From Answering to the Ward Boss to Answering to the Warden

Dan Rostenkowski, who maintained the finest standards of Chicago politics, has died of cancer at the age of 82. In the halcyon days when elected leaders reached across the political aisle to line their own pockets instead of adhering mindlessly to partisanship, Rostenkowski was among Congress’ most skilled practitioners, parlaying his deal making skills into the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, but his interest in philately helped usher in the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. Federal investigators determined that he had bought $22,000 in stamps from the House post office with public money and converted them to cash, had 14 no-show employees on his payroll, and used office expense account to charge $40,000 in furniture, fine china and crystal among 14 counts that led to 15 months at Club Fed.