Chicago City Wire

Chicago Morning Answer co-host Dan Proft honored the memory of former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan on Monday.

“Yesterday evening, former Illinois attorney general and former DuPage County state's attorney Jim Ryan passed away peacefully at his home among family at the age of 76 after several lengthy illnesses,” Proft said on Chicago’s Morning Answer on on AM560.

Ryan reminisced about his work on Sen. Pat O'Malley's campaign for governor in 2002 in which he was running against Ryan in the Republican primary.

"My history with him is is interesting because the first statewide race I did was on my state senator, Pat O'Malley, his race for governor in 2002. So in that primary, it was O'Malley. ... and Jim Ryan, the attorney general. It was a pointed campaign, as these campaigns always are," Proft said. "And one of the ads that we did was having George Ryan morph into Jim Ryan, and the idea that Jim Ryan was just a continuation of the corruption of George Ryan and the same old, same old establishment Republicanism that has brought it to this point of collapse after George Ryan and his entire political operation was decimated by the U.S. attorney's office for their illegal acts." 

Proft said his work angered Ryan's family.

"I know that some of his sons wanted to kill me in 2002. I mean that literally. I mean figuratively, but also literally. And so I didn't have much interaction. But then this sort of subsided over the years," he said.

 Proft said he got to know Ryan when they both ran for governor in 2010.

"The point at which I really got to know him was in 2010 when I ran for governor, and then he came back and ran for governor. He entered that primary late. And so that was a campaign in which there was more time to get to know him, because you're on the trail together, you're doing events together. You're doing debates together,” Proft said. “So that's when I really got to know him and I got to like him."

Proft said the characterization of Ryan in 2002 wasn't fair.

“The death threats had subsided. And I say that somewhat facetiously now because I'm friendly with his son John now. But I can understand why they were upset, but that's the nature of campaigns," Proft said. "Going back to 2002, was that a fair characterization of Jim Ryan that he was the next iteration of George Ryan? No, it wasn't. That wasn't fair. That's not who he was. I mean, he had some limitations as a politician, but it wasn't corruption. That was not a limitation for Jim Ryan. It's a limitation for a lot of other Illinois Republicans. But Jim Ryan was not one of them. He just wasn't sort of a dynamic, philosophical type when it came to conservatism.”

He called Ryan's race against Rod Blagojevich 'a sad occasion.'

“Because Rod was as corruptible as they were. I mean, actually, you couldn't have more stark contrast in terms of personal character," Proft said. "Law and order and integrity with Jim Ryan (running against) basically an amoral street hustler Rod Blagojevich. That was the 2002 race. Illinois voters chose, of course, the amoral street hustler."

Proft recalled Ryan's dignity.

"The thing that most struck me about him was the dignity with which he always carried himself," Proft said. "And I think that was significantly informed by his faith, which I got an appreciation for how serious his Catholicism was to him as I got to know him.”

Proft also took to Twitter to honor Ryan.

“IL AG Jim Ryan passed away. I got to know and like him in the 2010 gov's race. What most struck me about him was the dignity w/ which he carried himself, no doubt informed by his faith. His stoicism in the face of tragedy or the throes of battle was admirable. Tough dude. RIP,” he posted.

Ryan served as Illinois' last Republican Attorney General from 1995 to 2002.

"Jim was too honest and authentic for a career in politics but he was as good a public servant as Illinois has ever known," said John Pearman, a longtime top aide for Ryan in the Attorney General's office. "He never stopped trying to help people -- women, children, crime victims. He was tireless and incorruptible.”

In 2002, Ryan ran for governor of Illinois, but was beaten by Rod Blagojevich, who was later imprisoned for attempting to trade a United States Senate seat left vacant after Barack Obama's election.

In 2010, he ran for governor again, but came in fourth place in the Republican primary, following front-runner Bill Brady, who ultimately lost to Pat Quinn.

After Ryan, Lisa Madigan took over as attorney general, with the help of her father, the House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is under indictment on 22 counts of public corruption.