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History and politics An exclusive interview with former governor Jim Edgar Illinois Heritage: What did you read as a child, fiction and nonfiction?  JE: I was really hooked on the Landmark series. Random House had a series of books on American history— mostly biographies. IH: Did you have a favorite? JE: The first history book I remember reading was a biography of Ralph Bunche. Another was on Jim Thorpe. These were not part of the Landmark series. But those two stick in my mind. I went to a lab school at Eastern [Illinois University] and they had the Landmark series there. Kids used to fight to get to read the new books as they came in. IH: What age was this? JE: Grade school. I read all the time, history books mainly. I also read some adventure mysteries by an author named Howard Pease. For pleasure I always grabbed a history book. We didn't have a set of encyclopedias when I was growing up, and— this might sound strange—I used to love to check a volume out at night from the school library and take it home and read through it, particularly the biographies. Today I make it a point to always have a set of encyclopedias around—even though I use the internet a lot, I still want access to an encyclopedia. IH:What about high school? JE: For class we read the English classics of Dickens and others, but for pleasure I would read history or an historical novel. For example, I read everything by Leon Uris, such as Exodus, Battle Cry, and others. I've always read. For the last thirty years, before I go to sleep I always read a book. It's my favorite time of the day. IH: Fiction or history? JE: Mostly history but sometimes fiction. I remember when I became secretary of state, which was a major change in my life, I started doing a lot of traveling, and all of a sudden and I didn't have to drive myself. I had a lot of time to sit in the back of a car or an airplane and I could read. I would read history, usually biographies, until I was stressed by work. Then I would switch to reading light fiction for several weeks for an escape. IH: Did your wife influence your choice in literature? JE: [Laughs]. No. I tried to influence hers, but she rejected my suggestions. IH: Why did you get a degree in history? JE: I started out in political science but I switched to history. I enjoyed history classes more than political science classes. I thought they taught me more about politics, because history is real, not theory. IH: What era of history did you focus on in college? JE: I would say it was more Twentieth Century, but all history is interesting to me. Now I particularly enjoy the period from the end of World War I to the start of World War II. The Twenties and the Thirties are fascinating times for me, especially relating to Winston Churchill. He, along with Lincoln, is one of my heroes of history. I especially enjoyed 8 Illinois Heritage the PBS series a few years ago called The Wilderness Years.' The series was about the period Winston Churchill was out of power in the Thirties and how he was often the lone voice warning about Hitler and Nazi Germany. I always thought that Churchill should have been 'Man of the Century,' because what he did in May and June of 1940 was the only thing that kept Hitler from prevailing. He had a vision and saw early on about the problem with Hitler, and later about Stalin as well. He thought outside the box. IH. Who were your favorite Illinois governors? JE: I know more about Twentieth Century governors. I especially admire governors Stratton, Ogilvie, Homer, and Lowden. I felt they were all good administrators, which is an important skill for a governor. These governors were innovative and, in many ways, redefined state government. I also thought Jim Thompson was a good governor. The first governor I ever met was Bill Stratton. He came to Charleston when I was in grade school. In later years we became very good friends. IH: Did studying history make you a better governor? JE: I believe the study of history is great preparation for serving in public office. As governor, I knew that, even in minor things, I was making history. It made me realize that the things I did as governor were not just for the short term but for the long term. It was always in the back of my mind that what I said, and whatever I did, even how I dressed, would be recorded in writing and in pictures. I wanted future generations who would look back at the Illinois governor of the 1990s to have a positive impression of his tenure.
IH: Was there ever a casual governor? JE: There have been some governors who were less conscious than others about the impact they might have on history. It's important to take the office seriously. Not that everything I did as governor was important, but it is important to take the office, and its history, seriously. And having that perspective, I tried not to cut any more corners than I might otherwise do, because history was being made. I think one of the things that separates public officials, particularly a governor or a president, in the United States versus someone from Europe, is that we look at our leaders as more than government officials. A governor or a president is not only head of government but also head of state. IH: How important is a liberal arts education today in Illinois? JE: I think it's the best education. It gives you an overview, whether you're going into business or government. If I had it to do over again I might pay a little more attention in some of my courses. I paid a lot of attention in history; I didn't pay much attention in science. English I didn't like because I wasn't a very good writer. I wished I had taken a few more speech classes. I tell young people about how important science is, even if they don't plan to go into a science field. If you're the governor and called upon to respond to health care or environmental issues, a better understanding of science would be helpful. In college I didn't take many courses related to law, but later I wished I had a little more background in constitutional law. I had to pick it up when I came to Springfield. A liberal arts education is a good general education. You can specialize in graduate school. IH: Did you have a role in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library? JE: Well, we started it. It had been talked about quite a bit before and during my administration. Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Lee Daniels had both talked about it, but nothing happened because there was no money. Finally, near the end of my Illinois Heritage | 9
term we had some money. I said we're going to do it, we put it in the budget, and I presented it in my budget message. We brought the architects in and got the city of Springfield signed on. IH: Do you have an opinion as to how it should be administered? JE: It definitely should be run by a professional. I always thought the Historical Society and the Historic Preservation Agency would be involved; I never dreamed the museum would become a political football. Of all things, you don't politicize a memorial to Lincoln. IH: The Dickson Mounds controversy over the exhibition of Native American human remains happened during your administration. What did you learn from that? JE: [Laughs] That people have different points of view! I always tried to be open-minded, tolerant of other peoples' opinions. When I first visited Dickson Mounds I was still secretary of state. I was aghast. It was almost ghoulish, with all those skeletons lying around. I could see how it could scare children. Knowing a little bit about Native American culture, I could see how Native Americans would see it as disrespectful. But I also thought there was real historical value, and many people in that area viewed it as important to the economy. I thought Al Grosboll, a member of my staff, did a superb job mediating that situation. There was a controversy, what appeared to be an unsolvable situation. But we worked out a win-win situation for everybody. But I thought that was a model for working things, a good compromise where we could respect the concerns of the Indian culture, but we were also able to preserve the history of the site and the commercial advantage it represented to the community. And the site does bring a lot of people to the region. And today I think it is a far better facility. IH: Regarding historic sites, what were your favorites growing up in Illinois? JE: We didn't travel much when I was a kid, but I spent a lot of time at Lincoln Log Cabin [State Historic Site, Lerna], which is a few miles south of my home in Charleston. played there often. We'd have picnics there from the time I was five years old on up into high school. It's the only historic site in the immediate Charleston area. It is amazing what they have done at that place. The site is a great success story, and, knowing that community, what is amazing to me is how actively involved the locals are. Tom Vance deserves much of the credit for what's been done there. The first time I visited Bishop Hill in northwestern Illinois was as 10 Illinois Heritage secretary of state. As governor, I visited Bishop Hill several times, including a memorable occasion when the King of Sweden was there, which attracted several thousand people to that small community. IH: When you were governor, did you ever walk the halls of the Executive Mansion or the statehouse and talk to Lincoln? JE: [Laughs]. Lincoln was never in the statehouse, which wasn't built until 1870. But he was in the mansion. The first governor who lived there was [William Henry] Bissell, who was bedridden. Lincoln used to mite speeches for Bissell and would come over and talk to him. We have a Lincoln Room at the mansion, but that wasn't yet part of the house when Bissell served. The Lincoln Room has furniture that had been given to Lincoln when he was elected President. We don't think he actually slept on it. After Lincoln's death the furniture was eventually given to the University of Kentucky. Later the furniture was donated to the mansion by the president of the University. According to the story, back in the 1970s around the time of the restoration of the mansion, someone from the Mansion Association drove to Kentucky in the dead of night with a U-Haul to get the furniture because they were afraid the governor of Kentucky would find out that the president of the university, who was leaving his job, had given the furniture to Illinois. There was concern that the governor might try to stop the gift. But back to your question: I never walked around the Old State Capitol at night by myself, but I used to walk around the Lincoln Home neighborhood from time to time. IH: Since the election of 1994, when you defeated Dawn Clark Netsch by the largest numerical margin in state history, there have been no women gubernatorial candidates to emerge from the primaries. Is the glass ceiling for the state's highest office unbreakable for women? JE: No. And I don't think Dawn Clark Netsch lost the election because she was a woman. To be truthful, I don't think anybody was going to beat me that year. It's difficult for an incumbent governor to lose. But I've said many times that I don't think people gave her credit for as good a Illinois Heritage | 11
IH: In your opinion, what was the single-most significant historical event in Illinois history in the last fifty years? JE: We had Con-Con [Constitutional Convention], which was very significant and had a long-term impact on state government, and we had the Flood of 1993, which was the biggest natural disaster in the state's history. The flood had a huge impact on people in western Illinois. IH: In terms of ethics, how did your administration do? JE: I feel a little hesitant to try and tackle that one. I thought we were very ethical. It never worked perfectly, but there was always an attempt to be honest with the people and to be fair, and not to leave problems for somebody else. There was an attempt in my administration to do the right thing. Again, it had everything to do with my perspective on history. I tried to be aware of how things would look not only in the headlines tomorrow but also in the history books. To sleep at night I had to know I was trying to do the right thing; sure, we made mistakes, but we tried to do what was right.IH: Last question. What haven't you done that you would like to do? Write? JE: I don't plan to write a book. Writing is not my favorite thing to do. But I want to make sure that my thoughts and knowledge of state government get written down somewhere before I get too old and forgetful. I love what I'm doing now. I enjoy walking around campus and talking to students and to classes. I am always happy to give advice, not that they ask. The thing that's difficult for me I always sought my next office. I always went after my next job. I wanted to run for the legislature. I wanted to be secretary of state. And I wanted to be governor. But I'm at the point in my life where I am not actually looking for things to do. I have the flexibility to do things that are important and that I enjoy. I can spend more time with Brenda, visit the grandchildren, hike with my dogs, and watch my horses race. If something comes along that I think is important, fine. But for now, I'm happy. 2I Illinois Heritage |
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