Richard M. Daley | |
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43rd Mayor of Chicago | |
In office April 24, 1989 – May 16, 2011 |
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Preceded by | Eugene Sawyer |
Succeeded by | Rahm Emanuel |
Cook County State's Attorney | |
In office 1980–1989 |
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Preceded by | Bernard Carey |
Succeeded by | Cecil Partee |
Illinois State Senator from the 23rd district |
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In office 1972–1980 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Richard Michael Daley April 24, 1942 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Margaret Daley (m. 1971; d. 2011) |
Children | Nora Daley Conroy Patrick R. Daley Elizabeth Daley Kevin Daley (deceased) |
Residence | Chicago, Illinois |
Alma mater |
De La Salle Institute DePaul University Providence College |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Signature | ![]() |
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician, who served as the 43rd Mayor of Chicago, Illinois from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was re-elected five times until declining to run for a seventh term. At 22 years, he was the longest-serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his father, Richard J. Daley.
As Mayor, Daley took over the Chicago Public Schools, developed tourism, oversaw the construction of Millennium Park, increased environmental efforts and the rapid development of the city's central business district downtown and adjacent near North, near South and near West sides. He also expanded employee benefits to same-sex partners of city workers, and advocated for gun control. Daley was a national leader in privatization and the lease and sale of public assets to private corporations.
Daley received criticism when family, personal friends, and political allies seemed to disproportionately benefit from city contracting. He took office in a city with regular annual budget surpluses and left the city with massive structural deficits. His budgets ran up the largest deficits in Chicago history. Prior to serving as mayor, Daley served in the Illinois Senate and then as the Cook County State's Attorney. Police use of force was an issue in Daley's tenures as state's attorney and mayor.
Richard M. Daley is the fourth of seven children and eldest son of Richard J. and Eleanor Daley, the late Mayor and First Lady of Chicago. Daley was raised in Bridgeport, a historically Irish-American neighborhood located on Chicago's South Side. Daley is a brother of William M. Daley, former White House Chief of Staff and former United States Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton; John P. Daley, a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and chairman of the Board's Finance Committee; and Michael Daley, an attorney with Daley & Georges, a law firm founded by their father Richard J. Daley, that specializes in zoning law and is often hired by developers to help get zoning changes through city hall. Daley was married to Margaret "Maggie" Corbett until her death on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011 after a decade-long battle with metastatic breast cancer, which had spread to her bones and liver; Maggie Daley Park in the Chicago Loop commemorates her. They have four children: Nora, Patrick, Elizabeth and Kevin, all born at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago. Their second son, Kevin, died at age two of complications from spina bifida in 1981.