Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson has died. He was 84. Thompson's prosecutions of public officials in a state infamous for public corruption helped catapult him to become Illinois' longest-serving chief executive.
His wife, Jayne, told the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times that he died Friday night at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.
The Tribune, citing a police report, reported Thompson had been recovering there for several weeks after suffering heart problems.
Thompson was a Republican from Chicago who was first elected in 1976. He served four terms. A moderate, he managed the state through recession years in the 1980s.
