Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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Q: Well, I haven't heard it . . . A: Judicial reform. We could amend the Constitution . . . Q: It was a change in the Constitution. Now the Gateway Amendment was back in - passed in, what? 1949 or 1951 right in there. Do you recall anything ahout the passage of the Gateway Amendment? A: Well was that the amendment that gave us the power to change the Constitution by twothirds votes or what? Q: Right. It reduced the requirement for the number of . . . A: Well I recall that. Sure, we go back to the constitutional convention. The Gateway Amendment at that time was supposed to have takcn the place of tho constitutional convention that Stevenson wanted so bad. Q: Oh I see. A: And that was a compromise I think that the Gateway Amendment came out of. Q: How did you keep track of what bills were going to bc up, what were coming up? You had a calendar I think that . . . A: Well you had a calendar and - later on, in order to take care of the - this didn't happen my first or second session, you had an indication of the day before what was going to be called that day. That came much later. Well we just had the calendar and you would listen to debates and read your various legislation, and the calendar was increased in size as the session wore on, but there wasn't . . . Q: How useful was the [Legislative] Synopsis and Digest that came out weekly? A: Well they were good. I referred - I'd forgotten about that. Surc thcy werp good and I - that was the responsibility of the - was that Finkle's outfit'! or was that . . . Q: Yes, Finkle's. A: Yes, that was good. You had that - I'd forgotten about that. I don't havr any of those left. Boy, each - hcre's something now that you mentioned that. When I first went there I think that - I know they done that - every sitting member of thc assembly got a set of statutes, you know. That was a fringe benefit and I learned to read that fairly well and you could look up and see what - I studied that. As I mentioned in my first srssion I had five months of free time, and I learned to read thos~ statutes. I'd take mine and go down to the library and pore through it and, oh, I sought help. I had different lawyers that I knew that I would check with and - but . . . Q: What would you look for while you were reading the statutes? A: Well - in that Synopsis, didn't they give the revision of what the bill done'! They - sure they said something - did you ever see one? T'm surc you did. Q: Yes. A: Didn't they - Rill 102, House Bill 102, they carricd it undcr their synopsis of what - I mean, didn't they give you - before thcy gave you the synopsis, they gave you thc nurnher and the page and the line and the verse it was changing, didn't they?
Q: Oh I see. A: I think they'd do that. I think they still do that. Q: So you would then refer to the statute. A: Yes. I learned that and 1 was always pretty able to catch on in my younger years and I could listen and decide, and of course it would he discussed in party caucus and I believe in party caucuses and T believe if you're not going to follow the decision of the caucus that you should tell them so. And as time wore on there were always debates in caucus but you generally came out of there with a pretty clear cut idea of what you were going to do. Q: Did you have any good luck charms that you put on your desk? A: No. No I never did. No 1 didn't have anything that - I said my prayers I guess. I don't have any now. I have a St. Christopher medal in my car, in both of our cars, I have that. Q: I see, yes sir. (chuckles) A: No I had no good luck charm. No, I guess gws do, but I didn't have. We didn't have offices then of course. We didn't have offices for a long time. Q: Well how did you go about traveling back and forth to Springfield normally? A: Oh I rode the train the biggest part of the time. And as I've mentioned I rode the bus a couple of times. I'd go up the night before the session and hack . . . Q: Were there people you rode with normally? A: I'd see Harris and Hodge occasionally. I think Hodge always rode the forward car. I'm sure he did. Hodge was a freer spender than I was. John Ilewis, who later on became Speaker, and a Republican, and a very learned man I thought. He and I got along fine. And he paid me a terrific compliment. He said, "Leland," he says, "you're a good public official." And I'll always remember that because I needed that compliment that day. Of course the trains were running very frequently then and he'd come in from wherever he lived, I guess in east Illinois, and come into St. Louis and get the Chicago-bound train. And I'd meet him on it. It just seemed like we'd - not intentionally - he'd be on there and I'd be on there. I didn't know him at first. I didn't know everybody you know, 154 guys. I thought, "I've seen that guy before." And hell, it took about seventy minutes to get to Springfield and they'd bring coffee through then in those days or we'd go into the cafe or cafeteria - or whatever they called - it wasn't a dining car. They might have had one, but they also had a canteen - and talk. And he was a farmer, and he was just an auctioneer and he talked like one, and he was a very interesting man and I had a lot of respect for him. My original acquaintance with John Lewis was made not on the assembly floor but in traveling back and forth to Springfield. Now 1 didn't ride back with him too often. Maybe the train 1 caught didn't make connections in St. Louis with his train, so he'd go at a different time. SESSION 7, TAPE 14, SIDE 2 A: 1 think at that time - well I'm sure that some air traffic was on but most everybody came by train. I really believe that the fellows upstate - oh I'm sure there was some drove, but I believe the bulk of the General Assembly came by train. That would have to be above Springfield. 1 suppose those below Springfield in most cases drove up. But Chicago always
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University of Illinois at Springfie
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ILLINOIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ORAL HIST
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Preface This oral history of Leland
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Volume I Leland J. Kennedy SESSION
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next to us was a duplex house and a
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Q: Were these family meals that she
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I was awful fascinated by politics.
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Q: Yes sir. (chuckles) What part of
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that much about it, about the makeu
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out and there was the number of my
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A: Well. Yes, I always remember one
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Q: Was it a paddle wheeler or what
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een that far back, in that era, may
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that wanted to take roomers or boar
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A: As you go by, that's the Alton W
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Q: Oh? Were you a pretty good corn
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A: Maybe it makes good talking to m
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A: The Fourth of July and Christmas
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A: I mean his wife is I think, and
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golden handshake. They'd give you m
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A: . . . and the twenty-five. But y
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day I would say that half of the fo
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Young Democrat convention, elected
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in Edwardsville, and you had to pay
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- and we were for Smith, and fighti
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work. I never was drafted for nothi
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more German than I was I guess. (la
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Of course there were war clouds han
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A: Twice a month. Q: Twice a month?
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There was neighbor against neighbor
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A: And they did, so that's . . . Q:
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SESSION 4, TAPE 7, SIDE 2 Q: That w
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' I 59 you couldn't get across that
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A: Well they didn't have none of th
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A: Oh no, never saw any. I saw some
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VOTE FOR LELAND J. KENNEDY DEMOCRAT
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Q: Now when you first went in did y
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A: A port of embarkation or for sup
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A: Oh yes. I'm sorry about that now
Page 81 and 82: A: Alright. August. I'll tell you -
Page 83 and 84: And he got out before I did, but he
Page 85 and 86: A: No no, never said a word. Oh the
Page 87 and 88: though. He was a good talker, and o
Page 89 and 90: play cards or just talk. Women like
Page 91 and 92: Q: Yes sir. A: We had a strike in s
Page 93 and 94: Of course you'd have a lot of lawye
Page 95 and 96: A: Well that was - that was the bes
Page 97 and 98: polls in a particular city and he's
Page 99 and 100: Q: Yes. A: Bond never did like bein
Page 101 and 102: wife and family when you're out, or
Page 103 and 104: of Illinois) library and muse aroun
Page 105 and 106: A: Well legislative process, commit
Page 107 and 108: A: Yes I think so, had a column. We
Page 109 and 110: A: Well I recall - I guess they're
Page 111 and 112: state central committeeman. Now sta
Page 113 and 114: not an Italian name, but what those
Page 115 and 116: Q: Oh? WOKZ in Alton, Illinois? A:
Page 117 and 118: This is going back, and I don't hav
Page 119 and 120: had twelve in the pool. I think it
Page 121 and 122: Q: Oh is that right? A: Oh my first
Page 123 and 124: a federal gasoline tax thirty years
Page 125 and 126: Q: No sir, no sir. Well let's see,
Page 127 and 128: they changed those desks after reap
Page 129 and 130: Q: He started that in the 1951 sess
Page 131: That wasn't a bone of contention a
Page 135 and 136: Talking about lodging, 1'11 always
Page 137 and 138: his wife's sister. Of course they w
Page 139 and 140: A: Oh did she? Q: Yes. A: Well some
Page 141 and 142: And a lot of those people are all g
Page 143 and 144: I believe there's a lot of that fam
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Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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