1 or 2 in the nation for having the most, you know, indicted and convicted public officials. SIMON: Well, I have to ask 'cause in periodic surveys, Illinois - I don't have to tell you this - is usually No. Well, when I buy my shoes, I buy them in bags. And the other had shoeboxes full of cash discovered after he died - Paul Powell. And in fact, one ended up going to prison. And let me put this nicely - a couple of your predecessors made the most of that, didn't they? Responsibilities of secretary of state does not include elections, unlike many other states, but it does include driver's licenses. And then, I was the Cook County recorder of deeds for six years, played professional baseball, jumped out of airplanes, taught school, and coached a team called Jesse White Tumblers. But prior to becoming the secretary of state, I was a state lawmaker. I want to thank the people of this wonderful state for allowing me to serve. WHITE: (Laughter) Well, I've had the great pleasure of serving as the Illinois secretary of state for the past 24 years. And it just occurred to me - there are millions of people who will be looking at their driver's licenses or state ID cards and wondering, wait, why isn't Jesse White's name here? But it's the secretary of state that issues those ID cards. She didn't have a driver's license like me. SIMON: You know, I am looking at my mother's state ID card. Secretary of State White joins us from Chicago. He's been a champion of youth and literacy programs and tumbling - we'll get to that. He's the longest-serving person ever in that office, the first Black person to hold that office, and as popular a public official as the state that's produced Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, for that matter, has ever had. He's just 88 years old and has been secretary of state since 1999. Retired in Illinois - he wasn't indicted or defeated. Jesse White retired this week as Illinois secretary of state.
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