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Politics

List of Illinois senators, with plenty of pictures and photos. List includes IL senators and all past United States senators of Illinois.  Since the founding of the United States government, Americans have elected two senators per state regardless of the state's population (unlike the House of Representatives).  At first, senators were voted into the US Congress by their individual state legislatures.  Today though, senators are elected directly by the people.  Each pair of senators serve staggered six year terms, with senatorial elections happening every two years.  The most recent senate race was especially exciting due to the democrats' controversial support of healthcare reform and the republicans' regrouping with the support of the Tea Party.

Illinois Senators: List of all Senators from Illinois

All U.S. Senators from Illinois

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Jesse B. Thomas

Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777 – May 2, 1853) was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to Illinois being admitted to the Union. He became one of Illinois' first two Senators, and is best known as the author of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, although after his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1829 he lived the rest of his life in Ohio.

John McLean

John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for the Whig and Republican nominations for President.Born in New Jersey, McLean lived in several frontier towns before settling in Ridgeville, Ohio. He founded The Western Star, a weekly newspaper, and established a law practice. He won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1813 until his election to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1816. He resigned from that position to accept appointment to the administration of President James Monroe, becoming the United States Postmaster General in 1823. Under Monroe and President John Quincy Adams, McLean presided over a major expansion of the United States Postal Service. In 1829, President Andrew Jackson appointed McLean as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
On the court, McLean became known as an opponent of slavery, and he was frequently mentioned as a presidential candidate for various parties. McLean received the support of delegates at the 1848 Whig National Convention, the 1856 Republican National Convention, and the 1860 Republican National Convention. He was one of two justices to dissent in the  landmark case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. McLean served on the court until his death in 1861.

David J. Baker

David Jewett Baker (September 7, 1792 – August 6, 1869) was an American politician in the U.S. state of Illinois. He briefly served as a U.S. Senator in 1830.

John McCracken Robinson

John McCracken Robinson (April 10, 1794 – April 25, 1843) was a United States Senator from Illinois.
Born near Georgetown, Kentucky, he attended the common schools and graduated from Transylvania University at Lexington. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar and began practice in Carmi, Illinois in 1818. He was a judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, and served as a general in the State militia. He was elected in 1830 as a Jacksonian (later a Democrat) to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John McLean. He was reelected in 1835 and served from December 11, 1830, Until his retirement in March 3, 1841, and was not a candidate for reelection. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-second Congress) and a member of the Committees on Militia (Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses) and Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-fourth through Twenty-sixth Congresses).

Robinson was elected an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1843 and served until his death two months later in Ottawa, Illinois. His interment was in the Old Graveyard, Carmi, Illinois.

Samuel McRoberts

Samuel McRoberts (April 12, 1799 – March 27, 1843) was a United States Senator from Illinois. Born near Maeystown, he was educated by private tutors and graduated from the law department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Monroe County, and was clerk of the circuit court of Monroe County from 1819 to 1821. He was State circuit judge from 1824 to 1827 and a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1828 to 1830.
McRoberts was appointed United States Attorney by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 and served until 1832, when he resigned he was then appointed by President Martin Van Buren to be receiver of the land office at Danville in 1832. He was appointed Solicitor of the General Land Office at Washington in 1839 and served in that capacity until his resignation in 1841, and was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1841, until his death; while in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-seventh Congress). He died in Cincinnati, Ohio and was interred in the Moore Cemetery, Waterloo.

James Semple

James Semple (January 5, 1798 – December 20, 1866) was an American attorney and politician. He was notable for his service as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d'Affaires to New Granada, and United States Senator from Illinois.
Semple was born in Green County, Kentucky and was raised and educated in Clinton County. He served in the Kentucky Militia during the War of 1812 and then moved to Missouri, where he was active in the militia and owned and operated several businesses. He later studied law in Missouri and Kentucky, attained admission to the bar, and moved to Edwardsville, Illinois to start a practice. He became active in politics as a Democrat, but was opposed to slavery, and he served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1828 to 1832. He continued his militia service after moving to Illinois, and took part in the Black Hawk War. After service as Illinois Attorney General from 1832 to 1834, Semple returned to the Illinois House, where he served as Speaker from 1834 to 1837.
From 1838 to 1842, Semple served as US Chargé d'Affaires in New Granada. Upon returning to Illinois, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, but he served only a few months because later that year he was selected to fill a vacancy in the US Senate, where he served from 1843 to 1847.
After leaving politics, Semple practiced law, was active in several business ventures, and attempted to market an invention called the prairie car, a forerunner of the modern automobile. He died in Elsah, Illinois, a town he founded, and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Stephen A. Douglas

Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1860 election, but he was defeated by Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously bested Lincoln in the 1858 Illinois election for the United States Senate, which is known for the Lincoln–Douglas debates. During the 1850s, Douglas was one of the foremost advocates of popular sovereignty, which held that each territory should be allowed to determine whether to permit slavery within its borders. Douglas was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short in physical stature, but a forceful and dominant figure in politics.
Born in Brandon, Vermont, Douglas migrated to Jacksonville, Illinois in 1833 to establish a legal practice. He experienced early success in politics as a member of the Democratic Party, serving in the Illinois House of Representatives and various other positions. He resigned from the Supreme Court of Illinois upon being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1843. Douglas became an ally of President James K. Polk, and favored the annexation of Texas and the Mexican–American War. He was one of four Northern Democrats in the House to vote against the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico.
The Illinois legislature elected Douglas to the United States Senate in 1847, and Douglas emerged as a national party leader during the 1850s. Along with Henry Clay, he led the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which settled some of the territorial issues arising from the Mexican–American War. Douglas was a candidate for president at the 1852 Democratic National Convention, but lost the nomination to Franklin Pierce. Seeking to open the west for expansion, Douglas introduced the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854. Though Douglas had hoped the Kansas–Nebraska Act would ease sectional tensions, it elicited a strong reaction in the North and helped fuel the rise of the anti-slavery Republican Party. Douglas once again sought the presidency in 1856, but the 1856 Democratic National Convention instead nominated James Buchanan, who went on to win the election. Buchanan and Douglas split over the admission of Kansas as a slave state, as Douglas accused the pro-slavery Kansas legislature of having conducted an unfair election.
During the Lincoln–Douglas debates, Douglas articulated the Freeport Doctrine, which held that territories could effectively exclude slavery despite the Supreme Court's ruling in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. Disagreements over slavery led to the bolt of Southern delegates at the 1860 Democratic National Convention. The rump convention of Northern delegates nominated Douglas for president, while Southern Democrats threw their support behind John C. Breckinridge. In the 1860 election, Lincoln and Douglas were the main candidates in the North, while most Southerners supported either Breckinridge or John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party. Campaigning throughout the country during the election, Douglas warned of the dangers of secession and urged his audiences to stay loyal to the United States. Ultimately, Lincoln's strong support in the North led to his victory in the election. After the Battle of Fort Sumter, Douglas rallied support for the Union, but he died in June 1861.



Orville Browning

William A. Richardson

Richard Yates

Richard Yates (January 18, 1815 – November 27, 1873) was the Governor of Illinois during the American Civil War and has been considered one of the most effective war governors. He took energetic measures to secure Cairo and St. Louis against rebel attack. Nicknamed the "Soldiers' Friend", he helped organize the Illinois contingent of Union soldiers, including commissioning Ulysses S. Grant as a colonel for an Illinois regiment. He supported the Emancipation Proclamation. He also represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives (1851–1855) and in the U.S. Senate (1865–1871). As a Senator, he voted and spoke in favor of removing of Andrew Johnson from office.

John A. Logan

John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a State Senator, a Congressman, and a U.S. Senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States with James G. Blaine in the election of 1884. As the 3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, he is regarded as the most important figure in the movement to recognize Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) as an official holiday.
His likeness appears on a statue at the center of Logan Circle, Washington, D.C. He is also honored with a statue in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. He is the honoree of Logan County, Kansas; Logan County, Oklahoma; Logan County, Colorado; Logan County, North Dakota; and Logan Square, Chicago, which is the neighborhood chosen to mark Illinois' centennial. Logan is one of only three people mentioned by name in the Illinois state song. Upon his death, he lay in state in the United States Capitol rotunda. He is the father of U.S. Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient John Alexander Logan Jr. (1865–1899).

David Davis

David Lee Davis (born November 6, 1959) is a Republican politician from Tennessee and one-term member (2007–2009) of the United States House of Representatives and Tennessee House of Representatives. He represented Tennessee's 1st congressional district, located in the northeastern portion of the state and centered on the Tri-Cities area, but was defeated in the 2008 primary by Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe.

Shelby Moore Cullom

Shelby Moore Cullom (November 22, 1829 – January 28, 1914) was a U.S. political figure, serving in various offices, including the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and the 17th Governor of Illinois.

J. Hamilton Lewis

James Hamilton Lewis (May 18, 1863 – April 9, 1939) was an American attorney and politician.  Sometimes referred to as J. Ham Lewis or Ham Lewis, he represented Washington in the United States House of Representatives, and Illinois in the United States Senate.  He was the first to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate.
Born in Danville, Virginia and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Lewis attended several colleges, studied law, and attained admission to the bar in 1882.  He moved to Washington Territory in 1885, where he became active in politics as a Democrat; he served in the territorial legislature, worked with the federal commission that helped establish the U.S.-Canada boundary, and ran unsuccessfully for governor.  He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1899.
After service in the Spanish–American War, Lewis relocated to Chicago, Illinois.  After serving as the city's corporation counsel, and running unsuccessfully for governor, Lewis won election to the United States Senate in 1912, and served one term (1913-1919).  He was chosen to serve as Majority Whip, and was the first person to hold this position.  He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1918, and for governor in 1920.  In 1930, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate, and served from 1931 until his death.  He died in Washington, DC, and was buried in Arlington, Virginia.

Joseph M. McCormick

Joseph Medill McCormick (May 16, 1877 – February 25, 1925), called Medill, was part of the McCormick family of businessmen and politicians in Chicago. After working for some time and becoming part owner of the Chicago Tribune, which his maternal grandfather had owned, he entered politics.
After serving in the State House, he was elected both as a Representative in the United States Congress and later as a US Senator from Illinois. He committed suicide at age 47, a few months after losing his bid for renomination for a second term in the senate.

Charles S. Deneen

Charles Samuel Deneen (May 4, 1863 – February 5, 1940) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Illinois, from 1905 to 1913. He was the first Illinois governor to serve two consecutive terms totalling eight years. Notably, he was governor during the infamous Springfield race riot of 1908, which he helped put down. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois, from 1925 to 1931. Deneen had previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1892. As an attorney, he had been the lead prosecutor in Chicago's infamous Adolph Luetgert murder trial.

James M. Slattery

James Michael Slattery (July 29, 1878 – August 28, 1948) was a United States Senator from Illinois.
Born in Chicago, he attended parochial schools and St. Ignatius College (now known as Loyola University Chicago). He was employed as a secretary with the building departments of the city of Chicago in 1905, and graduated from Illinois College of Law at Chicago in 1908. He was admitted to the bar that year and commenced practice in Chicago, and was a member of the Illinois College of Law faculty from 1909 to 1912. He was superintendent of public service of Cook County, Illinois from 1910 to 1912 and was secretary of Webster College of Law in Chicago from 1912 to 1914. He was counsel for the Lincoln Park Commission in 1933 and 1934 and for the Chicago Park District, 1934 to 1936. He was chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission from 1936 to 1939, and was appointed on April 14, 1939 as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Hamilton Lewis and served from April 14, 1939, to November 21, 1940, when a duly elected successor qualified. Slattery was an unsuccessful candidate for election to fill the vacancy, and resumed the practice of law in Chicago. He died at his summer home at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and was interred in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois.

Charles W. Brooks

Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1940 to 1949.Born in West Bureau, Illinois, Brooks served in the Marines during World War I as a first lieutenant from 1917 to 1919; while in combat he was wounded several times.
Brooks ran for Governor of Illinois in 1936 but was defeated by incumbent Democrat Henry Horner. He was elected by a very narrow margin in 1940 to fill the senate vacancy caused by the death of J. Hamilton Lewis. Brooks was reelected in 1942, but was defeated in 1948 by Democrat Paul Douglas.
Brooks returned to Chicago and died at age 59 at Passavant Hospital in early 1957, after a massive heart attack.

Paul Douglas

Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senate career, he was a prominent member of the liberal coalition.Born in Massachusetts and raised in Maine, Douglas graduated from Bowdoin College and Columbia University. He served as a professor of economics at several schools, most notably the University of Chicago, and earned a reputation as a reformer while a member of the Chicago City Council (1939–1942). During World War II, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel and becoming known as a war hero.
He was married to Emily Taft Douglas, a U.S. Representative from Illinois's At-large district (1945–1947).

Charles H. Percy

Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy (September 27, 1919 – September 17, 2011) was an American businessman and politician. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964. In 1966, he was elected to the United States Senate from Illinois as a Republican; he served for three terms (18 years) until 1985, when he was defeated by Paul Simon. He was mentioned as a GOP presidential hopeful from 1968 through 1988. During his Senate career, Percy concentrated on business and foreign relations.One of his twin daughters, Valerie Percy, was murdered at age 21 in her bedroom in the family home in Kenilworth, Illinois, near Chicago, during his senatorial campaign in 1966. The murder was never solved.

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Simon's musical career has spanned seven decades with his fame and commercial success beginning as half of the duo Simon & Garfunkel (originally known as Tom & Jerry), formed in 1956 with Art Garfunkel. Simon was responsible for writing nearly all of the pair's songs including three that reached number one on the U.S. singles charts: "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge over Troubled Water".The duo split up in 1970 at the height of their popularity, and Simon began a successful solo career, recording three acclaimed albums over the next five years. In 1986, he released Graceland, an album inspired by South African township music, which sold 14 million copies worldwide on its release and remains his most popular solo work. Simon also wrote and starred in the film One-Trick Pony (1980) and co-wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman (1998) with the poet Derek Walcott. On June 3, 2016, Simon released his 13th solo album, Stranger to Stranger, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Chart and the UK charts.
Simon has earned sixteen Grammys for his solo and collaborative work, including three for Album of the Year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years, and Graceland), and a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time. In 2011, Rolling Stone named Simon one of the 100 greatest guitarists. In 2015, he was named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time by Rolling Stone. Among many other honors, Simon was the first recipient of the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007. In 1986, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees.

Dick Durbin

Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Illinois, a seat he was first elected to in 1996. He has been the Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, the second-highest position in the Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate.
Durbin was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. He graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Georgetown University Law Center. Working in state legal counsel throughout the 1970s, he made an unsuccessful run for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1978. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1982, representing the Springfield-based 20th congressional district. In 1996, he won election to the U.S. Senate by an unexpected 15-point margin. He has served as Senate Democratic Whip since 2005, and for a period of eight years (2007–2015) served as the Senate Majority Whip. He is currently dean of the Illinois congressional delegation, as he has served in Congress since 1983 as a U.S. Representative from Illinois 20th Congressional District, and from 1997 as a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
Durbin now serves as the Senate Minority Whip following the 2014 midterm elections, where the Republicans gained a majority in the U.S. Senate and when he won reelection, defeating Republican Jim Oberweis, by a margin of 53.55% to 42.69%.

Ninian Edwards

Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775 – July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830. In a time and place where personal coalitions were more influential than parties, Edwards led one of the two main factions in frontier Illinois politics.Born in Maryland, Edwards began his political career in Kentucky, where he served as a legislator and judge. He rose to the position of Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1808, at the time Kentucky's highest court. In 1809, U.S. President James Madison appointed him to govern the newly created Illinois Territory. He held that post for three terms, overseeing the territory's transition first to democratic "second grade" government, and then to statehood in 1818.  On its second day in session, the Illinois General Assembly elected Edwards to the U.S. Senate, where conflict with rivals damaged him politically.Edwards won an unlikely 1826 election to become Governor of Illinois. Conflict with the legislature over state bank regulations marked Edwards' administration, as did the pursuit of Indian removal. As governor or territorial governor he twice sent Illinois militia against Native Americans, in the War of 1812 and the Winnebago War, and signed treaties for the cession of Native American land. Edwards returned to private life when his term ended in 1830 and died of cholera two years later.

Elias Kane

Elias Kent Kane (June 7, 1794 – December 12, 1835) was the first Illinois Secretary of State and one of the first U.S. Senators from Illinois.

William Lee D. Ewing

William Lee Davidson Ewing (August 31, 1795 – March 25, 1846) was a politician from Illinois who served partial terms as the fifth governor of the state and as U.S. Senator.
Ewing was born in Paris, Kentucky and practiced law in Shawneetown, Illinois.  James Monroe appointed him to be a land office receiver in Vandalia in 1820.  He served as a Colonel of the "Spy Battalion" during the Black Hawk War.  In 1830, he was elected to serve in the state House of Representatives as Speaker.  He had previously been the clerk of the House.  From 1832 to 1834, he was a State Senator, serving as President pro tempore of the State Senate in 1832.  In 1833, he was also named acting Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and served as Governor of Illinois for fourteen days in 1834, the shortest gubernatorial term in Illinois history.
Upon the death of Elias Kane in 1835, Ewing was appointed by Joseph Duncan to serve out the rest of Kane's term in the U.S. Senate. In 1838 he was appointed Commissioner to adjust the claims of mixed-bloods and traders at Fort Snelling for the Dakota under the 1837 Dakota treaty. His re-election campaign was unsuccessful and he returned to the Illinois State House, becoming Speaker of the House again.  He died in Springfield, Illinois.

List of Illinois senators, with plenty of pictures and photos. List includes IL senators and all past United States senators of Illinois. Since the founding ...

Lists about the beloved American adaptation of the BBC workplace comedy series "The Office," which ran on NBC from March 2005 until May 2013.

Dunder Mifflin, This Is Pam

Character Costumes

After ranking the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-the-office-halloween-episodes/ranker-tv" target="_blank">funniest Halloween episodes</a>, it&#39;s time to rank the best The Office&nbsp;Halloween costumes. If you&#39;re looking for Halloween costume ideas, check out this full list of all the costumes on The Office. Season 7&#39;s &quot;Costume Contest&quot; featured Gabe as Lady Gaga, Ryan as Justin Bieber, and Jim finally dressing up as Popeye. No Dunder Mifflin Halloween party is complete without insensitive and offensive costumes, like Creed as Osama Bin Laden or Michael Scott as the infamous &quot;D*ck in a Box&quot; character from Saturday Night Live. What are your favorite Halloween costumes from The Office?

Vote up the best Halloween costumes <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/behind-the-scenes-stories-from-the-office/zack-howe?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">from The Office</a>, and vote down the ones who clearly didn&#39;t try. (We&#39;re looking at you, Jim.)