Dan Rostenkowski
Daniel David Rostenkowski was an American politician and convicted felon, most known for his 36 year tenure as a U.S. Representative, from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Congress, especially in matters of taxation. He was imprisoned in 1996. A Democrat and son of a Chicago alderman, Rostenkowski was for many years Democratic Committeeman of Chicago's 32nd Ward, retaining this position while also serving in Congress.
In national politics, he rose by virtue of seniority to the rank of Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in 1981. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he played a critical role in formulating tax policy during the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan, including the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, which cut the top federal bracket to 50%, and the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which further lowered it to 28% and reduced the number of brackets to only two. He was also involved in trade policy, as well as reforms of the welfare system, health care, and Social Security programs.
Rostenkowski closed legislative deals between the toughest power brokers in the U.S., from union chiefs to corporate titans to president Reagan and to everyone in between. The book Chicago and the American Century credits Rostenkowski with securing billions of dollars in federal money for projects in Chicago and Illinois. The book named him the sixth most significant politician to come from Chicago in the entire twentieth century.
Rostenkowski's political career, however, ended abruptly in 1994 when he was indicted on corruption charges relating to his role in the Congressional Post Office Scandal, and then narrowly defeated for reelection by Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan. He subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud in 1996 and was fined and sentenced to 17 months in prison. In December 2000, President Bill Clinton pardoned Rostenkowski, who had already served-out his sentence.
Early life and political beginnings
Rostenkowski was born on January 2, 1928, into a political family in Chicago to Joseph P. and Priscilla Rostenkowski. His grandfather Piotr had immigrated from the region of Tuchola, Poland. His father, Joe, locally known as "Big Joe Rusty", served as alderman and committeeman of the predominantly Polish 32nd Ward in what was then known as "Polish Downtown" for 24 years. As a child, Dan and his two sisters, Marcie and Gladys, often saw their family home double as a meeting place for precinct captains who, like Walter Kmiec from his father's ward organization, would later assist him in bringing in the vote in 1960 for John Kennedy.The Rostenkowski home was on the second floor of 1349 North Noble Street in Chicago, above the tavern owned by Priscilla and adjacent to the alderman's insurance agency and the headquarters of the regular Democratic 32nd ward organization. Near dawn on August 6, 1938, Joe heard shots. Two top precinct captains for the alderman were shot multiple times as they slept in a car parked in front of the Rostenkowski home. Joe took his family to the Rostenkowski summer home in Genoa City, Wisconsin. The killers were never caught.
In 1941, at the age of 13, Rostenkowski accompanied his father to Washington to witness the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his third term. In 1955 his father lost his aldermanic seat after supporting then-County Clerk Richard J. Daley for Mayor over a fellow Polish leader named Ben Adamowski.
Following his graduation from St. Stanislaus Kostka grammar school, Rostenkowski attended St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, where he earned letters in baseball, football, basketball and track. After graduating from St. John's in 1946, he enlisted in the United States Army and served for two years as a private with the Seventh Infantry Division in Korea. In 1949 he tried out for the Philadelphia Athletics, but his father convinced him to give up his dream and come home, as his mother was losing a battle with cancer. After her death, he enrolled at Loyola University in Chicago.
Illinois General Assembly
In 1952, while still a student at Loyola, the twenty-four-year-old Rostenkowski was elected as one of three legislators from the 27th district to the Illinois House of Representatives. He was its youngest member. As a state lawmaker, Rostenkowski worked on the planning and financing of a major federal highway from downtown Chicago to the new O'Hare International Airport. Like Daley and many other Chicago politicians before him, serving in Springfield was often viewed as a first step to a higher office in Chicago. The perception of the state legislature as training ground went hand in hand with another idea, that Chicago, not Springfield or Washington constituted the most desirable locus of political life. After two years in the House, he was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1954. In 1957 he pushed a bill to extend state funded free polio vaccines to children as well as a bill that would have provided bonuses of up to $555 for Korean War veterans – financed by a one-cent cigarette tax. It passed, but was later rejected by Illinois voters in a 1958 referendum. While serving his second term in the Senate, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley suggested that he run for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, instead, Rostenkowski pushed for and received Daley's support to run for the United States Congress.Connecting with the Kennedys
As a young and outgoing urban Democrat, new to Washington, Rostenkowski quickly found mentors and made friends with other Democrats. His relationship with Massachusetts Reps. Edward Boland and Torbert Macdonald as well as John F. Kennedy aides Larry O'Brien and Kenny O'Donnell led to his involvement in JFK's run for the White House. In 1960 at the request of the Kennedy campaign he gave speeches in southern states for Kennedy. Chicago voters turned out in a large majority for Kennedy.On September 26, 1960, Rostenkowski witnessed what many consider the turning point in Kennedy's battle with Richard Nixon. Kennedy invited Rostenkowski to the CBS studios in downtown Chicago to view in person the first ever televised Presidential debate. Unaware of the two candidates' stark differences on camera, Rostenkowski later said "I was under the impression that Kennedy lost the debate."
In the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination Rostenkowski was one of a small group who made regular visits to Jacqueline Kennedy's home in Georgetown. "On a regular basis Kenny O'Donnell would get three or four of us from Capitol Hill, who worked with Jack Kennedy, together at Jackie's house. We would sit around Jackie's living room with Bobby Kennedy, eat sandwiches, have some drinks and tell war stories. Jackie would laugh so hard her side would hurt sometimes.
Early years, U.S. Congress
In his first decade in Congress, Rostenkowski gradually attained a position of influence in the House. In his freshman term he secured a position on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. After the death of Illinois congressional delegation leader Thomas J. O'Brien in 1964, Rostenkowski inherited O'Brien's seat on the Ways and Means Committee. In 1966 and again in 1968, he was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "His rough edges, Chicago syntax, and intimidating bulk made him a stereotype of Chicago machine Democrats who the Washington media enjoyed portraying as mere stooges of mayor Richard J. Daley".During his early years in congress, Rostenkowski's record was typical of a northern Democrat with close ties to a powerful big city political organization. He made sure that Chicago received its full share of funds under programs like the Law Enforcement Assistance Act. And in the face of white backlash from his district, he supported civil rights legislation and the various social welfare programs that made up President Lyndon B. Johnson's war on poverty. He also argued in favor of federal funding of inner-city renewal projects and urban mass transit networks. By 1967, Daley often looked to Rostenkowski as Chicago's chief liaison in Washington, and counted on him to deliver federal funds.
Rostenkowski supported the American effort in Vietnam until 1971, when he joined anti-war Congressmen in an attempt to force a quick withdrawal of American troops by voting against certain military appropriation bills.
A great admirer of Lyndon Johnson, he was tapped by the President to second the nomination of Hubert Humphrey as his vice president at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Four years later, at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Johnson would again ask Rostenkowski to take the podium, but this time the results proved costly to the young congressman's future in Washington.
1968 Democratic National Convention
Met by anti-war protesters, racial unrest, and rioting on the streets, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, held at the International Amphitheatre, proved an international embarrassment for the city. House Majority Leader Carl Albert, the convention chairman, and Rostenkowski's boss, was unable to control the rowdy behavior of the delegates inside the hall. Rostenkowski happened to be manning the phones on the podium when a furious Lyndon Johnson called from his Texas ranch and ordered him to take over the gavel to quiet the proceedings on the convention floor. Rostenkowski did, and an embarrassed Albert never forgave him.Two years later, Rostenkowski was running for a third term as chairman of the Democratic Caucus and did not expect any opposition. But to his surprise, the Texas delegation nominated their colleague, Olin Teague, a popular war hero and Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Even though Teague announced that he was not a candidate, they elected him anyway, 155 to 91. "I got defeated by Tiger Teague, who voted for me", exclaimed Rostenkowski. "I saw him vote for me." The liberal Democrats voted against Rostenkowski because of his ties to Mayor Daley, who was a pariah because of the 1968 convention and many of Albert's friends voted against him because of the feud.