The Maverick and the Machine

Governor Dan Walker Tells His Story

Dan Walker

cloth, 0-8093-2756-2, $29.95t
978-0-8093-2756-0
352 pages, 6 x 9, 30 illus.
Biography/Politics/Illinois

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Revealing the story behind the dramatic rise and fall of an Illinois governor

A reformer who was always colorful, provocative, and controversial, Dan Walker became a political maverick, winning two tough elections to become governor of Illinois. Having once sat at the pinnacle of power in Illinois as the state’s chief executive, Walker later found himself behind the bars of a federal prison following his conviction on charges of bank fraud.

The Maverick and the Machine tells the dramatic story of Walker’s rise from dirt-poor beginnings to successful trial lawyer, business executive, and governor of Illinois and then to the fall that sent him to prison. Disclosed for the first time are the circumstances that led to his guilty plea, felony conviction, and seven-year prison sentence.

This frank volume also probes the inner sanctum of the governorship. Walker outlines his fight with Mayor Richard J. Daley’s vaunted Chicago machine and the powerful incumbent Richard Ogilvie. He recreates his gutsy 1,197-mile campaign walk that led to upset victories in several elections, which were followed by a four-year fight to make state government more fiscally responsible, honest, and transparent.

Bringing his story to the present day, Walker also reviews the investigations of Governor Blagojevich’s administration and the criminal trial of former governor George Ryan.

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 “I've known other Illinois governors during the past fifty years, and none of them has written anything as self-revealing as The Maverick and the Machine. Former governor Walker bares his soul, extolling his virtues and confessing his weaknesses while laying out in vivid detail stages of a life with little parallel.”

—Taylor Pensoneau, coauthor of Dan Walker: The Glory and the Tragedy   

“A story with a certain Greek tragedy to it, The Maverick and the Machine offers a rare insight into the inner workings of Illinois politics and government. If this were a script for a made-for-television movie, it would be improbable. The story, however, is all too real.”

—John S. Jackson, former chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale and visiting professor at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute

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Dan Walker, a naval officer during World War II and the Korean War, worked in Chicago as a trial lawyer and business executive before becoming governor of Illinois from 1973 to 1977. The author of a number of books, he currently lives in the San Diego area with his wife, Lily.