Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

A: What's the date?
Q: November 4,1946.
A: No, that's not my first one, but that's the first time I was run. That's not my first
one. That was the night before the election.
Q: Well. And this appeared in what, the . . .
A: The Alton Telegraph.
Q: The Alton Telegraph, yes. Boy, that's a big one. Now how much would something like
that cost?
A: Oh, I don't think it cost much. 1 think it probably cost fifty dollars then, thirty years
ago. Thirty - that would be - this is 1982 - that would be thirty-six years ago. I think
the ad cost maybe fifty or sixty dollars. But talking about my . . .
Q: And you shared that with Joseph Barr then?
A: Joseph Rarr. He's a circuit judge now. He didn't win. I won. He got beat by Mac
Mueller, and that's when Monroe came back on the scene later on. Rut Barr in 1948 -
well here's an interesting - he was a young attorney. He was in my wedding party. We
became fast friends, still are. Rut he indicated some desire to run for thc assembly in 1948,
and he sent somebody to see me. I don't know whether he sent them, or they came on their
own. And I said, "Well I'm going to run." And they said, "What if Barr runs?" And I
said, "Well, I'll just have to run against him." And I didn't say it smart. And he said,
"You mean that don't you?" And I says, "Yes." And he said, "Well, that's all I wanted
to know." But they found a spot for Barr, they ran him for probate judge. Everybody liked
Joe. He had just had twins, and he needed the job. He was a lawyer without too much
of a practice, and he went in on the bench as probate judge and he's been over at
Edwardsville ever since. He's retiring this December. He's - well he'll be sixty-two. 1
believe he'll he sixty-two Halloween day.
Q: I'll be darned.
A: He was a World War highly decorated marine. He got the navy cross citation pin. He
was a lieutenant. A fighting lieutenant. And he often wonders how he got that. IIe very
seldom talks, but he says, "Christ, I think they lost everybody but probably a half a dozen
men." And he won't dwell on it much.
My first political ad. On that ticket was Harris and Kennedy and Rarr; on the Republican
ticket was Hodge and Vaughn and Mueller. And Mr. Vaughn was a watchman at the steelworks,
but he was born and raised in Greenville in Bond County. He'd been in six years
in the assembly, but he wasn't an incumbent at that time, but he'd served and he was trying
to get hack in, which is justifiable.
Q: Yes.
A: And he roomed and boarded right close to us. In the same precinct. Of course he voted
in Greenville. Rut I ran an ad in September just to see how I - I mentioned that I was
the only candidate from Alton seeking election to the house of representatives, and Vaughn
came back about a week later with an ad that he worked in Alton but lived in Rond
County. And, oh, it created some discussion between people in political circles but neither
one of us done it again, it was never done again.
Q: So that was one of your biggest fights then?