Icon of the State
Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,
Can be writ the nation's glory, Illinois, Illinois,
On the record of thy years,
Abraham Lincoln's name appears....
Item #164 – Poster, Illinois Republican State Convention. “Direction for the 90s”.
Representing Elmhurst in party epicenter DuPage County, Lee A. Daniels galvanized Illinois Republicans at a time when Democrats had made significant state policy inroads. Like GOP icon Abraham Lincoln, he symbolically sacrificed himself in 1975 by voting for the opposition in order to break a stalemate and unite “a House divided”. He wrested the Speaker position from Michael Madigan in 1995, when this campaign poster likely debuted. Daniel’s adroit rhetoric when engaging Madigan mirrored the mordant rivalry of Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. The poster is autographed by Sue Stockton, then graphic designer to the General Assembly’s Republican Senate Caucus.