Preceded by Warren Wright | Spouse Shirley Stratton Name William Stratton Succeeded by Otto Kerner, Jr. | |
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Preceded by John C. Martin & Thomas V. Smith Previous office Governor of Illinois (1953–1961) | ||
Preceded by Adlai E. Stevenson II | ||
Changing Illinois Politics 1975-2000 – Part 1
Changing Illinois Politics 1975-2000 – Part 2
William Grant Stratton (February 26, 1914 – March 2, 2001), known as "Billy the Kid", was the 32nd Governor of Illinois from 1953 to 1961, succeeding Adlai Stevenson II in that office.
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Born February 26, 1914 in Ingleside, Lake County, Illinois, the son of William J. Stratton, an Illinois politician, and Zula Van Wormer Stratton, he served two non-consecutive terms as an at-large Congressman from Illinois, elected in 1940 and 1946. He was elected State Treasurer in 1944 and 1950. He won the Republican nomination for governor in 1952, then defeated Lt. Governor Sherwood Dixon to become the youngest governor in America at that time.
Stratton was re-elected governor in 1956. In 1960 he ran for an unprecedented third consecutive term, but was defeated by Democrat Otto Kerner, Jr.
Stratton was acquitted on charges of tax evasion in 1965. In 1968, he ran in the Republican primary for Governor and was defeated by Richard B. Ogilvie. Stratton finished a distant third, with only about seven percent of the primary vote.
In retirement, Stratton resided in Chicago. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Illinois Civil Service Commission.
He died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on March 2, 2001, aged 87. Among his pallbearers were his successors as governor, James R. Thompson, Jim Edgar, and George Ryan.
The following are named in his honor: