Paul Simon

A Representative and Senator from Illinois; born in Eugene (OR) November 29, 1928; attended the public schools of Eugene and Concordia Academy High School, Portland (OR); attended the University of Oregon, Eugene 1945-1946 and Dana College, Blair (NE) 1946-1948; pursued career as a newspaper editor and publisher in Troy (IL), eventually building a chain of fourteen weeklies; served in the United States Army 1951-1953; teacher at Sangamon State University, Springfield (IL) 1972-1973, and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government 1973; served in the Illinois house of representatives 1955-1963 and in the Illinois State senate 1963-1968; lieutenant governor of Illinois 1969-1973; author; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth Congress in 1974 and reelected to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975-January 3, 1985); was not a candidate for reelection in 1984 to the House of Representatives, but was elected to the United States Senate; reelected in 1990 and served from January 3, 1985, to January 3, 1997; was not a candidate for reelection in 1996; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988; director, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Southern Illinois University, 1997-2003; was a resident of Carbondale (IL) until his death following heart surgery in Springfield on December 9, 2003.