[VIDEO] I wanted to share this video with your for a while. Former Gov. Jim Thompson served from 1977 to 1991. In 2014 he was part of an oral history discussing the 1982 election which was a very close election with Democrat candidate Adlai Stevenson III. Gov. Thompson was vying for a third term for governor then and the margin between Thompson as a Republican (1,816,101) versus the Democrat in Stevenson (1,811,027) was 5,074 votes. A very close election with him and Stevenson having a rematch in 1986.
Thompson would go on to become the longest serving Gov. of Illinois. And one tidbit the struck me at the end is that the contest between Thompson and Stevenson was very contentious. Both sides admit seemingly that they just didn't like each other. It seems perhaps on the end of the late Adlai Stevenson III it was exceptionally bitter.
Another historical tidbit here is that Adlai Stevenson III father was Adlai Stevenson II. Adlai II was not only a former Governor of IL. He was a two-time Democrat candidate for President against Dwight Eisenhower - Eisenhower won two terms as President. He was also the former Ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 to 1965. You might know him from his tough quote "Don't wait for the translation" directed towards the Soviet Union's delegation at the United Nations.
Another link to share, there were more oral histories from Gov. Thompson available via the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library covering a lot more than the 1982 race. The video above was produced by the Abraham Lincoln Library.
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