Thomas Donovan was a powerful patronage boss in the administrations of Mayors Richard J. Daley and Michael Bilandic before running the Chicago Board of Trade for 18 years.
“As patronage chief for both Daley and Bilandic, Donovan played a critical role in keeping the Daley political machine in power throughout the 1970s as well as keeping city government functioning under both mayors,” said former Ald. Dick Simpson, who led opposition to Daley.
Donovan, 88, died of natural causes on June 14 at his home, said his son John Donovan. A resident of Palos Park who formerly lived in Bridgeport, Donovan had suffered a stroke in January but had been recovering well, his son said. Donovan also had a home in South Bend, Indiana.
Born in Chicago in 1937, Donovan grew up in Bridgeport and graduated from De La Salle Institute. He briefly attended the University of Illinois’ Navy Pier campus before working as a window glazier from 1956 until 1964. He then joined the Chicago Park District, where he worked in maintenance.
In 1969, Donovan took a job in accounting in the city of Chicago’s Streets and Sanitation Department. Shortly afterward, Daley named Donovan his head of patronage, with the title of administrative assistant to the mayor.
For the rest of Daley’s tenure, Donovan oversaw citywide hiring, which had undergirded the strength of Daley’s Democratic machine until judicially mandated decrees largely eliminated patronage hires.
When Daley suffered a minor stroke in 1974, Donovan and two other members of Daley’s cabinet ran city government for nearly four months while he recuperated. After Daley returned, Donovan’s office was moved from the mayor’s outer offices to the inner offices, just a few feet from Daley’s private quarters. Donovan’s new role was deciding who was allowed to see Daley.
While at City Hall, Donovan attended night school, earning a bachelor’s degree in business from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972 and a master’s degree in public administration from IIT in 1975.
Upon Daley’s death in 1976, Donovan immediately convened meetings in his office to negotiate and anoint Daley’s successor. Bilandic, then an alderman representing Daley’s home ward, was chosen for acting mayor, and aldermen agreed. Bilandic later won a special election to fill out Daley’s term.
The Tribune in 1977 described Donovan as a “shadow figure” and a “young, red-haired son of Bridgeport who had served as Mayor Daley’s right-hand man and top palace guard” since Daley’s stroke, adding that Donovan was “always a mystery figure, shunning personal approaches and public comment,” and that Donovan “began emerging as the maestro of the campaign the day Bilandic was sworn in (as acting mayor).”
“Sure, Bilandic was running for mayor,” one party insider told the Tribune. “But only Donovan knew whom to call, knew where the skeletons were buried.”
Another Bilandic insider laughed when asked if Donovan would be a candidate to replace Bilandic as 11th Ward alderman.
“Why would Donovan want to be an alderman?” the insider asked. “That would be a step down for him. He’s already nearly the mayor.”
Under Bilandic, Donovan remained at City Hall, as the principal mayoral aide. He continued ruling “Chicago’s vast patronage army, with Bilandic’s acquiescence,” the Tribune wrote in 1978, adding that “he is the political boss of the city … and anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding himself.”
Donovan also led City Hall’s day-to-day operations, with department heads reporting to him nearly daily.
“One of the toughest things to figure out is the Bilandic-Donovan relationship,” the Tribune wrote in 1978. “The most frequently heard words from Bilandic’s mouth are, ‘Talk to Tom (Donovan).’ Under the Bilandic-Donovan regime, Bilandic is the visible leader, the elected official. Donovan is the patronage boss and day-to-day operational head of city government.”
After Bilandic lost reelection in 1979 to Jane Byrne, Donovan became the Chicago Board of Trade’s vice president and secretary, despite his lack of experience in technology and finance. Nonetheless, Donovan’s political acumen served him well. He was named the exchange’s president and CEO in 1982.
Over the ensuing 18 years, Donovan brought his methodical, hands-on approach to the Board of Trade, running every facet of operations and weathering many controversies, including leading the CBOT’s response to an FBI undercover investigation of Chicago’s futures markets, competition from computerized trading and complaints that he was weak on technology. He also developed a reputation as the industry’s most effective voice in Washington, D.C., in influencing regulation and taxation of futures trading, and he advocated for a new, $185 million trading floor that opened in 1997.
Retired Chicago Mercantile Exchange chairman Leo Melamed recalled working closely with Donovan despite the fact that they led competing exchanges and had different philosophies about the nascent idea of electronic trading. The duo found common ground in opposing legislative and political interference in the markets.
“Both of us fully understood the value of our markets in a free market society and both of us joined hands in protecting us from legislation and unnecessary oversight and government involvement,” Melamed said. “I not only admired Tom Donovan, I embraced him because he was smart, he was dedicated and he had integrity and we found that even though we were competitors, we had so much in common that we respected each other.”
In 1999, the Chicago Board of Trade’s new chair, David Brennan, sought Donovan’s resignation. Donovan rebuffed Brennan, and the two pledged to work together. In April 2000, however, Donovan resigned amid talk of a possible merger between the CBOT and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. CBOT was sold to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2007.
Donovan next co-founded Chicago-based technology company Quantum Crossings, where he was chair, with a former CBOT colleague, Roger Martinez. The company now has 100 employees.
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Donovan never retired.
Outside of work, Donovan enjoyed golfing, reading, spending time with family and puttering around his property. He also mentored others, including state Sen. Michael Hastings, a Frankfort Democrat, who in 2010 met Donovan through mutual friends.
“He gave me some priceless advice that I live by today. Some of it revolved around doing the right thing, always try your best, your reputation is everything so protect it at all costs, and work hard for the people who sent you down to Springfield,” Hastings said. “He was more than just a mentor — he was a coach and a father figure not just to me but to many folks. And what made him special was that he was grounded in the neighborhood — he didn’t forget where he came from.”
A first marriage ended in divorce. Donovan is survived by his wife of 42 years, Vita; sons John and Kevin; a daughter, Grace; two grandchildren; a sister, Dorothy Sullivan; and two brothers, John and David.
Services were held.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.