Paul Simon
Simon in 1989
United States Senator fromIllinois
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Charles Percy
Succeeded by	Dick Durbin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromIllinois
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Kenneth J. Gray
Succeeded by	Kenneth J. Gray
Constituency	24th district (1975–1983) 22nd district (1983–1985)
39thLieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office January 13, 1969 – January 8, 1973
Governor	Richard B. Ogilvie
Preceded by	Samuel Shapiro(1968)
Succeeded by	Neil Hartigan
Personal details
Born	Paul Martin Simon (1928-11-29)November 29, 1928 Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Died	December 9, 2003(2003-12-09) (aged 75) Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
Resting place	Rowan Cemetery Makanda, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Jeanne Hurley ​ ​ (m. 1960; died 2000)​ Patricia Derge ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2, includingSheila
Education	University of Oregon Dana College
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1951–1953
Rank	Private First Class
Unit	Counterintelligence Corps

Paul Martin Simon (November 29, 1928 – December 9, 2003) was an American author and politician fromIllinois. He served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and in theUnited States Senate from 1985 to 1997. A member of theDemocratic Party, he unsuccessfully ran for the1988 Democratic presidential nomination.

After his political career, Simon founded thePublic Policy Institute atSouthern Illinois University Carbondale inCarbondale, Illinois, which was later named for him. There he taught classes on politics, history and journalism. Simon was famous for his distinctivebow tie andhorn-rimmed glasses.

Simon was born inEugene, Oregon on November 29, 1928. He was the son of Martin Paul Simon, aLutheran minister andmissionary toChina,^[1] and Ruth Lilly (née Tolzmann) Simon, a Lutheran missionary as well. His family was of German descent.^[2]

Simon attendedConcordia University, a Lutheran school inPortland.^[3] He later attended theUniversity of Oregon andDana College inBlair, Nebraska, but never graduated. After meeting with localLions Club members, he borrowed $3,600 to take over the defunctTroy Call newspaper in 1948, becoming the nation's youngest editor-publisher, of the renamedTroy Tribune inTroy, Illinois, and eventually built a chain of 14weekly newspapers. His activism against gambling, prostitution, and government corruption while at theTroy Tribune influenced the newly elected governor,Adlai Stevenson II, to take a stand on these issues, creating national exposure for Simon that later resulted in his testifying before theKefauver Commission.^[4]

In May 1951, Simon left his newspaper and enlisted in theUnited States Army.^[5] Simon served inWest Germany during theKorean War.^[6] Assigned to theCounterintelligence Corps,^[7] he attained the rank ofprivate first class^[6] and was discharged in June 1953.^[8]

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Upon his discharge, Simon was elected to and began his political career in theIllinois House of Representatives. As a state representative, Simon was an advocate forcivil rights, and once hosted an event attended by formerFirst LadyEleanor Roosevelt. After a primary debate with two other candidates, a newspaper account of a debate stated "the man with the bowtie did well," and he adopted his trademark bowtie and horn-rimmed glasses. In 1963, Simon was elected to theIllinois State Senate, serving until 1969. In the State Senate, Simon was part of a group of anti-machine liberal reformers called the "Kosher Nostra" that also includedAnthony Scariano,Abner Mikva, andRobert E. Mann.^[9]

In1968, Simon was electedLieutenant Governor of Illinois. As a Democrat, he served withRepublican governorRichard B. Ogilvie. Their bipartisan teamwork produced the state's firstincome tax and paved the way for thestate's 1969constitutional convention, which created the fourth and currentIllinois Constitution. The Ogilvie-Simon administration was the only one in Illinois history in which the elected governor and lieutenant governor were from different political parties: The Illinois constitution now pairs the offices as running mates on a ticket. In 1972, Simon ran for the Democratic nomination for governor. Despite his longtime reputation as a political reformer, he was supported by the Cook County Democratic machine, led by Chicago MayorRichard J. Daley.^[10] Nevertheless, Simon lost toDan Walker, who went on to win thegeneral election.

In the years between his gubernatorial defeat and political comeback, Simon taught atSangamon State University, where he started the Public Affairs Reporting master's degree program, and theKennedy School of Government atHarvard University.^[11]

Simon resumed his political career in 1974 when he was elected to Congress fromIllinois's 24th congressional district, defeating formerHarrisburg mayor Val Oshel.^[12] He was re-elected four times. He was laterredistricted toIllinois's 22nd congressional district. In 1978, Simon was the first recipient of the Foreign Language Advocacy Award, presented by the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in recognition of his service on the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies and his support for language study.^[13] According to theNew York Times, Simon was never particularly popular with his House colleagues.^[10]

In1984, Simon was elected to theUnited States Senate, defeating three-term incumbentCharles H. Percy in an upset election and winning 50% of the vote. He won reelection to the U.S. Senate in1990, defeating U.S. representativeLynn Morley Martin by a margin of 65–35%. While serving in the U.S. Senate, he co-authored an unsuccessfulbalanced budget amendment withRepublican senatorOrrin Hatch ofUtah.^[14]

External videos
Retirement announcement by Simon, November 15, 1994,C-SPAN

Simon gained national prominence after criticizing PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush during the1992 presidential election, after Bush claimed a central role in causing the collapse of theEastern bloc of theSoviet Union. During a speech atChicago'sTaste of Polonia, Bush had aggressively promoted the success of his own presidency and his importance asvice president in theReagan administration's role inEastern Europe. This was an attempt by Bush to carryChicago's Polish community in order to win Illinois during the election. Bush's claims were roundly denounced by Simon, and Bush eventually lost the state in the general election, possibly due to Simon's remarks.^[15] Simon did not seek reelection in 1996.

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External videos
Booknotes interview with Jeanne Simon onCodename: Scarlett – Life on the Campaign Trail by the Wife of a Presidential Candidate, July 23, 1989,C-SPAN

Simon sought theDemocratic nomination for president in 1988. Mostly unknown outside of Illinois and in low single digits in national polls after his March 1987 announcement, Simon made a name for himself as the oldest, some thought most old-fashioned, candidate, with horn rimmed glasses and bow tie, and one who proudly associated himself with theNew Deal liberalism associated with PresidentsFranklin D. Roosevelt andHarry S. Truman. Simon surged ahead in Iowa in October, and was, by December, the clear front-runner in that state.

In February 1988, Simon narrowly lost theIowa caucus to RepresentativeDick Gephardt ofMissouri, and finished third in theNew Hampshire primary the following week, with weak showings in Minnesota and South Dakota a week later. Out of money and momentum, Simon largely skipped the key Southern "Super Tuesday" primaries on March 8, concentrating on his home state a week later, where key local Democrats were running as Simon delegates on the delegate selection ballot, and wanted to attend the Democratic National Convention regardless of Simon's slim chance of winning the nomination. Simon won theIllinois primary, and decided to make a final effort in the Wisconsin primary in early April, but dropped out after he finished behindGovernor of MassachusettsMichael Dukakis, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Tennessee SenatorAlbert Gore. Simon endorsed Dukakis, who won the Democratic nomination in July, with Jackson the last active challenger. To boost his campaign, Simon made an appearance onSaturday Night Live (SNL), co-hosting with musicianPaul Simon (to whom he was not related).^[16]

Simon was fiercely against obscenity and violence in the media during the 1990s, and his efforts against media violence helped lead to the adoption of theV-chip.^[18] During the 1990s, Simon opposed both the Republicans'Contract with America, and PresidentBill Clinton'swelfare reforms. He was one of 21 Senators to vote against thePersonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.^[19] In 1996, Simon joined thirteen other Democratic senators (including his fellow U.S. senator from Illinois,Carol Moseley Braun) in voting against theDefense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition ofsame-sex marriage.^[20]

Simon was considered a fiscal conservative who described himself as "apay-as-you-go Democrat". As a senator, Simon helped overhaul the college student loan program to allow students and their families to borrow directly from the federal government, thus saving money by not using private banks to disburse the loans.^[21]

Simon promoted a military response toSomalia during theGeorge H. W. Bush administration.^[22] Simon was an outspoken critic of PresidentBill Clinton's response to the 1994Rwandan genocide. Simon believed that America should have acted faster, and Clinton later said his belated response was the biggest mistake of his presidency.^[23] Along with former Vermont SenatorJim Jeffords, Simon was retroactively praised by Canadian Lieutenant-GeneralRoméo Dallaire, the former Force Commander of theUnited Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, for actively lobbying theClinton administration into mounting a humanitarian mission to Rwanda during the genocide. According to Dallaire's bookShake Hands with the Devil, he "owe[s] a great debt of gratitude" to both senators.

Simon believed modern presidents practice "followership," rather than leadership, saying, "We have been more and more leaning on opinion polls to decide what we're going to do, and you don't get leadership from polls... and not just at the Presidential level. It's happening with Senators, House members, and even state legislators sometimes, [when they] conduct polls to find out where people stand on something."^[24] Simon was a supporter ofTaiwan, and opposed United States policy to isolate the island. He helped convince President Clinton to allow Taiwanese presidentLee Teng-hui to visit the United States.^[25] He was also a longtime admirer ofMadame Chiang Kai-shek, having witnessed her historic speech to a joint session of Congress as a teen and met her in person in 1995 at a Capitol Hill reception commemorating the 50th anniversary of the cessation of World War II.

Simon rose to national attention in the 1960s, due in part to his well-researched bookLincoln's Preparation for Greatness: The Illinois Legislative Years. Despite being published 100 years afterAbraham Lincoln's death, it was the first book to exhaustively cite original source documents from Lincoln's eight years in the General Assembly. He later went on to write more than 20 books on a wide range of topics, includinginterfaith marriages (he was a Lutheran and his wife, Jeanne, was aCatholic), global water shortages,United States Supreme Court nomination battles that focused heavily on his personal experiences withRobert Bork andClarence Thomas, his autobiography, and even a well-received book on martyred abolitionist publisherElijah Lovejoy. His final book,Our Culture of Pandering, was published in October 2003, two months before his death.

After his primary defeat for governor in 1972, Simon founded the Public Affairs Reporting graduate program atSangamon State University inSpringfield, Illinois,^[26] which helped launch the careers of more than 500 journalists.^[27] Simon, who had written four books at the time; he taught a course titled "Non-Fiction Magazine and Book Writing" at Sangamon State, and also taught at theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government in 1973.

Simon lived for many years in the small town ofMakanda, Illinois, south of Carbondale, where he was a professor and director of theSIU Public Policy Institute. While there, he tried to foster the institute into becoming a think tank that could advance the lives of all people. Activities included going toLiberia andCroatia tomonitor their elections, bringing majorspeakers to campus, denouncing thedeath penalty, trying to end theUnited States embargo against Cuba,^[28] fostering political courage among his students, promoting an amendment to theUnited States Constitution to end theelectoral college, and attempting to limit the president to a single six-year term of office. During the electoral college fiasco that followed the2000 election, Simon said: "I think if somebody gets the majority vote, they should be president. But, I don't think the system is going to be changed."

Simon was the brother ofArthur Simon, founder ofBread for the World. On April 21, 1960, Simon marriedJeanne Hurley Simon, a member of the Illinois state legislature.^[29] It was the first time in Illinois history that two sitting members of theIllinois General Assembly married. She was an integral part of her husband's rise to national prominence. She later became a successful lawyer, author, andchair ofNational Commission on Libraries and Information Science. She died in February 2000 of brain cancer.^[30] Upon her death, Illinois SenatorDick Durbin delivered a tribute to Mrs. Simon on the Senate floor.^[31] Their daughter,Sheila Simon, became the 46thlieutenant governor of Illinois in January, 2011. She previously served as a councilwoman inCarbondale, Illinois and was a law professor atSouthern Illinois University.^[32] In May 2001, Simon remarried to Patricia Derge, the widow of formerSouthern Illinois University President David Derge.

Simon appeared onSaturday Night Live with host and singerPaul Simon (no relation) on December 19, 1987. Also on SNL, Simon was played byAl Franken who would later become a senator himself. Simon made a briefcameo appearance as himself in the 1993 political comedy filmDave.

In 1996 Simon was awardedAmerican Library Association Honorary Membership. Simon was inducted as a Laureate ofThe Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state's highest honor) by the governor of Illinois in 1998 in the area of Government.^[33] In 1999, Simon received The Lincoln Forum'sRichard Nelson Current Award of Achievement.^[34]

External videos
Funeral service for former Senator Paul Simon, December 14, 2003,C-SPAN

Simon died inSpringfield, Illinois, on December 9, 2003, at the age of 75 followingheart surgery.WBBM-TV reported his death as a "massive gastric blow-out". Just four days before, despite being hospitalized and awaiting surgery, he had endorsedHoward Dean's 2004 presidential bid via a telephone conference call he conducted from his hospital bed.^[35] He was also an early supporter ofBarack Obama's2004 Senate bid. After Simon's death, his daughter, Sheila, made a television commercial in which she declared "Barack Obama will be a U.S. Senator in the Paul Simon tradition." The ad was considered a major reason for Obama's surprise victory in the Democratic primary. In the Senate, Obama praised Simon as a "dear friend".^[36]

In July 2005, the Paul Simon Historical Museum was opened inTroy, Illinois, where Simon lived for 25 years. It included memorabilia from throughout his life, including the desk and camera from his days as a young editor of theTroy Tribune, items from his presidential campaign, and his lieutenant governor license plates.^[37] The museum closed in June 2012 due to lack of funding.^[38] Paul Simon Chicago Job Corps is a government funding school in which was named after him. PSCJC is located in the city of Chicago in Little Village on South Kedzie Ave and is available to people between the ages of 16–24 who are looking to better themselves and create a positive future for themselves.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPaul Simon (politician).

• United States Congress."Paul Simon (id: S000423)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-07-20
• Senator Paul Simon PapersArchived 2020-10-30 at theWayback Machine at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections Research Center
• Jeanne Hurley Simon PapersArchived 2020-10-30 at theWayback Machine at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections
• U.S. Senator Paul Simon Museum
• Paul Simon Public Policy Institute
• CNN obituary
• Paul Simon Tribute in Daily Egyptian
• "Paul Simon".Find a Grave. Retrieved2008-07-20.
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