Kirk Dillard Interview # ISG-A-L-2009-030.01
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DePue: Let’s get back to being offered the chief of staff position. During this
conversation, did Edgar get into a discussion with you about what he sought
as the chief of staff, the kind of things he wanted you to bring to it?
Dillard: He said, “You need to help me transition between the Thompson
administration; we need to respectfully set up our own style of doing things.”
And I remember early on he talked about, “And the legislature’s crucial to my
first year.” I’m sure that’s why he chose me to be his chief of staff. I don’t
think I’m breaking confidences by saying I went in early, because I did not
know Governor Edgar that well and I had not worked for him as an employee.
I said, “What do I need to know about Jim Edgar?” And I remember he smiled
at me and said, “Contrary to what my staff tells you, Kirk, I take bad news
well, as long as I hear it from you or Mike Lawrence, my press secretary, and
don’t read about it on page one of the Tribune.” He smiled when he said it,
and it was true. Governor Edgar—and I’d have to give him bad news, as
would other staff—but if you gave him bad news, surprisingly, he wasn’t
happy but he would take it well. One thing I admire about Jim Edgar in this
business of politics is he never used profanity. The hardest word I think I ever
heard him say was “golly” or “jiminy.” He would never, he would not raise
his voice—and he would say, “Wow, how could we screw up like that?”
(laughter) But he was fine. He did take bad news well.
Then he also said, “I’m not Jim Thompson,” and he went into several
things. You asked me about the parades, and that would be one of them.
You’d never see Jim Edgar ever put on a hat. He would hold a hat if
somebody gave it to him, but he wouldn’t put it on. The way he traveled and
the way he dressed was very different than Jim Thompson, and he liked his
briefings a little shorter, where Thompson would read very, very lengthy
memos.
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Governor Edgar didn’t require it because he really knew the subject
of state government better than anybody that worked for him. We didn’t have
to have massive briefings; and you didn’t have to have them for Thompson
either, but Thompson was used to, as a lawyer and a professor, reading a lot
more. But the Edgar style, I got used to.
Another thing he told me is that when Mrs. Edgar was not happy then
Governor Edgar would not be happy. (laughter) I laughed at that, and I
understand that completely! And that food—it was interesting and we kid him
about it—food and the regimen of food, and when will lunch be, what will it
be, when will it be… Governor Edgar was like my wife’s family: somebody
who wanted to know what time they were going to eat and what it was going
to be for the day. So there were just certain nuances, and they worked well;
and actually Jim Edgar was an easy gentleman, in retrospect, to work for, as
was Jim Thompson.
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In fact, the first time he met Thompson, Edgar did not think very highly of his style of dress. Jim Edgar,
interview by Mark DePue, June 9, 2009, 55. For the relationship between Edgar’s work at a clothing store and
his personal style, see Jim Edgar, interview by Mark DePue, May 22, 2009, 12. See also, Jim Edgar, interview
by Mark DePue, May 29, 2009, 42, for his thoughts on the evolution of his fashion choices during campaigns.