Waller J. Reum Memoir (March 1981), 2 vols., 193 pp.; Thomas A. McGloon Memoir (June 1981), 2 vols., 253 pp., prepared lor the Illinois Legislative Council by the Oral History Office of Sangamon State University, Springfield.

THESE TWO memoirs are the third and fourth in a series being prepared by the Oral History Office of Sangamon State University. All follow a similar format: discussion of childhood memories and family background, introduction to political life, and then a more extensive section on experiences in Springfield and specific legislative contributions. Through his skillful questioning, however, Horace Waggoner succeeds in drawing out the unique personality of each interviewee.

Walter J. Reum (rhymes with "team") was born in Chicago to a family of German background. From 1952 to 1962 he served in the Illinois House, on the Republican side, where he was particularly involved in the issues of reapportionment, fiscal reform and education. After leaving politics, he returned to the practice of law; he also coauthored a political satire entitled Politics From the Inside Up which was later turned into a musical comedy, "Life of the Party."

Although Mr. Reum's reminiscences about his legislative achievement and insights into campaign techniques are both instructive and fascinating, the most vibrant portion of this memoir is Reum's enthusiastic discussion of his wife's political exploits and the assistance she provided him in his career. The former Lucy Bellegay served as a delegate to the 1970 Constitutional Convention (Con Con) and later became the first woman in the United States to head a state racing board, but during all the years before that she organized and ran her husband's various political offices and campaigns. A direct quotation may convey the loyalty and mutual respect that seems to be the touchstone of the "Reum Team," as these two are affectionately called:

Lucy's preparation and support paid off for her in the [Con Con] elections. She finished first in both the primary and general election and defeated eleven men in the process. Because of her work with me when I was a member of the General Assembly, she requested assignment to the committee charged with writing the legislative article. She had hoped to be named chairman of the legislative committee, instead she was named vice-chairman. She tried to dismiss from her mind the nagging thought that she was not named chairman only because she was a woman. Perhaps future historians will want to probe whether women in 1970 were deliberately programmed for failure. . . . In the end, she was credited with being the single person most responsible for the approval of the proposed constitution by the electorate.

Thomas A. McGloon, a Democrat and an Irish Catholic, was also born in Chicago but three years earlier, in 1911. He too is a lawyer. Following World War II, during which he served in the Navy and fought at Iwo Jima, he became an assistant public defender and later an assistant state's attorney. His first political job was as precinct captain in a precinct with 37 Democratic voters and 375 Republicans. He won his first seat in the Illinois Senate in the 1958 Democratic landslide; redistricting and a shift in the makeup of the area turned it into a Democratic "go to bed" district by 1966.

Mr. McGloon was deeply involved in the COOGA commission (the Illinois Commission on the Organization of the General Assembly), which he feels "brought about some remarkable changes." He also participated in the 1963 redistricting effort; his comments on it are interesting, especially in light of the 1981 remap fracas:

There were members that were members that were appointed for one map-making and then that would collapse, and then there were new members that were appointed for the second stretch of it and that would collapse, and there were new members for the third stretch of it. And then it wound up in the courts and the courts made mish-mash out of it. (laughs) And then it wound up in the federal court. In any event, the finished product that come out wound up with 39 Republicans and 19 Democrats.
Q: Yes, sir. (laughter) Well!
A. And that ain't my idea of a fair map. (laughs)

In 1970 McGloon retired from the Senate to accept an appointment as appellate court judge, a position he still holds and from which he will retire in December 1982.

As is true of the other two memoirs in the series, these interviews afford a valuable insight into the state legislative process. Moreover, they are great fun to read.

Anna J. Merritt is the editor and a staff associate at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, Urbana. She is also a member of the Urbana School Board.

January 1982/Illinois Issues/5