Edward Hanrahan

Who was Edward Hanrahan?

Edward Vincent Hanrahan was a Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney who had been groomed as a prospective successor to Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley whose career was effectively ended after an ill-fated 1969 raid by police attached to his office that resulted in the deaths of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and member Mark Clark.

Hanrahan was born in Coconut Grove, Florida and moved as a child to Chicago with his family. He attended the University of Notre Dame. During World War II he served in an intelligence role in the United States Army Signal Corps. After completing his military service, he attended Harvard Law School and earned his law degree in 1948.

Mayor of Chicago Richard J. Daley supported his successful bid for an appointment as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Hanrahan got the post after Daley told President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson "Let me say, Mr. President, with great pride and honor, he's a precinct captain". Running as a Democrat, he won a landslide election in 1968 as Cook County State's Attorney, winning support from White and African American voters.