Victor De Grazia Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Q: . . . who needed a place to meet outside of the regular Democratic
party?
A: Right. And they were spread all over the state. And we had a
platform of reforms that we wanted to propose. Political reform is
really a fascinating thing. 1 became the executive director of the DFI.
And while I was executive director the granddaddy club in the country, a
liberal Democratic club, the Lexington Democratic Club in New York, were
celebrating their tenth anniversary and they asked me to come and be one
of the speakers. So, I spoke about what we were trying to do in Illinois
and how one of our greatest reform measures was that we were trying to
get the law changed so that we would elect precinct captains in Chicago
who would then elect their ward committeemen. And after I said that, I
sensed a strange reaction in the audience, and it was so obvious that T
stopped and I asked what was wrong. Well, it turned out that their big
reform was--they had that--they wanted to go to direct election of their
ward committeemen which we had, right? But their reform was the reverse.
Reform is just what you don't have. (laughter) In political
organizations at least.
Anyway, Arnold Maremont was treasurer of the DFT and he and I had become
friends, and he was very impressed with me as a person who was in
sympathy with his political views, and he was very influential in the
organization. And there was a convention here in Chicago to elect the
first permanent chairman of the DFI. Dan Walker was there and was
thinking of running. Maremont said to the Walker supporters that he
would underwrite my salary for a year if Dan Walker were the one who
became chairman. Because he felt that Walker was the best; as he was.
There was a great fight but, with that support, Dan Walker became elected
chairman. I was named executive director. And that was the beginning of
Dan and my close working relationship in politics, so this would be 1957
I guess. 1957, 1958 somewhere along there.
Q: And what was your title?
A: Executive Director. My first real memory of Dan Walker as a person
to admire was . . . we had our first statewide gathering down in
Bloomington. And we were expecting trouble from people who had opposed
us and we knew there would be all kinds of fights over the constitution
and all that sort of stuff. So, Dan and I arrived early and we spent
most of our time politicking with various people.
Q: This was after his election?
A: Yes. The first statewide meeting after his election. And so we were
meeting with various people and doing' the usual political thing we do.
It must have been, I'd say probably one-thirty, two o'clock in the
morning when we finished. And so we went up in the elevator and walked
down the hall and I said, "Well, goodnight Dan." And he said, "What do
you mean goodnight?" I said, "I'm going to bed." He said, "No, no,
we've got work to do." So, we went into his room and he took out two
black notebooks and gave me one. And in the notebook was listed, page by
page, every action that needed to be taken. And we went through that
book, page by page, decided, was that action the action we wanted taken,
and if so who should make the motion, who should second the motion, who