Paul Taylor Powell (January 21, 1902 – October 10, 1970) was an American
Democratic politician from
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, and
Illinois Secretary of State from 1965 until his death in 1970, after which he was discovered to have been corrupt and became known for his saying "There's only one thing worse than a defeated politician, and that's a broke one."
Political career
Involved in Illinois politics since the late 1930s,
Powell was the Speaker of the
Illinois House of Representatives from 1949 to 1950, and again from 1959 to 1963.
In 1959, Powell, a Democrat, was elected Speaker by a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and downstate Democrats against
Joseph De La Cour, the candidate of
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...
who had majority backing within the Chicago-dominated Democratic caucus.
Powell was elected
Illinois Secretary of State in 1964.
The following year, he was investigated by
grand jury for pushing legislation favorable to a
horse racing company that he obtained stock in, but nothing came of it.
payments made to the Secretary of State's office were made out to simply "Paul Powell". Unsuspecting Illinois residents thought they were writing personal checks for license plate registration.
Death, scandal and shoeboxes
Powell died on October 10, 1970, in
Rochester, Minnesota, as an outpatient of the
Mayo Clinic.
Powell's chief assistant Nicholas Ciaccio claimed to have found Powell's body, but it turned out later that Ciaccio had not been in Minnesota at the time; to the contrary, shortly afterwards, after hearing of Powell's death, Ciaccio was in Powell's Springfield office clearing out papers and other material.
Although Powell's government salary was never more than $30,000 a year, shoeboxes, briefcases and strongboxes with over $750,000 in cash were found in his hotel suite residence at the
St. Nicholas Hotel in
Springfield, Illinois within days of his death.
Another $50,000 was found in his office.
In his hotel room he also had 49 cases of
whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...
, 14
transistor radio
A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947—which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient ...
s, and two cases of
creamed corn.
When settled in 1978 his estate was worth $4.6 million, of which $1 million was racetrack stock
in seven Illinois racetracks.
A federal investigation determined that Powell had acquired much of his wealth through illegal cash bribes, which he received for giving noncompetitive state contracts to political associates. The State of Illinois received a $222,999 settlement from his estate; in addition, several state contractors were imprisoned for their roles in the affair.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Illinois State Library Heritage Project: Paul Powell– Office of the Illinois Secretary of State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Paul
1902 births
1970 deaths
20th-century American politicians
American people of Welsh descent
People from Vienna, Illinois
Political corruption in the United States
Secretaries of State of Illinois
Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives
Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives