Illinois: The High Cost of Politics

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The Government's view of what constituted legitimate political use differed widely from Stratton's. The prosecution recalled that Stratton built a $63,000 lodge overlooking the Sangamon River, spent $5,000 remodeling his family home. The defense countered that both lodge and family home were used for official entertainment. There was also a $4,750 houseboat that Stratton kept moored near the lodge. But Witness Fasseas testified that he and nine other Republicans bought the boat for Stratton as a birthday present and, besides, "meetings were going on constantly" aboard it—once a state Supreme Court justice fell overboard and had to be fished out of the drink.

Tuxedo & Brassières. The bookkeeper for a Chicago tailoring firm said that Stratton once paid $1,400 in cash for four suits and a tuxedo; the defense pointed out that Stratton was preparing for his inauguration. Clerks from several women's stores testified that Mrs. Stratton and Stratton's two grown daughters made cash purchases totaling thousands of dollars, mostly for dresses, shoes and undergarments. When a defense attorney objected that "there is not a scintilla of evidence as to their use," Judge Will said gently: "Do you mean you don't know what a brassière is for?" As for the dresses, including a $383 red satin inaugural-ball gown introduced into evidence, the defense solemnly reminded the jury: "Shirley Stratton was the First Lady of Illinois."

Other purchases included, according to the prosecution, oil portraits of Stratton and his wife (supposedly for Stratton's 1956 campaign), a spinet organ, a manure spreader for Stratton's farm, a European trip for one of his daughters, a magazine subscription (Realties) for Illinois' Republican Senator Everett Dirksen. The defense replied that such items were either gifts or related to Stratton's political career. Said Defense Counsel William Barnett: "It is hard to say that even his toothpaste was not a deductible expense."

Silver-Tongued Star. The star defense witness was none other than Ev Dirksen. In his most sonorous tones, sipping water to moisten his silver tongue, Dirksen said he had known Stratton "man and boy" since the defendant was 14, went on to relate the burdensome financial life of a politician. "I have never yet found a substitute for money," said Ev. "Carrying out the work and projecting an image obviously requires funds. I've clocked the demands made upon me over a period of six months, and it comes roughly to $100 a day in political and nonpolitical requests."