When then-Gov. Jim Thompson tried to recruit Jim Ryan to run for Illinois attorney general in 1985 just a year after Mr. Ryan had been elected DuPage County state’s attorney, Mr. Ryan said no, feeling he wasn’t ready yet. The cautious decision set Mr. Ryan apart in a political landscape of often brash and ambitious personalities.
James E. Ryan, a two-term Illinois attorney general from 1995-2003 who twice ran unsuccessfully for governor, died Sunday “after several lengthy illnesses,” according to a family statement published in the DuPage Policy Journal. He was 76.