Paul Simon (politician)

He was later redistricted to Illinois's 22nd congressional district.

Paul Martin Simon (November 29, 1928 – December 9, 2003) was an American author and politician from Illinois.

Simon was born in Eugene, Oregon on November 29, 1928.

He was the son of Martin Paul Simon, a Lutheran minister and missionary to China, and Ruth Lilly (née Tolzmann) Simon, a Lutheran missionary as well.

His family was of German descent.

Simon attended Concordia University, a Lutheran school in Portland.

He later attended the University of Oregon and Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but never graduated.

After meeting with local Lions Club members, he borrowed $3,600 to take over the defunct Troy Call newspaper in 1948, becoming the nation's youngest editor-publisher, of the renamed Troy Tribune in Troy, Illinois, and eventually built a chain of 14 weekly newspapers.

His activism against gambling, prostitution, and government corruption while at the Troy Tribune influenced the newly elected governor, Adlai Stevenson II, to take a stand on these issues, creating national exposure for Simon that later resulted in his testifying before the Kefauver Commission.

In May 1951, Simon left his newspaper and enlisted in the United States Army.

Simon served in West Germany during the Korean War.

Assigned to the Counterintelligence Corps, he attained the rank of private first class and was discharged in June 1953.

Upon his discharge, Simon was elected to and began his political career in the Illinois House of Representatives.

As a state representative, Simon was an advocate for civil rights, and once hosted an event attended by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

After a primary debate with two other candidates, a newspaper account of a debate stated "the man with the bowtie did well," and he adopted his trademark bowtie and horned glasses.

In 1963, Simon was elected to the Illinois State Senate, serving until 1969.

In the State Senate, Simon was part of a group of anti-machine liberal reformers called the "Kosher Nostra" that also included Anthony Scariano, Abner Mikva, and Robert E. Mann.

In 1968, Simon was elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

As a Democrat, he served with Republican Governor, Richard B. Ogilvie.

Their bipartisan teamwork produced the state's first income tax and paved the way for the state's 1969 constitutional convention, which created the fourth and current Illinois Constitution.

The Ogilvie-Simon administration was the only one in Illinois history in which the elected governor and lieutenant governor were from different political parties: The Illinois constitution now pairs the offices as running mates on a ticket.

In 1972, Simon ran for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Despite his longtime reputation as a political reformer, he was supported by the Cook County Democratic machine, led by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Nevertheless, Simon lost to Dan Walker, who went on to win the general election.

In the years between his gubernatorial defeat and political comeback, Simon taught at Sangamon State University, where he started the Public Affairs Reporting master's degree program, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Simon resumed his political career in 1974 when he was elected to Congress from Illinois's 24th congressional district, defeating former Harrisburg mayor Val Oshel.

He was re-elected four times.

He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and in the United States Senate from 1985 to 1997.

In 1978, Simon was the first recipient of the Foreign Language Advocacy Award, presented by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in recognition of his service on the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies and his support for language study.

According to the New York Times, Simon was never particularly popular with his House colleagues.

In 1984, he ran for, and was elected to the US Senate, defeating three-term incumbent Charles H. Percy in an upset election, winning 50% of the vote.

A member of the Democratic Party, he unsuccessfully ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.

After his political career, he founded the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Carbondale, Illinois, which was later named for him.

There he taught classes on politics, history and journalism.

Simon was famous for his distinctive bowtie and horn-rimmed glasses.

He won re-election to the U.S. Senate in 1990 by defeating U.S. Representative Lynn Morley Martin with 65%, compared to Martin's 35%.

While serving in the Senate, he co-authored an unsuccessful Balanced Budget Amendment with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Simon gained national prominence after criticizing President George H. W. Bush during the 1992 presidential campaign, after Bush claimed a central role in causing the collapse of the Eastern bloc of the Soviet Union.

During a speech at Chicago's Taste of Polonia, Bush had aggressively promoted the success of his own presidency and his importance as Vice President in the Reagan administration's role in Eastern Europe.

This was an attempt by Bush to carry Chicago's Polish community in order to win Illinois during the election.