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David Gilbert - Governor Jim Thompson Project

Dave Gilbert was a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1975 when Jim Thompson asked him to become his press secretary early in his first run for governor. Gilbert continued as Thompson's press secretary for the next ten years and three gubernatorial election campaigns, helping to craft the public face of one of Illinois's most colorful and popular governors. Gilbert discusses the 1982 gubernatorial campaign against Senator Adlai Stevenson III in detail, a race that was mired in allegations of vote fraud and was decided by the IL Supreme Court only a week before Gov. Thompson's inauguration.

Interview Links

Feature Excerpt

Thompson in Cardinals Country

Abstract

Interview Session 01 (Audio)

Early life and journalistic career with the Chicago Tribune

Interview Session 02 (Audio)

Jim Thompson’s 1976 gubernatorial campaign

Interview Session 03 (Audio)

First two years of the Thompson administration: 1977-1978

Interview Session 04 (Audio)

The election of 1978, and Thompson administration in 1979-1981

Interview Session 05 (Audio)

Thompson reelection campaign in 1982 and his administration thru 1985

Transcript

Related Materials

See also

The video clip to which Mark DePue referred to in session 4 of David Gilbert's interview, the Thompson years as rendered in a Gilbert and Sullivan spoof.


Photos

Caption
Dave Gilbert, while a Chicago Tribune Political Reporter, covered the re-election of U.S. Senator Charles Percy in 1972.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1972

Ownership:
Narrator’s photo



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