Neil Hartigan

Neil Hartigan
Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District
In office December 2, 2002 – June 1, 2004
Preceded by	Robert Chapman Buckley
Succeeded by	P. Scott Neville Jr.
38th Attorney General of Illinois
In office January 12, 1983 – January 14, 1991
Governor	James R. Thompson
Preceded by	Tyrone Fahner
Succeeded by	Roland Burris
40th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office January 8, 1973 – January 10, 1977
Governor	Daniel Walker
Preceded by	Paul Simon
Succeeded by	Dave O'Neal
Personal details
Born	(1938-05-04) May 4, 1938 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Marge Dunne ​ ​ (m. 1966; died 2003)​
Education	Georgetown University (B.S.) Loyola University (J.D.)

Neil F. Hartigan (born May 4, 1938) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Illinois and the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Hartigan was elected Lieutenant Governor alongside Dan Walker in the 1972 gubernatorial election. Although he won renomination for a second term, Hartigan and Micheal Howlett lost the 1976 general election. After returning to private law practice, Hartigan was elected attorney general in 1982. He went on to be reelected in 1987.

Hartigan was also the Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1990, but he lost the close race to Republican Jim Edgar. In 2002, Hartigan became a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court. He retired in 2004.

Early life and education

Hartigan grew up in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, in an Irish Catholic family. His father, David L. Hartigan, was involved in local Democratic politics. He worked for the city and went on to be appointed City Treasurer of Chicago by Mayor Martin H. Kennelly. David Hartigan served from 1954 until 1955, not choosing to run for election to the office. However, he went on to be twice elected Alderman of the 49th Ward, later dying in office.

The younger Hartigan graduated from Loyola Academy and attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he befriended future Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Hartigan graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor's degree. He later received a juris doctor degree from Loyola University College of Law in 1966.

Early political career

Upon completion of law school, Hartigan worked for the City of Chicago as the assistant to Mayor Richard J. Daley. He eventually became Daley's deputy mayor. In addition, Hartigan managed Daley's successful reelection campaigns in 1967 and 1971. As deputy mayor and his assistant, Hartigan oversaw several city functions on Daley's behalf. Following Mayor Richard J. Daley's health struggles and subsequent death in 1976, Hartigan was named as a possible successor to the mayoralty.

He also served as the city's legislative counsel in Springfield, the state's capitol. Working within local government, Hartigan was the attorney for the Chicago Board of Health and the general counsel for the Chicago Park District.

In his first race for political office, Hartigan was elected the Democratic Committeeman for the 49th ward in 1968. He served in this position until stepping down in 1980. Hartigan was also a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As one of the delegates from Illinois, his vote went to Hubert Humphrey, who won the party's presidential nomination.

Lt. Governor & Attorney General

In 1971, then-lieutenant governor Paul Simon asked Hartigan to be his running mate in the next year's gubernatorial election. During the Democratic primary election, Hartigan won the lieutenant governor nomination, but Simon lost in an upset to political outsider Dan Walker. Hartigan and Walker were elected on the same ticket in the 1972 general election, defeating the incumbent Republican governor Richard B. Ogilvie and his running mate Jim Nowlan.

At the time of his inauguration, Hartigan was the youngest lieutenant governor in the nation. Time magazine also named Hartigan in 1973 as one of the future 200 leaders of the country. His first official state duty was attending the Second Inauguration of Richard Nixon in January 1973. Hartigan's most notable accomplishment as lieutenant governor was establishing a statewide Department of Aging, which was made to run Illinois's government programs for the elderly.

He ran for reelection as lieutenant governor in the 1976 Illinois gubernatorial election. Governor Walker lost the primary to Secretary of State Michael Howlett. Hartigan easily won renomination, but the Democratic team of Howlett and Hartigan lost handily to James R. Thompson and Dave O'Neal in the general election.

Following his defeat, he left public life for the business world. After working as a banker for 5 years, Hartigan returned to politics to run for Attorney General of Illinois in the 1982 election. He won the election and was inaugurated in 1983, becoming in charge of all the state's legal prosecution. As attorney general, Hartigan focused on consumer protection and stricter controls on hazardous waste. While in office, he served as chairman of the consumer protection committee of the National Association of Attorneys General. Hartigan was reelected in 1987 by a wide margin.

Hartigan briefly sought the governorship in 1986, but dropped out when former U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson III entered the Democratic primary.

During the 1984 presidential campaign, he endorsed Democratic candidate Walter Mondale at a press conference. Hartigan also was a speaker at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Later, he campaigned alongside Micheal Dukakis for the 1988 presidential election.

Hartigan was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1990. He lost in a close contest against Secertary of State Jim Edgar. Some observers attributed his narrow loss to his slight underperformance in Chicago and his shift toward conservativism from his previously staunchly liberal stances.

Court Positions

After leaving office, Hartigan served as Chairman of World Trade Center Illinois.

In 2002, he won election to the Illinois Appellate Court from the First District, which is composed of Cook County, Illinois, to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Robert Chapman Buckley.

After two years, Hartigan chose to retire voluntarily from the bench. Hartigan's retirement date was June 1, 2004. He was succeeded by P. Scott Neville Jr.

Hartigan endorsed Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, serving on her Illinois Steering Committee.

On March 22, 2013, Governor Pat Quinn appointed Hartigan to the Illinois Court of Claims for a term starting March 18, 2013 and ending January 21, 2019. Hartigan was confirmed by the Illinois Senate on May 2, 2013. He succeed Norma F. Jann.

External links

• 1973–1974 Illinois Blue Book
• 1975–1976 Illinois Blue Book p36