Samuel H. Shapiro

Samuel Harvey Shapiro (born Israel Shapiro; April 25, 1907 – March 16, 1987) was the 34th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1968 to 1969. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Samuel H. Shapiro
34th Governor of Illinois
In office
May 21, 1968  January 13, 1969
LieutenantVacant
Preceded byOtto Kerner Jr.
Succeeded byRichard B. Ogilvie
38th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office
January 9, 1961  May 21, 1968
GovernorOtto Kerner Jr.
Preceded byJohn William Chapman
Succeeded byPaul M. Simon (1969)
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office
1947–1961
Personal details
Born
Israel Shapiro

April 25, 1907
Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire
DiedMarch 16, 1987 (aged 79)
Kankakee, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
ProfessionAttorney
ReligionJudaism

Life and career

Born in 1907 in the Governorate of Estonia of the Russian Empire, he emigrated to the United States at an early age. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law. As a lawyer, Shapiro practiced in Kankakee, Illinois. Turning to public service, he was elected state's attorney (county prosecutor) of Kankakee County in 1936. From 1947–61 he served in the Illinois State House of Representatives, where he took a special interest in mental health issues.[1]

Shapiro was elected the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1960 and again in 1964, and took office as governor when the previous governor Otto Kerner, Jr. resigned to accept appointment to the federal appellate court. Shapiro thus became the second Jewish governor of Illinois (Henry Horner being the first). Illinois thereby became the first state to have had two Jewish governors; New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have each since elected at least a second governor of the faith.

Upon becoming governor, Shapiro ran at once for a full term of his own, but was narrowly defeated by Republican Richard B. Ogilvie in the 1968 election. He then returned to private life, although he was called upon several times to serve on special commissions, the most significant of which was a commission to redraw state electoral boundaries in 1981.

Shapiro was an alumnus of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. From 1984 until his death, he led the effort to establish a permanent headquarters for the fraternity's national offices. As a result, Alpha Epsilon Pi's International Headquarters is dedicated in his honor.

Shapiro continued to work as an attorney; his death was discovered when he failed to appear in court for a client and police were sent to his home in Kankakee to investigate. He is buried in Jewish Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. The state renamed the Kankakee Mental Health Center in his honor.

See also

References

  • This article incorporates facts obtained from: Lawrence Kestenbaum, The Political Graveyard
Party political offices
Preceded by
Otto Kerner Jr.
Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois
1968
Succeeded by
Dan Walker
Political offices
Preceded by
John William Chapman
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
1961–1968
Succeeded by
Paul M. Simon
Preceded by
Otto Kerner, Jr.
Governor of Illinois
1968–1969
Succeeded by
Richard B. Ogilvie
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