In politics, victory and accession to higher office is often determined by either shrewdly or fortuitously running for the right office at the right time.

            This right time/right office scenario usually leads to a plethora of might-have-been speculation. For example, had Rich Daley not run for mayor in 1983, and had he not drained white votes from incumbent Jane Byrne, then Harold Washington would not have won the mayoralty. If Byrne had won, then Washington’s death in 1987 would not have opened the door to Daley’s 1989 triumph. In fact, if Byrne had won, she might still be mayor. So, in hindsight, Daley’s 1983 run was smart politics; even though he lost, he ran at the right time for the right office, setting the stage for the right time was six years later.

            The recent federal indictments for bribery, conspiracy and tax fraud of three well-connected state Republicans – Don Udstuen, Roger Stanley, and Alan Drazek -- raises another delicious might-have-been: These guys could have been in the White House had Dick Ogilvie not been defeated for re-election as governor in 1972.

            Udstuen, Stanley and Drazek were among Ogilvie’s top political operatives, and were key players in the Ogilvie game plan, which was to win re-election in 1972, and then run for president in 1976, when President Richard Nixon’s second term expired.

            Ogilvie, who died in 1988 at age 65, was a shrewd political tactician who understood what Chicago Democrats have long known: Patronage is essential to winning elections. Ogilvie was elected Cook County sheriff in 1962, and county board president in 1966; he used the latter power base to run for governor in 1968, winning by just 127,794 votes over Democratic incumbent Sam Shapiro. Facing a budget crunch (much like the situation in 2002), Ogilvie proposed enactment of a state income tax on corporations and individuals, and got it passed in1969 by the Republican-controlled legislature (with help from the Democrats). Ogilvie’s popularity swiftly plummeted, but he still had three years to recover – which he fully expected he would do. Newspapers lionized his “courage,” but voters were incensed. Ogilvie hoped that their fury would subside by 1972.

            With over 5,000 state jobs at his disposal, Ogilvie aggressively set about rebuilding the Republican Party. Paul Powell died in 1971, and Ogilvie appointed a Republican as Secretary of State, which added another 3,000 jobs. In Chicago, long-dormant Republican ward organizations suddenly became energized, suffused with state workers compelled to work precincts, and with pro-Ogilvie Republican committeemen. Throughout the suburbs, and Downstate, ineffectual or anti-Ogilvie party leaders were purged and replaced.

As 1972 approached, it appeared that Paul Simon, then the state’s lieutenant governor, would be the Democratic nominee; Simon supported the income tax, so it took the bite out of the issue. Also, because Ogilvie had a good working relationship with then-Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, who had no affection for Simon, Ogilvie expected that Daley would not energetically work to defeat him.

            In the interim, Ogilvie was busy laying the groundwork for a national run. Udstuen and Drazek, then state personnel officials, were delegated the responsibility of founding and controlling the various Young Republican clubs, which existed in wards, townships and Downstate counties, and the College Republican clubs, which existed on every college campus. Udstuen was chief of state personnel, and Drazek is top assistant. Their job was fourfold: First, to make sure that every state jobholder reported to his or her local Republican committeeman, and worked a precinct. Second, to network with Young Republicans in other states, hyping Ogilvie’s accomplishments in Illinois, and touting him as a future national candidate. Third, to make sure that every state employee under age 35, from truck driver to bureaucrat to lawyer, got assigned to some Young Republican club somewhere, and did precinct work. And fourth, to get summer jobs and, if possible, scholarships, for worthy College Republicans, who would also work precincts. They did their job well, but Ogilvie still lost.

After his defeat, Ogilvie took care of his inner circle, getting Udstuen a job as top lobbyist for the Illinois State Medical Society, and setting up Drazek as a lobbyist on transit issues.

            Stanley, who grew up in Portage Park, was one of Ogilvie’s most effective political operatives. He was initially on the state payroll as a staff assistant to Republican House Speaker Ralph Smith, and later as an aide to the director of the bureau of employment security; after Ogilvie lost, he went on the payroll of Speaker Bob Blair. His 1972 assignment was to cement Ogilvie control in the 38th, 39th, 41st and 45th wards, and to elect Ed Scholl, then the 41st Ward alderman, as state senator in the 16th District. Stanley initiated and co-coordinated the Republican ward committeeman campaigns of pro-Ogilvie candidates Chester Lizak in the 45th Ward (who lost) and Peter Piotrowicz in the 39th Ward (who won). He was also Scholl’s campaign manager, and, with the benefit of a huge state patronage army, engineered a thumping Scholl victory, as Scholl beat incumbent Democrat Bob Egan by 12,814 votes (56.7 percent). Scholl lost his 1974 rematch against Egan by 2,860 votes, and was in 1975 convicted of taking bribes for a zoning change in his ward.

            But Ogilvie’s 1972 Democratic foe turned out to be Dan Walker, who beat Simon in the primary. Walker ran as an agent of “change,” and made Ogilvie’s income tax a major issue. Ogilvie’s bland and frosty personality contrasted unfavorably to Walker’s energy and conviviality. Daley did little to aid Walker, but Walker nevertheless squeaked by Ogilvie with a margin of 77,494 votes. That spelled an end to Ogilvie-for-President, although Ogilvie’s true believers hoped that he could come back in 1976, knock off Walker, and return to the presidential track.

            Never one to allow the grass to grow between his toes, Stanley quickly booked for the greener pastures of northwest suburban Cook County.  He got a job on Speaker Blair’s payroll, and moved from the Northwest Side to Streamwood, in Hanover Township. Using an army of state legislative payrollers, Stanley deposed the township’s Republican committeeman in 1974, replacing him with an ally, and got himself elected as a state representative in 1976.

            But Stanley’s self-absorption was becoming readily apparent. He was too egregiously taking care of Number One, was not building a loyal party base; his ally lost the Hanover Township committeeman’s job in 1978, and, in 1982, Stanley lost his bid for renomination as state representative in the primary. But, ever the survivor, Stanley reverted to being the El Supremo political operative. Recognizing the enormous monetary potential of the computerization of mailing lists, Stanley organized two companies: Universal Statistical Inc. (Unistat) and Midwest CompuService. His companies’ function was to generate up-to-date mailing lists, segregated by party affiliation and by frequency of voting. That became a gold mine, as Republican candidates, especially those for the state legislature (who were funded out of Springfield), used Stanley’s firm for their direct mail. Among Stanley’s clients were U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill), and the Illinois Senate and Illinois House Republican Campaign committees. The direct mail for State Senator Wally Dudycz’s 1988, 1992, 1996 and 1998 campaigns, which cost more than $3 million, was done by Stanley’s firm.

            But Stanley, known as “The Hog” for his avaricious pursuit of a buck, wasn’t satisfied to make millions off campaigns. He branched out into market analysis and surveys for Metra, the Chicago area’s commuter rail agency. When he did so, Drazek was then a Metra board member. Stanley’s firms billed $2.7 million from 1993 to 2001 to count passengers and conduct ridership surveys. The federal indictment of Stanley alleges that he paid  $130,000 in bribes to Udstuen to get those contracts, and that Drazek, who steered the contracts to Stanley’s companies, owned a piece of Stanley’s business, and got a share of the profits.

            While Illinoisans may be thankful that all this multi-million dollar venality and chicanery has not risen to the billion-busting level of Enron or MCI WorldCom,  Illinoisans may be even more thankful that Dan Walker won in 1972.  Had Ogilvie been re-elected, and had there been no Watergate, Ogilvie expected that he would have been up against Spiro Agnew (or his successor as vice-president) for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination. Ogilvie might have won the nomination and election.

            And, instead of the names Haldeman, Erlichman, Dean, Liddy, Magruder and Hunt being etched in the national public’s consciousness as a result of Watergate, it might have been Udstuen, Drazek and Stanley during an Ogilvie presidency. Thankfully, their damage was limited to just Illinois.