Dick Lockhart began a long career in lobbying and journalism in the mid 1950s, starting his own lobbying firm, Social Engineering Associates, in 1958. Lockhart focused his energies on smaller clients, in particular, the Mental Health Association of IL, and later the IL Press Association, public sector unions, and many others. With over fifty years of lobbying in Springfield, Lockhart has helped to shape scores of pieces of legislation, and worked with all of the state's top legislators.
Interview Links
Feature Excerpt
Blagojevich
Abstract
Interview Session 01 (Audio)
Early career as a lobbyist in Springfield
Interview Session 02 (Audio)
Lobbying career from 1968 through 1990
Interview Session 03 (Audio)
Lobbying during Gov. Edgar, Ryan and Blagojevich administrations
Transcript
Related Materials
See also
Dick Lockhart's Veterans Remember-WW II interview, where he discusses his experiences in the infantry, and his POW memories after being captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge
Photos
Caption
Members of the Austin Citizens Council, League of Women Voters, and Citizens of Greater Chicago plan a Candidates’ meeting for the primary. L-R are Jim O’Malley, Mrs. Norton, and Dick; Morris Wexler, Mrs. Ryan, Mrs. Lindsay, and Mrs. Altschuler.
Where:
Unknown
When:
March 1954
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
In spring of 1962, Richard Lockhart talks about politics on his show, Metropolitan Report on WTTW, with the Rev. Arthur M. Brazier (president of the Temporary Woodlawn Organization).
Where:
When:
In spring of 1962
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Picture of Richard Lockhart on the phone at the State Capitol, featured in the Chicago Sun-Times article “Springfield’s game of one on one”.
Where:
State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois
When:
Sunday May 21, 1978
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Dick Lockhart relaxes at his home in Chicago, circa 1990s.
Where:
Chicago, Illinois
When:
Circa 1990s
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Lobbyist Dick Lockhart is flanked by the Illinois’s Senate Democratic leaders on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as a lobbyist in 2008. On the left is Majority Caucus Whip John Cullerton, with Senate President Emil Jones on the right.
Where:
Springfield’s Sangamo Club
When:
March 8, 2008
Ownership:
Linda Brookhart’s personal photos, donated to the ALPL Oral History Program.
Caption
Dick Lockhart with Speaker of the Illinois House Mike Madigan. Lockhart boasted that he was one of the few people in the legislature that had been around longer than Madigan.
Where:
Springfield’s Sangamo Club
When:
March 8, 2008
Ownership:
Linda Brookhart’s personal photos, donated to the ALPL Oral History Program.
Caption
Representative Kenneth Dunkin (Democrat-Chicago) with Dick Lockhart at Lockhart’s 50th Anniversary function in Springfield’s Sangamo Club on March 8, 2008.
Where:
Springfield’s Sangamo Club
When:
March 8, 2008
Ownership:
Unknown
Caption
Representative Joseph Lyons (Democrat-Chicago) congratulates Dick Lockhart on his 50 years as a lobbyist at Lockhart’s party at the Sangamo Club in Springfield in 2008.
Where:
Sangamo Club in Springfield
When:
March 8, 2008
Ownership:
Linda Brookhart’s personal photos, donated to the ALPL Oral History Program.
Caption
Dick Lockhart stands with Bernie Schoenburg, the Springfield State Journal-Register’s longtime Statehouse reporter, at the occasion of Lockhart’s 50th anniversary as a lobbyist in 2008.
Where:
Sangamo Club in Springfield
When:
March 8, 2008
Ownership:
Linda Brookhart’s personal photos, donated to the ALPL Oral History Program.
Caption
Dick Lockhart takes a moment to review some documents on the steps in the state Capitol.
Where:
State Capital, Springfield, Illinois
When:
Unknown
Ownership:
Unknown