Jim Dey: Veteran pol pours out his past in autobiography

Aug. 31—Four months ago, the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children announced another round of grants — 29 of them — to a variety of social-services agencies located in Southern Illinois.

Days like that thrill Glenn Poshard, foundation founder, former state and federal legislator, 1998 Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee and former president of Southern Illinois University.

"That's our reason for getting up in the morning. We do a lot of things to take care of these kids," Poshard said of himself and his wife, Jo.

Over the last few weeks, Poshard has had another reason to get up.

Now 77, he's been promoting his autobiography — "Son of Southern Illinois" — by holding book signings, doing readings and answering questions.

It's been a trip down memory lane that includes events that he'd forgotten but were ferreted out by co-author and longtime newsman Carl Walworth.

"He did a lot reporting. He pretty much went through everything," Poshard said of his co-author.

Poshard has led a long and productive life, and the book goes into revealing detail about:

* His childhood in a poverty-stricken area of White County, located on the edge of the Shawnee National Forest. His parents both had only third-grade educations, but Poshard said they "did what they could to raise five children." The family attended church four days a week.

* His early schooling and high school graduation. On his 17th birthday, Poshard enlisted in the U.S. Army, served from 1962 to 1965, and earned G.I. Bill benefits that allowed him to go to college. He calls it "one of the best things I did in my life."

* The nervous breakdown he suffered at 26, during his second year of teaching school, a setback he attributed to the depression and anxiety he felt after a series of personal losses that included the death of his sister and three close friends in an automobile accident. He said ill-advised electroshock treatments almost killed him.

* Being interested in government because of his solid-Democrat father and inspired to go into politics by his hero — President John F. Kennedy.

* His run for governor and narrow loss to former Republican Gov. George Ryan. That's when political opponents threatened to — but ultimately did not — make his electroshock treatment public. After Ryan left office in 2003, he was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to prison.

* His lengthy, sometimes difficult tenure from 2006-2014 as president of SIU.

It's been quite a ride.

Poshard said his family was poor, but so was everyone else.

"We had ways of getting by. We had a huge garden," he said, recalling that his disabled father generated income by trapping animals, like mink, and selling their pelts.

Poshard said it was his older brother, not his parents, who emphasized the importance of education.

His father — Louis Ezra Poshard — sparked Poshard's interest in politics by taking him to the polls on election nights and discussing public issues at home.

Calling government a force for doing good, Poshard said he always knew he wanted to pursue elective office. He first became involved in county party politics, where he occasionally rubbed shoulders with Paul Powell, the legendary Southern Illinois politician who was secretary of state when he died in 1970.

Investigators later discovered shoe boxes filled with cash in Powell's hotel room closet, ill-gotten gains from his career in politics.

Poshard recalled his dad was such an ardent Democrat that he contended someone must have planted the money to discredit Powell.

"That was my dad's idea, not mine," he said with a laugh.

Poshard disclosed his mental-health issues because he wanted to be open about his life and thought someone might benefit from his admonition that people need to face up to their personal losses and setbacks.

He said subsequent treatment by a female veterans affairs psychiatrist "helped me understand you don't bury that stuff."

"She literally saved my life," Poshard said.

As for the electroshock treatments, Poshard said the adverse side effects were just part of the problem. As he climbed the political ladder, he feared disclosure could derail his career, like it did to former Missouri U.S. Sen. Tom Eagleton's vice presidential nomination in 1972.

He said unidentified political opponents obtained his medical records when he was running for governor in 1998. Communicating to him through a county Democratic chairman Poshard knew, they tried to force him out of the race.

Poshard said he refused to withdraw, and the story never became public. But he said there was a "whispering campaign" about it.

During that campaign, liberal Democrats made it clear they objected to Poshard's anti-abortion position, and it clearly cost him votes.

But he said another negative was his opposition to a third Chicago-area airport at Peotone, a proposal supported by Democrats U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his father. He said he could tell by reviewing Chicago voting patterns that they used their influence to reduce his support among Black voters.

These days, Poshard is still active in politics, serving as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. But he said Southern Illinois, once a bastion of Democratic support, has turned solid Republican.

He attributed the decline in Democratic support to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's plan to expand party support in the suburbs by focusing his attention on urban areas and de-emphasizing less-populated rural areas downstate.

While disappointed with that trend, Poshard said he is most disturbed by today's slash-and-burn politics.

"People who dwell on the extremes are the ones who get publicized. Today, we're seeing people who don't want to sit down and talk to each other. That's not going to serve us well," he said.