The Nation: Big Jim's Hat

In his four years as U.S. Attorney in Chicago, James R. ("Big Jim") Thompson has racked up a stunning crime-busting record. He has indicted 356 federal, state and local officials, as well as 89 Chicago policemen, winning conviction in 90% of the cases so far resolved. Among the most prominent were the conviction of former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner on charges of bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud, the conviction of six Chicago aldermen on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and bribery, and the successful prosecution of Mayor Richard Daley's press secretary on charges of mail fraud. A strapping (6 ft. 6 in.) blond bachelor, 39, Thompson has long seemed a natural for public office, and last week, on the day after he resigned as U.S. Attorney, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Governor of Illinois in 1976.

Thompson's opposition for the nomination, conservative Republican Richard Cooper, chairman of Weight Watchers of Chicago Inc., is thought to be negligible. Thompson's real challenge will be to defeat incumbent Democrat Daniel Walker, 52, a tough party maverick who walked the state to win election three years ago in defiance of Richard Daley's political machine. Along with his impressive track record, Thompson enters the race, according to a survey conducted by Market Opinion Research of Detroit Co., with a 75% statewide recognition factor and a job approval percentage of 80. In a recent telephone poll conducted in the nominally Democratic city of Rockford, northwest of Chicago, Thompson polled 44% to Walker's 40%.

But Thompson has never run for public office, and in addition to recruiting a staff and boning up on issues, he must be wary of Daley. The mayor is often at odds with Walker but is hardly a fan of Thompson's. The candidate was careful to point out as he made his announcement that he saw no reason for the mayor to conduct "a vendetta against me," adding that as a prosecutor he had never uttered "a single word of personal animus" against Daley.