Michael Anthony Bilandic (February 13, 1923January 15, 2002) was an American Democratic politician, judge, and attorney who served as the 49th mayor of Chicago from 1976 to 1979, after the death of his predecessor,

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 from 1953, until his death. He has been called "the last of ...

. Bilandic practiced law in Chicago for several years, having graduated from the

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

. Bilandic served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...

, representing the eleventh ward on the south-west side (

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

neighborhood) from June 1969 until he began his tenure as mayor in December 1976. After his mayoralty, Bilandic served on the

Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts. In Illinois, litigants generally have a right to first appeal from final decisions or judgements of the circuit court ...

from 1984 until being elected to the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

in 1990. He served on the state supreme court until 2000, and was the court’s chief Justice from 1994 to 1997.

Early life and career

Bilandic was born in Chicago to Croatian immigrant parents. His father Mate "Matthew" Bilandžić was from Krušvar in

Dalmatian Hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland () is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name means 'beyond (the) hills', which is a reference to the fact that it is the part of Dalmatia that is not coastal and the existe ...

, and his mother Milka "Minnie" Bilandžić, née Lebedina from

Bobovišća Bobovišća is a village near Milna on the west coast of the island of Brač in Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borde ...

on the island of

Brač Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide.De La Salle High School and graduated in 1940. Bilandic joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1943, serving as first lieutenant until 1945. After his time in the Marine Corps, Bilandic returned to school; receiving his bachelor's degree from St. Mary's University of Minnesota in 1947. After college, Bilandic returned to Chicago and became involved in political work. Bilandic began working in the city's eleventh ward was asked by then–committeeman Richard J. Daley to aid the Democratic party in 1948. In 1951, Bilandic later received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from

Chicago City Council (1969–1977)

Bilandic officially began his political career after being elected alderman of the city's eleventh ward in the 1969 election, succeeding Matthew J. Danaher and taking office on March 11, 1969.

Acting mayoralty (1976–77) and special election victory

After Mayor

died in office on December 20, 1976,

Wilson Frost Wilson Lee Frost (December 27, 1925 – May 5, 2018) was an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. For 20 years (1967–1987), Frost was a member of the Chicago City Council, and for twelve years (1986–1998) he was a member on the Cook Cou ...

argued that as president pro tempore of the City Council he had automatically become the

acting mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

. As such, he would have been the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve as mayor. However, much of the city council disputed Frost's claim. After nearly a week of closed-door negotiations, a compromise was struck among councilors in which the city council would vote to name Bilandic to serve as acting mayor for approximately six months until a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

could be held to choose a mayor filling out the remaining two years of Daley's unexpired term. This came with the agreed understanding that Bilandic would not run as a candidate in the special election.Slicing Daley's Pie – TIME
/ref> Other aspects of the compromise that resulted in Bilandic becoming mayor had included the council voting to name Frost the chairman of the council's powerful Finance Committee, a position with real power as opposed to the primarily ceremonial role of president pro tempore. This served to appease African American aldermen. The compromise also included satisfying the city's grouping of

Polish American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

aldermen by naming Casey Laskowski (a member of the council's Polish American bloc) to serve in the newly-created role of

vice mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

. The new vice mayor position was created in aims of clarifying the mayoral succession process in the future by creating a position that would be the first-in-line to serve as an interim successor in instances of mayoral vacancy. On December 28 (eight days after Daley's death), Bilandic was approved by the City Council to serve as acting mayor. No other candidates challenged him. While the vote was preceded by fiery debate,

Dick Simpson Richard Charles Simpson (born July 28, 1943) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder and center fielder. He played from 1962 to 1969 for the Los Angeles / California Angels, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astro ...

and Martin J. Oberman were ultimately the sole alderman to cast dissenting votes on Bilandic's appointment. At the same meeting that it appointed Bilandic, the council also voted for the other aspects of the compromise: naming Frost as chairman of the finance committee, Vrdolyak as president pro tempore, and Laskowski as vice mayor. Despite that he would not run in the special election, one mere week after becoming acting mayor Bilandic reneged on this promise and declared that he would be amenable to running if he was drafted to do so. Bilandic ultimately ran. Still enjoying a honeymoon period as acting mayor, he received a popular mandate to assume Daley's mantle. In the Democratic's

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

, he won 51.1% of the vote, handily defeating challengers Edward Hanrahan, Anthony Martin-Trigona,

Roman Pucinski Roman Conrad Pucinski (May 13, 1919 – September 25, 2002) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from 1959 to 1973 ...

, Ellis Reid and

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...

. In the June 7

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Bilandic was elected mayor with 77.4% of the vote, defeating Dennis H. Block (the Republican nominee), as well as Dennis Brasky (the Socialist Labor nominee) and Gerald Rose (the U.S. Labor nominee). Bilandic delivered his inaugural address and took office on June 22, 1977.

Mayoralty (1977–79)

While initially popular, Bilandic's term as mayor would prove to be short and difficult. A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

ranked Bilandic as the twenty-first-worst American big-city mayor to have served between the years 1820 and 1993.

Labor strikes

While he was mayor, Chicago faced several labor disputes including a gravediggers and cemetery owners'

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

and a threatened strike by members of

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

. The Chicago Butcher's Union worked to stop stores from selling fresh meat after 6 p.m., but Bilandic managed to work out a settlement. Bilandic also had to face social unrest in June 1977 when an FALN bomb exploded in City Hall and started a two-day riot among the Puerto Rican community. Bilandic oversaw the creation of

ChicagoFest ChicagoFest was a Chicago music festival established in 1978 by Mayor Michael Bilandic. It was a two-week event held annually at Navy Pier that featured sixteen separate stages, each sponsored by a national retail brand and a media sponsor compa ...

, a food and music festival held on

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...

. The

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

had its first running in 1977 and Bilandic participated, finishing with a time of 4 hours. A runner himself, Bilandic arranged to have five miles of unused equestrian paths along the lakefront converted to running paths.

Blizzard of 1979

During January 1979, a blizzard struck Chicago and effectively closed down the city, dropping a total of twenty-one inches of snow over a two-day period. The city's slow response to the debilitating storm was publicly blamed on Bilandic. Additionally, as part of attempts to deal with the storm, Bilandic ordered

Chicago 'L' Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los ...

trains to bypass many intermediate stops, particularly affecting black neighborhoods on the South Side of the city, and angering that large voter base.

Urban development

In November 1978, Bilandic unveiled a broad $7.4 billion five-year public works plan to reshape much of the city. These plans included the construction a new State of Illinois office building on the site occupied by shuttered

Sherman House Hotel The Sherman House (sometimes called, Hotel Sherman) was a hotel in Chicago, Illinois that operated from 1837 until 1973, with four iterations standing at the same site at the northwest corner of Randolph Street and Clark Street (Chicago), Clark S ...

. This would ultimately be realized with the construction of the

James R. Thompson Center The James R. Thompson Center (JRTC), under reconstruction as Google Center or Googleplex Chicago and originally the State of Illinois Center, is a postmodern-style building designed by architect Helmut Jahn, located at 100 W. Randolph Street in ...

1979 Democratic primary loss

Bilandic sought re-election in 1979, and was challenged in the Democratic primary by the former longtime city consumer affairs department head

Jane Byrne Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 50th mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April 29, 1983. Prior to her tenure as mayor, Byrne served as Chicago's commissioner of ...

, who Bilandic had fired in 1977. Bildanic's candidacy was dragged down by dissatisfaction with the city's handling of the recent snowstorm, as well as other issues. Many Republicans crossover voted in the Democratic primary against Bilandic in hopes of delivering a defeat to the Democratic machine that had dominated Chicago politics for decades. Byrne's challenge was also boosted by the endorsement of Reverend

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

. Additionally, many North Side and Northwest Side voters supported Byrne against Bildanic because they were angered by the Cook County Democratic leadership's slating of only South Side and Southwest Side candidates for the citywide offices (mayor, clerk, and treasurer) in its endorsements ahead of the primary. Bilandic very narrowly lost the primary, winning 49% to Byrne's 51%. Byrne went on to win the general election with a record-setting 82% of the vote, becoming Chicago's first female mayor.

Judicial career

Following his term as mayor, Bilandic was elected to the

in 1984, and then the

in 1990, where Bilandic served until 2000. From 1994 until 1996, Bilandic served as the Illinois chief justice.

Personal life and death

On June 1, 1977, Bilandic married Chicago

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

Heather Morgan in a ceremony officiated by Chicago's

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

John Cardinal Cody John Patrick Cody (December 24, 1907 – April 25, 1982) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Kansas City–Saint Joseph (1956–1961), Archbishop of New Orleans (1964–1965), and Archbishop of Chicago (1965–1982). He wa ...

. Bilandic and Morgan had a son,

Michael M. Bilandic Michael M. Bilandic is an American film director, writer and producer, best known for his gritty New York City based microbudget comedies ''Hellaware'', ''Jobe'z World'' and ''Project Space 13 '' (2021). He is a frequent collaborator of the direc ...

Jr., born in 1978. On January 15, 2002, Bilandic died from heart failure and was interred in St. Mary's Cemetery in Evergreen Park, Illinois.

References

Works cited

External links

First Inaugural Address
*
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of IllinoisStory of a Croat who became the mayor of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilandic, Michael A. 1923 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Illinois state court judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century mayors of places in Illinois American people of Croatian descent Catholics from Illinois Chicago City Council members Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois De La Salle Institute alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni Illinois Democrats Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Lawyers from Chicago Mayors of Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States Army officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II