George Ryan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George Ryan
Official portrait, 1987
39th Governor of Illinois
In office January 11, 1999 – January 13, 2003
Lieutenant	Corinne Wood
Preceded by	Jim Edgar
Succeeded by	Rod Blagojevich
36th Secretary of State of Illinois
In office January 14, 1991 – January 11, 1999
Governor	Jim Edgar
Preceded by	Jim Edgar
Succeeded by	Jesse White
42nd Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
In office January 10, 1983 – January 14, 1991
Governor	Jim Thompson
Preceded by	Dave O'Neal (1981)
Succeeded by	Bob Kustra
65th Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office January 14, 1981 – January 10, 1983
Preceded by	William A. Redmond
Succeeded by	Arthur A. Telcser
Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office January 12, 1977 – January 14, 1981
Preceded by	James R. Washburn
Succeeded by	Mike Madigan
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 43rd district
In office January 10, 1973 – January 10, 1983
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Judy Baar Topinka
Personal details
Born	George Homer Ryan (1934-02-24)February 24, 1934 Maquoketa, Iowa, U.S.
Died	May 2, 2025(2025-05-02) (aged 91) Kankakee, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Lura Lowe ​ ​ (m. 1956; died 2011)​
Children	6
Education	Ferris State University (BS)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Service years	1954–1956

George Homer Ryan (February 24, 1934 – May 2, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and as lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991. He was later convicted of federal racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering, and tax fraud stemming from his time in office.

Ryan was elected governor in 1998, narrowly defeating Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard. He received national attention for his 2000 moratorium on executions in Illinois and for commuting more than 160 death sentences to life sentences in 2003. He chose not to run for reelection in 2002 amid a scandal. He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement. He was released from federal prison on July 3, 2013.

Early life

George Homer Ryan was born in Maquoketa, Iowa to Jeannette (née Bowman) and Thomas Ryan, a pharmacist. Ryan grew up in Kankakee County, Illinois. After serving in the U.S. Army in Korea, he worked for his father's two drugstores. He attended Ferris State College of Pharmacy (now Ferris State University) in Big Rapids, Michigan. Eventually, he built his father's pair of pharmacies into a successful family-run chain (profiting from lucrative government-contract business selling prescription drugs to nursing homes) which he sold in 1990. Ryan was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. He served a 13-month tour in Korea, working in a base pharmacy.

On June 10, 1956, Ryan married his high school sweetheart, Lura Lynn Lowe (July 5, 1934 – June 27, 2011), whom he had met in a high school English class. She grew up in Aroma Park, where her family (originally from Germany) had lived since 1834. Her father owned one of the first hybrid seed companies in the United States. The couple had five daughters (including a set of triplets); Julie, Joanne, Jeanette, Lynda and Nancy; and one son, George Homer Ryan, Jr.

Lura Lowe died of lung cancer at Riverside Hospital in Kankakee on June 27, 2011. Ryan's brother, Tom, was a prominent political figure in Kankakee County. In addition, Ryan's sister Kathleen Dean's former son-in-law, Bruce Clark, is the Kankakee County, Illinois Clerk.

Early political career

Ryan began his political career by serving on the Kankakee County Board from 1968 to 1973 (his brother Tom J. Ryan was Mayor of Kankakee for 20 years from 1965 to 1985). He was then elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1972, where he served five terms. In 1976, he was elected House Minority Leader. As Minority Leader, Ryan led Republicans to win a 91-86 majority in the House in 1980; he was subsequently elected Speaker in January 1981.

Ryan in 1989

In July 1981, Dave O'Neal, the lieutenant governor under Republican Governor James R. Thompson, resigned unexpectedly. To fill in the vacancy left by O'Neal's resignation, Thompson selected Ryan to be his running mate in the 1982 election. The Thompson/Ryan ticket narrowly defeated the Democratic ticket of Adlai Stevenson III and Grace Stern. Thompson and Ryan were both reelected to their positions in 1986. In 1990, Ryan was elected Secretary of State of Illinois. During his first term as Secretary of State, then–State Treasurer Pat Quinn was publicly critical of Ryan, specifically drawing attention to special vanity license plates that Ryan's office provided for clout-hungry motorists. This rivalry led Quinn in a failed bid to challenge Ryan in the 1994 general election for Secretary of State.

Governor of Illinois

Ryan with Phil Crane and Richard M. Daley

On August 30, 1997, incumbent governor Jim Edgar announced he would retire after his second term; three days later, Ryan announced his candidacy for governor. He won the Republican nomination with minimal opposition and defeated his opponent, Glenn Poshard, in the general election by a 51–47 percent margin. Ryan's running mate was first-term state representative Corinne Wood. Ryan outspent Poshard by a 4-to-1 margin. Poshard, a firm believer in campaign finance reform, placed limits on individual donations and refused to accept donations from corporate or special interests.

One of Ryan's pet projects as governor was an extensive repair of the Illinois Highway System called "Illinois FIRST". FIRST was an acronym for "Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools, and Transit". Signed into law in May 1999, the law created a $6.3 billion package for use in school and transportation projects. With various matching funds programs, Illinois FIRST provided $2.2 billion for schools, $4.1 billion for public transportation, another $4.1 billion for roads, and $1.6 billion for other projects. He also improved Illinois's technology infrastructure, creating one of the first cabinet-level Offices of Technology in the country and bringing up Illinois's technology ranking in a national magazine from 48th out of the 50 states when he took office to 1st just two years later. Ryan committed record funding to education, including 51% of all new state revenues during his time in office, in addition to the billions spent through Illinois FIRST that built and improved schools and education infrastructure. In 1999, Ryan sparked controversy by becoming the first sitting U.S. Governor to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Ryan's visit led to a $1 million donation of humanitarian aid, but drew criticism from anti-Castro groups. In 2000, Ryan served as a chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.

Capital punishment

Ryan helped to renew the national debate on capital punishment when, as governor, he declared a moratorium on his state's death penalty on January 31, 2000.

Ryan won praise from death penalty opponents: as early as 2001, he received the Mario Cuomo Act of Courage Award from Death Penalty Focus, in 2003 the Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award from the same organization. On the other side of the Atlantic, Robert Badinter, who had successfully introduced the bill abolishing the death penalty in France in 1981 praised Ryan's decision.

Death

Ryan died at his home in Kankakee on May 2, 2025, at the age of 91. He had been in hospice care for several days.

Electoral history