Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Michael Bakalis
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Illinois Statecraft – Jim Thompson Oral History project
Interview # IST-A-L-2014-014
Michael Bakalis, the Democratic candidate for Illinois’s governor in 1978, running against Jim Thompson, was interviewed on the dates listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Illinois Statecraft-Jim Thompson Oral History project.
Interview dates & location:
Date: May 19, 2014 Location: Mike Bakalis’s office in Chicago, Illinois
Date: June 10, 2014 Location: Mike Bakalis’s office in Chicago, Illinois
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Mark R. DePue, Director of Oral History, ALPL
Transcription by: Audio Transcription Center, Boston, MA
Edited by: Janice Culp, ALPL Volunteer
Total Pages: 102 pgs. Total Time: 2:25 + 2:15 / 2.42 + 2.25 = 4.57 hrs
Session 1: Early years and experiences as Illinois’s superintendent of schools
Session 2: 1978 gubernatorial campaign against Jim Thompson
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library archives on September 25, 2014.
The interviews are archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2014 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Michael Bakalis, Illinois Statecraft, IST-A-L-2014-014
Biographical Information Overview of Interview: Michael Bakalis was born on March 23, 1938 in Berwyn, Illinois and grew up in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, the son of a hard-working Greek immigrant family. He attended public schools and then attended Northwestern University from 1955-1959 before his first teaching jobs in Northbrook, Illinois, and Evanston Township High School. He also began a doctoral program at this time and by 1965 was an assistant professor for the History Department at Northern Illinois University. While there, he began the Democratic Club of DeKalb County and soon was meeting some of the state’s most influential Democrats, including Mayor Richard J. Daley.
In 1970 the Democratic Party Central Committee slated Bakalis to run for the state-wide position of superintendent of public education, and after a spirited campaign, he won and served a four-year term. In 1976 the party slated him to run for the state comptroller, a position he previously had little interest in, but won in a strong Democratic year. One year later he was chosen by the party leaders to run for governor in 1978 against “Big” Jim Thompson, who had become governor in January 1977. Once again, Bakalis ran hard, touring the state, but was handicapped by running against a popular governor who had served only one year in office and who himself was a superb campaigner. Bakalis ran as a fiscal conservative and social moderate but struggled to gain traction in a year that was more about image than issues. Bakalis pulled only 40 percent of the vote against Thompson’s 59 percent. Following this, Bakalis returned to a very successful career in education, and at the time of the interview was president of American Quality Schools Corp., a charter schools’ organization.
Subject Headings/Key Words: Illinois gubernatorial election of 1978; Governor Jim Thompson; Illinois superintendent of public education; Mayor Richard J. Daley; Democratic Party’s slating process; teacher’s unions in Illinois; desegregation in Illinois; Paul Simon; Illinois state comptroller; white flight to suburbs; American Quality Schools Corporation
Note to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
The following material can be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes without the written permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. “Fair use” criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed. These materials are not to be deposited in other repositories, nor used for resale or commercial purposes without the authorization from the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 112 N. 6th Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701. Telephone (217) 785-7955