Lobbyist retires with his integrity intact — honest
The lobbying profession has never enjoyed a particularly good reputation. Then there’s Dick Lockhart, who is retiring at the end of this month at age 93.
Lockhart is the dean of Illinois lobbyists. He has practiced his craft in the hurly- burly of state government since 1958.
And yet his reputation is impeccable.
In fact, most would say it’s Lockhart’s reputation for honesty and integrity that was responsible for his success and longevity in a scene too often dominated by power and money.
Lockhart made credibility his trademark, something that wouldn’t evaporate with the changing of legislative leaders or governors.
“Credibility is a non- renewable resource: Once gone, it is gone,” states the first principle of Lockhart Logic, a brief compendium of his Statehouse insights.
“You have to earn credibility. It doesn’t just happen. They don’t hand it to you,” Lockhart told me Tuesday from his Loop office, the memorabilia- filled walls stripped bare in preparation for his departure.
Lockhart earned credibility by giving legislators all the important facts about an issue, even information that might cut against his position.
Way back in 1978, the SunTimes surveyed legislators and members of the executive branch to pick the top 10 lobbyists in Illinois.
Lockhart made the list. None of the others in the top 10 are still plying the trade. One went to prison. A couple more probably should have.
I was the Sun- Times’ intern in Springfield at the time, and I still remember a quote from one unnamed legislative leader who said Lockhart was “generally on the side of the angels.”
That was a reference to Lockhart’s hodgepodge of clients, which included a mental health advocacy group that stuck with him his entire career. Lockhart rarely represented any of the powerhouse organizations at the center of the state’s political wars.
Although he came to Springfield as a liberal Chicago Democrat with roots in the Independent Voters of Illinois, Lockhart became known as a lobbyist who favored neither side of the aisle.
Even this past week, his social calendar included a fundraiser for state Sen. Andy Manar, a fastrising downstate Democrat, and a reception honoring former Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno.
“He is probably the most honest guy I ever met,” lobbyist Dave Winters, a former Republican state representative from the Rockford area, told me last week.
The setting was a reception at Lockhart’s townhouse in Dearborn Park. Lockhart hosts an after- party every year following the annual holiday luncheon for the Illinois Third House, an association of lobbyists.
The place was packed with old friends wanting to give Lockhart a proper send- off.
“The House will come to order. Members should be at their desks,” former state Rep. Joseph Lyons, a Chicago Democrat, announced to quiet the room as if back on the rostrum in Springfield.
Lockhart thanked everyone for coming and warned there won’t be another party when he turns 94 next month.
“We share values. We share our history. We share each other’s situation,” he said.
Their shared situation includes the drive to Springfield that Lockhart says he won’t miss.
“What’s the definition of capital punishment?” Lockhart asks with typical cornball humor. “Having to spend the weekend in Springfield.”
Lockhart’s energy and work ethic also explain his longevity: He’s in Springfield every session day, reads every piece of legislation and never uses the elevators inside the Capitol Building, taking the stairs instead.
Lockhart’s son, David, told me his father took him aside when he was younger to tell him: “You might hear some bad things about lobbyists, but you’re never going to hear anything bad about me.” And he never has. “His work is his life, his hobby, his passion,” said the younger Lockhart, 56.
Dick Lockhart, who was a POW during World War II, said he’s only quitting now because his hearing and eyesight have slipped. He plans to travel more and write a lobbying handbook for average citizens.
After all, that’s another fundamental of Lockhart Logic: “Constituents make the best lobbyists.”