18, 1986. On Aug. 21, 2007, an appeals court upheld a racketeering conviction of Ryan.
Associated Press
Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan attends a rally Oct. 11, 2003, in Harrisburg, Pa., where Ryan called for a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania. Ryan commuted the sentences of everyone on Illinois death row before he left office.
Associated Press
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, second left, and his wife Hillary are seen talking with US Ambassador to Belgium Geoffrey Swaebe, left, and Governor of Illinois James R. Thompson, right, during a reception at the US Ambassadors residence.
Associated Press
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, left, laughs with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich during Governor's Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Ill., on Aug. 17, 2005.
Associated Press
Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar wipes tears from his eyes after announcing that he will not be a Republican candidate for governor in the 2006 election, during a news conference Sept. 30, 2005, in Chicago.
Associated Press
Gov. Jim Edgar announces the opening of the Tamms Correctional Center, a $73 million prison complex in Tamms, Ill., Feb. 3, 1998. The facility, designed to house the toughest and most violent inmates in the state, began accepting prisoners March 9.
Associated Press
Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar gallops away from the media with Illinois Sec. of Agriculture Becky Doyle, left, after opening ceremonies at the Illinois State Fair on Aug. 11, 1995, in Springfield, Ill.
Associated Press
President John Kennedy receives a progress report on area redevelopment in Southern Illinois from Gov. Otto Kerner of Illinois on Feb. 21, 1962 at the White House in Washington. Rep. Sidney Yates, D-Ill., is at right.
Associated Press
Japanese Ambassador to the United States, Nobuto Matsunaga, right, and Illinois Governor James R. Thompson, left, participate in a tree planting during grand opening ceremonies for the Diamond-Star Motors Corporation.
Associated Press
Sen. Robert Dole, left, of Kansas chats with Illinois Gov.-elect James Thompson prior to the start of a meeting of the Republican Governors Aassociation in Washington on Nov. 30, 1976.
Associated Press
Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson poses in his Chicago office Oct. 14, 1986. "Big Jim" Thompson spent 14 years in the governor's office, displaying a joy for the job that no governor has matched since. He became governor by fighting corruption as a U.S. attorney.
Associated Press
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