OBSESSED: THE PRESIDENCY AND ILLINOIS SENATORS PERCY, STEVENSON III, SIMON

By Robert E. Hartley

From history books, memoirs, news stories and public utterances it is known that untold numbers of serving United States senators dreamed of residing in the Oval Office. Many fewer committed to open pursuit of the office, and even fewer made it. Three Illinois senators from the 1950s to the 1990s- Republican Charles H. Percy, Democrats Adlai E.Stevenson III and Paul Simon-can be counted as actively engaged in the hunt, with widely differing outcomes. Each had internal and external pressures. Percy: Encouraged by Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton and dogged by media speculation. Stevenson III:Expected to follow in the footsteps of his greatgrandfather, and his father, Stevenson II. Simon: Ambitious to find ever-higher elective outlets for his policy ideas, and willing to take the risk. Circumstances aside, their common goal was to be president. Their stories include campaign images, and fresh perspectives based on documents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798369400326

Robert E. Hartley

Robert Hartley has written eleven published books about IIIinois politics and history. The Illinois State Historical Society honored seven with Certificates of Achievement. Another was chosen as the centerpiece book for the state's Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration. He has written a dozen articles for the Journal of lllinois History and has given talks on political history across the state and at sessions of the Conference on Illinois History. His essay on Senators Paul Simon and Alan Dixon appeared in a state bicentennial book. Hartley began writing about Illinois politics during his tenure as reporter and editor for Lindsay-Schaub newspapers, based in Decatur, from 1962 to 1979.

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Rev. date: 07/14/2023

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART 1: CHARLES HARTING PERCY

Chapter 1     The Early Years

Chapter 2     President Eisenhower And Charles Percy

Chapter 3     Political Crisis Favors Percy’s Rise

Chapter 4     Predictable Candidate

Chapter 5     Presidential Politics, Troubles

Chapter 6     The Presidential Race

Chapter 7     A Senator Adrift

PART 2: ADLAI EWING STEVENSON III

Chapter 1     The Legacy Begins

Chapter 2     Preparation For Greatness

Chapter 3     Pursuit Of The Presidency

Chapter 4     Third Adlai Stevenson Emerges

Chapter 5     Crafting A National Image

Chapter 6     Presidential Decision Time

Chapter 7     The Fading Dream

PART 3: PAUL MARTIN SIMON

Chapter 1     Early Life–War Against Crime

Chapter 2     Road To Independence

Chapter 3     Political Success, Failure

Chapter 4     Years Of Redemption

Chapter 5     Journey To The Senate

Chapter 6     The Presidency In Sight

Chapter 7     Showdown In Iowa

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

PREFACE

If you live long enough, and write enough, you begin to believe the whole story has been told. Then, you realize what was missed. That is what happened regarding the three subjects of this book.

I lived and worked in Illinois when Charles Percy, Paul Simon and Adlai Stevenson III built much of their state political reputations. In 1975 my first book was published. Subject: Percy. In 2009 my book about Paul Simon was published. Stevenson and I had extensive contact, interviews and correspondence while he served in the U. S. Senate.

From these encounters I knew the patterns of their lives differed substantially. As revealed in this book, two men knew humble beginnings, another was the progeny of political celebrities, and each followed a distinctive path to the U. S. Senate. Luck, risk-taking and perseverance shaped them in the public eye. What brings them together for this book is the one strong personal drive common to all three: The U. S. Presidency.

After deciding to write about their pursuit of the presidency, I went to my long-held files, assuming that I had their stories tucked away just waiting to be used. I found immediately that I had barely scratched the surface in each case when it came to their desire to run for president. I had material to recap their beginnings, even their initial thoughts about the presidency. I just didn’t have the rest of the story, or even the heart of the presidential stories. Their journeys differed greatly. There was much research work to do.

Percy was bitten by the presidential bug in the 1950s when he met and came under the influence of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Much of that early story came from my interviews with Percy. This time I needed documentation.

Percy gave his personal papers to the Chicago History Museum. An experienced researcher explored what had been inventoried and curated, which included documents from the critical 1950s. The result: A thorough look at Percy’s world during the years in Eisenhower’s shadow, and early relationships with Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller. No longer was it necessary to rely solely on Percy’s word for what happened in the Eisenhower administration years.

I was satisfied with my book on Paul Simon. Thanks to Simon’s foresight in leaving his vast collection of papers to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield and the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University, I had his political story, including the 1988 run for the presidential nomination. The problem: I gave insufficient space to the campaign. His large assortment of papers on 1987-88 remained virtually untouched. Simon wrote a book about the quest. His wife, Jeanne Simon, wrote an accompanying memoir of her experiences. And Simon wrote a version again in an autobiography. The problem for me: Those accounts were personal reminiscences—portions of the entire effort carefully chosen. Interesting reading, but far from the whole picture. With the help of a researcher and Walter Ray, curator of the Simon collection at SIU, I located the untold story of his campaign.

As mentioned, Adlai Stevenson did not mount an official campaign for the presidency. But he took a serious look. He talked and fretted over the presidency throughout his political career. Records of our correspondence and discussions confirm that when it came to policies, personalities and election campaigns, he could not let go of the presidency.

There was Stevenson’s inheritance of presidential dreams from his father, Adlai II. Still, those records hardly constituted the story of why Adlai III did not run. Claire Fuller Martin, a superb researcher in Springfield, had curated Adlai III’s papers at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and had conducted a lengthy series of interviews with Stevenson. She knew precisely what documents were needed for details of Stevenson’s near-run for the presidential nomination in 1975, and being a finalist as the vice presidential choice of Jimmy Carter in 1976. As a reporter at the Democratic convention, I had access to Stevenson as the Carter episode developed, and had retained the accompanying notes.

I was dependent on the personal papers of all three subjects. Those collections made it possible to reconstruct their political stories with a focus on the presidential ambition, and confront the questions left by each quest.

Among the disclosures are similarities in their public policy passions while in office. One example is their devotion to foreign affairs. Each traveled extensively during his personal and public years. The Vietnam War shaped the views of Percy and Stevenson. Simon traveled and wrote after many foreign travels. Percy and Simon served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

All three senators were vocal critics of foreign policies pursued by sitting presidents Johnson, Nixon, Carter and Reagan. Their opinions on foreign issues—including occasional agreements— shaped attitudes on other aspects of presidential governance, leaving impressions of how they might have acted in the Oval Office.

Another insight into their journeys is a look at their choices in public service. All three originally believed the place to leave a legacy in state political history was one or two terms as Illinois governor. Each lost a bid during his political career. When opportunities appeared for the Senate they did not hesitate to change focus. All were ambitious and politically calculating.

Percy, a corporate business executive with strong leadership skills, sought the Illinois governorship in 1964, losing to incumbent Gov. Otto Kerner. Instead of running again for governor, Percy took on incumbent Sen. Paul Douglas in 1966, and won. Throughout, Percy could claim a distinction: Over the years he received more media speculation about a presidential candidacy than the other two combined.

Stevenson made it clear to Mayor Richard Daley and other well-positioned Democrats that he wanted to run for governor in 1968. He sought a path similar to his father, Adlai II, who served as governor 1949-53. Daley turned away from Adlai III who would not change his opposition to the Vietnam War to satisfy the mayor. Stevenson had his Senate opportunity upon the death of Everett Dirksen. Stevenson lost two races for Illinois governor in 1982 and 1986.

Of the three, Simon served longer in various elected positions, starting his political career in the Illinois House and Senate, and as lieutenant governor. Along the way he wanted to run against Republican Dirksen, but Mayor Daley ignored his interest. Most political speculators believed Simon would run for governor against Richard B. Ogilvie in 1972. Simon never got that far. He lost in the primary election to Daniel Walker. Who would have guessed that his chance at a Senate seat in 1984 would come in a battle with Senator Percy?

Rarely is the path to the White House a straight line, without defeats and disillusionment. Richard Nixon is a perfect example. So is George H. W. Bush. And how many times did Joseph Biden seek the presidency unsuccessfully before winning in 2020?

From the end of World War II, members of Congress almost never went directly from the House or Senate to the presidency. Only two of fourteen presidents in that time were elected president while serving in Congress: senators John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama.

In recent Illinois political history, three U. S. senators publicly committed to seeking the presidential nomination: Obama, Percy and Simon. Two Illinois members of the U. S. House entered presidential primaries in 1980: John Anderson and Phil Crane. One Illinois senator had family connections to the presidency dating to the nineteenth century: Adlai E. Stevenson III.

Whatever the route, Charles H. Percy, Adlai E. Stevenson III and Paul M. Simon wanted to be president and that is what this book is about.

ROBERT E. HARTLEY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In each of the three political case studies tying Illinois senators to the presidency essential documentation comes from primary source material, most of it not previously published. Those accounts were discovered during research at the Chicago History Museum (Percy), Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (Stevenson III), and the Morris Library at Southern Illinois University (Simon).

Secondary sources, largely from the author’s books on Percy and Simon, numerous published articles regarding Adlai Stevenson II, and notes from the author’s personal contact, provide much of the background that puts the presidential research in context.

The Stevenson narrative benefitted substantially from published biographies by John Bartlow Martin and Jean H. Baker. Other useful secondary sources include books by Theodore H. White and respected political reporter David S. Broder, and students of the presidency, Stephen Hess and Michael Barone. Observations from books by Simon and Stevenson III provide useful personal accounts. Credit for all sources is provided in the book’s endnotes.

With so many aspects of life under the shadow of Covid since 2019, travel for book manuscript research was curtailed. However, independent researchers working with me used their ingenuity and flexibility to negotiate changeable operation hours at libraries and museums. Their discoveries formed the backbone of fresh information about senator Percy, Stevenson and Simon, and therefore the crux of the book. They skillfully used knowledge of electronic communications to provide me with their work, although we never visited face-to-face. It sounds complicated, but it worked.

The stars of research are:

Claire Fuller Martin in Springfield, Illinois. She has helped with research on a half dozen of my books, and numerous magazine articles and history presentations. Her critical work on this manuscript included a series of interviews with Adlai E. Stevenson III, and her experience curating his papers at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). She also resurrected items from my papers at ALPL.

Ginger Frere at her firm Information Diggers in Chicago. She did a superb research job in the Charles H. Percy Papers at the Chicago History Museum. Her findings added clarity and precision to Percy’s decade of work at the Eisenhower White House. Ginger also sorted through Percy images at the museum from which items were chosen for publication.

Jamie Webb, a PhD candidate at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Her work among the papers of Senator Paul Simon at the Morris Library focused entirely on Simon’s 1987-1988 race for the presidential nomination. She was guided by Walter Ray, who curated the entire Simon collection at Morris and with whom I have worked previously. He knows the Simon papers better than anyone. Walter also provided campaign images for consideration. The Morris Library is fortunate to have him on staff.

Roberta Fairburn, technical assistant at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, produced a quantity of Adlai E. Stevenson III images for consideration. She has provided services with grace and efficiency for several of my books.

Others who assisted with obtaining images deserve special appreciation: Mary Burtzloff, Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum; Chris Kaergard, Dirksen Congressional Center; Eliza Druga, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum; and Colleen Layton, Chicago History Museum.

I am grateful for manuscript review and editing provided by D. G. Schumacher, Mike Lawrence, John Shaw, and John Jackson, all of whom have deep knowledge and experiences with the three senators.

As a newspaper journalist in Illinois I had access to Percy, Stevenson and Simon during their long careers in elective office. Much of the material from my time spent with Percy is retained in Hartley Papers at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield.

The willingness of all three men to provide their personal and professional papers to research libraries and museums in Illinois is a special gift to the people of the state and an extraordinary resource for writers and researchers, teachers and students.

My muse down the hallway is Mary C. Hartley, consultant, editor, commentator and, oh yes, my spouse. She has been at my side through every writing project, in a long-term, fruitful partnership. Mary also has her own memories of contacts with the senators.

INTRODUCTION

CHUCK, AD AND PAUL

Percy, Stevenson, and Simon. Their separate stories are the essence of the narrative that follows. They are the book. The primary thread that holds them together is the U. S. presidency.

Additionally, there is common ground that binds them at a personal level: childhood, professional growth, marriage, military experience, religious beliefs, independence, tragedies and political disappointments. We begin with those.

They were senators from Illinois, serving the same political geography from 1967 to 1997. Over time they may have addressed each other informally as Chuck, Ad, or Paul, but there is no evidence of them being socially or privately close. Nevertheless, they shared similar personal experiences that helped shape their political behavior.

All three men had strong value systems stemming from deep family ties.

Percy, oldest of the three, matured during difficult economic times—the Depression—and that experience marked his lifelong work ethic, optimistic outlook and generosity. A major part of his life was commitment as an active participant in the Christian Science religion. He shared those interests with family and work colleagues. Percy’s strong belief system saw him through two of life’s tragedies: The death of his first wife, Jeanne, after just four years of marriage; and the murder of his daughter Valerie in 1966.

Stevenson’s personal value system developed from his experiences with and loyalty to family, especially memories of his great-grandfather Adlai I and experiences with his father Adlai II. Adlai III’s respect for family is best described in the Black Book, an account he wrote of the family’s history. Adlai II often publicly mentioned his connection to the Unitarian Church, but Adlai III’s religion is best understood as family.

Simon, who also spent youthful years during the Depression, was influenced by beliefs of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. Simon’s unshakable ethical standards grew out of the family’s religious traditions. His parents were missionaries in China and worked with Lutheran church outreach efforts in the United States. During his life as a writer, Simon’s works often appeared in Lutheran publications and he spoke frequently to church audiences. His mother would have been delighted if Simon had entered the clergy. Instead, she worked as a volunteer at the Troy Tribune and on her son’s campaigns for state offices.

The three were devoted husbands and fathers. After the death of Percy’s first wife, Jeanne Dickerson, to whom three children were born, he married Loraine Guyer and they reared two more children. Simon and his wife, Jeanne Hurley, a member of the Illinois legislature when they met, were parents of two children. Their daughter, Sheila, served as lieutenant governor of Illinois. Stevenson and his wife Nancy had four children—including Adlai IV.

Notably, the men’s spouses were strong, independent women, dedicated to family and their husbands’ political careers. Jeanne Simon campaigned, with children alongside, during many campaigns, especially Paul’s run for the presidential nomination in 1987-88. Nancy Stevenson hit the campaign trails for Adlai III with an exuberant and friendly style. Loraine Percy fiercely defended her husband and family. With strong personal resolve, the couples survived the pressures and stresses of public life that humbled many political marriages.

Each man entered military service before venturing into politics. They served in wartime, but did not see combat.

During World War II, Percy was exempt from service as an essential worker for Bell and Howell. In 1943 he asked Joseph McNabb, president of the firm, to permit his enlistment in the Navy. McNabb agreed, Percy resigned, joined the Navy and eventually became an ensign. During service he formed an Advanced Base Aviation Training Unit at the naval base in Alameda, California. He was discharged in 1945 and rejoined Bell and Howell.

Simon joined an Army Reserve company in St. Louis during the Korean War in 1951 and trained as part of a unit designated to take over temporary operation of the government in the northern part of Korea. When war changed that mission, he enlisted in the Army for twenty-one months and trained as an agent for the Counter Intelligence Corps. In March 1952 he arrived for duty in Germany, and also spent time in England, Spain and France before being discharged in 1953. During his time overseas Simon continued to write a column for the Troy Tribune, an Illinois weekly paper that he owned. He developed deep interest in an international perspective that influenced his future travels and public policy positions.

Shortly after graduation from Harvard University in 1952, Stevenson enlisted in the Marine Corps. While in tank training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he met Nancy Anderson, whom he married in 1955. He was deployed to Japan and then to Korea, as North and South Korean warring parties reached an armistice. He was discharged from the Corps in 1954. His service fed an interest in Asian affairs and foreign travel that he pursued in the Senate and during the practice of law.

Percy and Stevenson served together in the Senate for ten years and collaborated on a number of Illinois issues and judicial appointments. The two followed bipartisan instincts on big and small subjects. They shared an interest in financial disclosure for Senate members and despite different party associations found common ground in criticism of presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon over Vietnam War policies.

Both men argued for the appointment of an independent Watergate prosecutor, and pressed Atty. Gen. Elliott Richardson to act. While they followed partisan approaches to Senate business, there is no record of nasty public exchanges or accusations between them. If they disagreed on Illinois matters, they kept it civil. Compared to political skirmishes in the Twenty-first Century, their rhetoric was restrained.

Simon did not overlap the other two in Senate service, but his closeness to the Stevenson family was a factor throughout his political career. Simon became a loyal follower of Adlai E. Stevenson II and the cordiality between them extended to Adlai III, who publicly supported Simon in the 1984 race for the Senate against Percy.

When Simon served in the U. S. House of Representatives during the 1970s he had reason to work with the senators from Illinois, Stevenson and Percy, on issues of interest to southern Illinois. On more than one occasion he had a bipartisan Chuck opportunity.

One such moment occurred on January 26, 1981, during Simon’s weekly broadcast In Touch, that was distributed to Illinois media. His interview subject that date was Sen. Charles Percy, newly minted chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In friendly but serious discourse, including greetings of Chuck and Paul, they talked about an issue dear to Simon’s Illinois constituency. Then they progressed to talk of negotiations for release of prisoners held by Iran—this broadcast was released six days after inauguration of Ronald Reagan—and moved finally to prospects under the new president. The irony of this discussion, viewed years later, is impossible to overlook.

Percy extolled all the presumed virtues of the new president: Man of common sense, sense of decency, Makes us feel good about the United States. Simon, the genial host, added that Reagan looked like a pragmatist. Percy said he expected Reagan to lower high interest rates, improve the economy, and strengthen the military. Simon never voted for a Reagan tax cut, and stubbornly disapproved of larger military spending. He was a serious critic of the Reagan agenda. Three years later when Percy and Simon squared off against each other for a U. S. Senate seat, all signs of good-natured friendliness had disappeared, with Reagan at the heart of both candidates’ campaigns.

That 1984 campaign featured aggressive behavior by each candidate. After his loss, Percy extended personal congratulations to members of Simon’s family, and the two men maintained cordial relations.

Although Simon and Percy had decidedly different views about priorities in government spending, each brought experience in private business to Congress—Percy in corporate life, Simon as a small newspaper business owner. Both senators understood the pressures and rewards of the private sector, and resisted anti-business legislation.

The three senators projected streaks of political independence that had impact on their careers, and not always positive outcomes.

From his first candidacy for public office in 1954, Simon proudly served as a Democrat, independent of party cabals and alliances that ran contrary to his ethical standards. His public fight against political corruption earned widespread constituent respect, but cost him among legislative colleagues who accused Simon of betrayal. As lieutenant governor, he took independent action in a number of community controversies, drawing criticism from judgmental public officials. When Simon accepted slating as gubernatorial candidate by the Chicago political machine in 1972, it caused grave concern among loyalists, and weakened his primary election campaign.

As a Democratic congressman from southern Illinois, Simon criticized President Jimmy Carter and supported Ted Kennedy for president in 1980. This independent action nearly cost him re-election. In the U. S. House of Representatives Simon struggled to build coalitions interested in his policy ideas. He seldom backed down. In the Senate, Simon realized the importance of cooperating with varying political interests in order to have an impact on legislation. Probably his most independent political moment occurred when he sought the 1988 presidential nomination.

Percy displayed independence of conservative Republican orthodoxy, and stunned his supporters by alliances that seemed not in his best interest. In 1968, when it appeared he might be chosen by Richard Nixon as nominee for vice president, Percy announced support of Nelson Rockefeller for president, a candidacy that had failed to gather support. In some quarters Percy never recovered from this act of independence. In policy matters, he clashed with Nixon’s policies and choices for the supreme court, causing conservatives in Illinois to complain of Percy as too liberal. In selecting judicial appointments, Percy emphasized experience and performance rather than political allegiances, incurring Republican criticism. He won three Senate elections, and claimed those as votes of confidence in his independence.

Stevenson’s independence took two routes. First, he emerged from under the shadow of his father’s political reputation to establish a reformist reputation of his own and success as candidate for Illinois office. Second, and most significantly, he rebelled against the party leadership of Richard J. Daley after the mayor refused to slate Stevenson for public office in 1968 over disagreements with Johnson’s Vietnam policy. While the two men reached a measure of rapprochement, Adlai built his own name recognition at the ballot box and strong standing as an Illinois party leader. However, even that degree of detachment did not satisfy many Democrats who prized total independence of the Daley regime. In interviews with party officeholders about their potential support of Adlai III for the presidential or vice presidential nominations, voices were raised that Stevenson needed to strike out on his own to corral delegates to the national convention and ignore Daley’s wishes. Stevenson remained loyal to Daley.

As a final gesture of senatorial independence, Stevenson declared his frustrations with Senate customs and rules, and criticized President Carter’s leadership while announcing the decision not to run for re-election in 1980.

Throughout their Senate service, and down to the moment of consideration of a run for the presidency, Percy, Stevenson and Simon welcomed candid staff comments and advice from friends and constituents that often resulted in dissenting opinions. Each felt free to ignore the advice, at the risk of I told you so. When it came to decisions on seeking the nomination, spouses responded and husbands listened. The wives knew a candidacy had potential for serious impact on family relationships.

The political decisions and actions of Percy, Stevenson and Simon—Chuck, Ad and Paul—reflected their high standards of personal conduct in private and public life, irrespective of advisors, critics and historians.

PART ONE

Charles Harting Percy

CHAPTER ONE

The Early Years

In his first 30 years Charles Harting Percy lived a fantasy, uncommon and unreal to most other human beings in the United States.

He had known the love and loyalty of middle class parents. From them, and others, he acquired the traits of hard work, faithfulness to the Church of Christ, Scientist, personal perseverance, and respect for a dollar saved and invested. The level of energy he exhibited for each venture was the basis of every biographical commentary about him. In the oft-recited story of his early life, he sounded near perfect.¹

In those three decades, Percy experienced setback, disappointment, and personal tragedy. His father, Edward, lost a job as bank clerk in the Depression, a reversal experienced by millions of families. Young Percy’s reaction in terms of earning money to help the family survive was another revealing aspect of his lifelong idealism and unselfishness. With the family receiving relief payments, Percy worked with his mother, Elizabeth Harting Percy, making and selling homemade cookies door-to-door. He got up at 3:30 a.m. every day to deliver newspapers. Typical of Percy’s relentlessly optimistic outlook, he said, Living through those years was the best thing that ever happened to me.²

Everything seemed to be going Percy’s way in the early 1940s. With financial help from a half-tuition scholarship, he graduated from the University of Chicago. During his college time Percy demonstrated creative business skills. One scheme involved obtaining the names of high school students who might be interested in attending small colleges, some of which were hard-hit by the Depression. The colleges paid Percy five cents a name and $10 if the student actually enrolled. As business accelerated, he hired others to recruit and paid them three cents per name and $5 if the students enrolled.

Percy developed a campus cooperative agency to provide services to students. He sold food, coal, furniture and linen to fraternity houses and residence halls. This business earned Percy an estimated profit of $10,000 per year. He reinvested in other ventures and support for his family. He graduated with average grades, probably due to the time he devoted to outside activities, including captain of the university water polo team and president of his fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Various investigations into his background failed to turn up blemishes. One conclusion is that he hardly had time to get in trouble.

After graduation Percy started fulltime work at Bell and Howell, a Chicago based electronics firm, and married Jeanne Dickerson.³ They had known each other since their days at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. She later attended Northwestern University. They married June 23, 1943, shortly after he had been commissioned an ensign in the Navy. He had enlisted as an apprentice seaman. During World War II Percy served in domestic locations and did not see combat. One incident during his service had physical impact. Noise during a training exercise apparently caused a hearing impairment in his right ear. Although the hearing problem bothered him immediately, he delayed wearing a hearing aid until he entered the U. S. Senate more than a decade later.⁴

Chuck Percy and Jeanne were the picture of domestic harmony. Soon they had three children, twin girls and a son. Four years into their marriage she underwent two operations for ulcerative colitis and died of a reaction to penicillin in November 1947.⁵ Percy, then an executive with Bell and Howell, faced the pressure-filled responsibilities of a single parent. His associates said he buried his grief in work and children.

His daughter Sharon, one of the twins, remembered her father’s commitment to the children in those emotion-filled days. Sharon mentioned his especially good job of raising the three children in the period between Jeanne’s death and his marriage to Loraine Guyer in 1950.⁶ Percy and Guyer, daughter of a West Coast investment banker, met on a skiing vacation to Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1949.

Percy’s personal life from birth to age 30 reflected his achievements as a husband, father, corporate leader, and ambitious politician. Much of his public life beyond 1950 could be traced to the experiences of the formative years. Frequently, it made a transformative tale of media interest.

Thousands of people in the same period of time survived the Depression, went to college, served in the military, married and had a growing family. It was a national tale of importance, with good stories to digest. Percy’s involvement with Bell and Howell put him on a public course that lasted until his death at age 91 in 2011.

Charles Percy, Joseph McNabb and the Chicago-based camera equipment company Bell & Howell complete a tale that has been nearly exhausted in the telling. However, it remains vital as a launching pad for Percy’s political history. A review is necessary, helped along by interviews with others connected to Percy and Bell & Howell.

Until the Depression, Percy’s father, Edward, had a comfortable job as cashier at the Rogers Park National Bank in Chicago. However, the bank failed, as did many in the 1930s, and Edward lost his job. His son, Charles, was 15 years old at the time. As the family struggled and Edward worked at a variety of odd jobs, Charles turned to a family friend for help. Joseph McNabb, then president of Bell & Howell, taught Sunday school for youngsters at Wilmette First Church of Christ, Scientist.⁷ After Edward lost his bank job the family moved to Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago, where Charles attended McNabb’s church school class.

Percy approached McNabb in behalf of his father. McNabb, familiar with the family’s plight and Edward’s employment history, hired Percy’s father as an accountant for $35 a week. Edward worked at Bell & Howell until he retired in 1957.⁸ In Percy’s campaigns for public office he often referred to the family’s difficult financial circumstances,