Dan Walker (politician)
Daniel J. Walker (August 6, 1922 – April 29, 2015) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician from Illinois. A member of the Democratic party, he served as the 36th governor of Illinois, from 1973 until 1977. Born in Washington, D.C., Walker was raised in San Diego, before serving in the Navy as an enlisted man and officer during World War II and the Korean War. He moved to Illinois between the wars to attend Northwestern University School of Law, entering politics in the state during the 1960s.
Dan Walker
August 6, 1922
Washington, D.C., U.S.
April 29, 2015 (aged 92)
Chula Vista, California, U.S.
8
1940–1941
1945–1947
1951
Walker was perhaps best known for walking the state of Illinois in 1971 during his candidacy for governor and for being an outsider to Illinois' machine politics. Running against the machine's candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, Walker scored a rare upset in the March 1972 primary election. He went on that year to defeat the Republican incumbent, but lost his own bid for re-election in 1976. His post political career was marked by high living, but marred by a guilty plea to bank fraud and perjury at the peak of the late 1980s savings and loan crisis.[3][4] After a year and a half in federal prison, Walker retired to the San Diego metro area and wrote several books before he died in 2015.
Later life and death[edit]
After his release from prison in 1989, Walker moved to San Diego. He found work as a paralegal.[6] Walker also began writing. In 2003, it was reported that he was writing for six hours a day and had several writing projects in the works, including a cookbook for couples.[6] By 2007, he had written several books[6] and published at least three. In January 2001, Walker requested a pardon from outgoing President Bill Clinton, but his request was not granted.[25] In 2007, he published The Maverick and the Machine, in which he discussed his political career, his experiences in prison, and his business and law troubles. Of the latter, he wrote "I knew this was against regulations, but, like most businessmen, I saw a huge difference between a law and a regulation." After his plea deal was reached in 1987, Walker stated, "I have broken the law and pleaded guilty, I have deep regrets and no excuses."[26] Walker died on April 29, 2015, at a veterans hospital in Chula Vista, California, from heart failure, aged 92.[2][27]
Personal life[edit]
Walker was married in 1947 to Roberta Dowse, a Catholic school teacher from Kenosha, Wisconsin. They had seven children, three boys—Daniel Jr., Charles, and William—and four girls, Kathleen, Julie, Roberta, and Margaret. They were divorced in 1977 after 30 years of marriage, when he left her for another woman. Walker later admitted that the breakdown of the marriage and the divorce was primarily his fault, caused by his stubbornness, arrogance, and lust, and apologized for the pain it caused his family.[28] He also called the divorce the worst decision of his life.[29] Roberta Dowse-Walker, the former First Lady of Illinois, died in December 2006 from colon cancer.[30] Walker later married Roberta Nelson, who was 14 years his junior, and was divorced in 1989 while he was in prison. In 2007 he resided in Escondido, California, with his third wife, Lillian Stewart. In 2007, they adopted a son.[31] As of 2007, he resided in Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico.[31]