Rod Blagojevich is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon. He served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to his 2009 impeachment following charges of public corruption. He was impeached in 2009, later convicted, and ultimately sentenced to 14 years in prison. President Donald Trump formally commuted his sentence in 2020. In May 2020, BlagoJevich launched a politics-themed podcast called “The Lightning Rod”
About Rod Blagojevich in brief
Rod Blagojevich is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon. He served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to his 2009 impeachment following charges of public corruption for which he was later sentenced to federal prison. He was impeached in 2009, later convicted, and ultimately sentenced to 14 years in prison. President Donald Trump formally commuted his sentence in 2020. In May 2020, BlagoJevich launched a politics-themed podcast called \”The Lightning Rod\” on WLS-AM 890. He is married to Patricia Mell, the daughter of former Chicago alderman Richard Mell. His father, Radislav, was an immigrant steel plant laborer from a village near Kragujevac, Serbia. His mother, Mila, was a Bosnian Serb, whose family was originally from Gacko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His nickname in the family was \”Milorad,\” which some have mistakenly thought to be his name at birth. He does not have a middle name, but uses the initial \”R\” in honor of his deceased father. He has a brother, Rob, who worked as a fund-raiser for Blago jevich in his later political career. He played basketball in high school, and participated in two fights after training as a Golden Gloves boxer. He trained under Jerry Marzillo in Chicago’s Golden Gloves competition. He had an amateur boxing career spanned 13 months and included some matches at the St. Andrews Gym in Chicago.
He also worked as Cook County Assistant State Attorney under Richard M. Kron-in-law. In 1992, he clerked for Chicago Alderman Edward Vrdolyk. In 1994, he was appointed Cook County State’s Attorney’s Assistant. In 1996, he took a job as Cook State’s Assistant Attorney under Illinois State Attorney Richard Daley, specializing in domestic abuse, weapons, and felony felony cases. In 1997, he served as a congressman for Illinois’s 5th congressional district for six years, winning re-election twice. In 1998, he represented Illinois’s 33rd state house district in the Illinois House of Representatives where he passed mostly law and order policies. In 2000, he became the first Democrat to win the office since 1973 to serve as Illinois governor. In 2003, he won a second term as governor, the first Democrats to do so since 1973. In 2008, he attempted to solicit bribes to occupy the U.S. Senate seat vacated by then president-elect Barack Obama. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him to the position of assistant attorney general. In 2010, he resigned from his position as Solicitor General of the United States. In 2011, he ran for governor again and was elected to the Illinois State Senate. In 2012, he lost the Illinois Senate seat to a Republican, Tammy Duckworth. In 2013, he announced that he would not seek a third term in the state legislature.
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