Alan John Dixon (July 7, 1927 – July 6, 2014) was a Democratic politician who was elected to various Illinois state offices from 1951 to 1981 and served as United States Senator from Illinois from 1981 until 1993.

Life and politics

Born in Belleville, Illinois on July 7, 1927, Dixon attended Illinois public schools and later earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. While attending the University of Illinois he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. During World War II, Dixon served in the United States Navy.

Dixon served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1951 to 1963 and as a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1963 to 1971, serving as minority whip for part of that time. In 1970 he was elected Illinois State Treasurer, an office he kept until 1977. In 1976 he was elected Illinois Secretary of State and served in that position until 1981 when he took office as a United States Senator from Illinois.

The 1976 Illinois State election was turbulent for the Democratic Party. Outgoing Governor Dan Walker had lost the support of the Party and the primary election. Dixon's election as Secretary of State left two years on his term as State Treasurer. To prevent Walker from appointing himself or anyone else to the position, Dixon proposed to incoming Republican Governor Jim Thompson that he would resign after Thompson was inaugurated if Thompson agreed to Dixon's choice for State Treasurer. Dixon's choice was Donald R. Smith, a Republican who was the ranking Civil Service employee in the State Treasurer's office and who had agreed not to run for reelection.

In the fall of 1970, Karl Rove, a future White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush Administration, used a false identity to enter the campaign office of Alan J. Dixon, who was running for Illinois State Treasurer, and stole 1000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead. Rove then printed fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," and distributed them at rock concerts and homeless shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon's rally. Dixon eventually won the election. Rove's role would not become publicly known until August 1973. Rove told the Dallas Morning News in 1999, "It was a youthful prank at the age of 19 and I regret it."

Dixon was generally considered a moderate and was less visible nationally than either of his Illinois colleagues, Charles Percy and Paul Simon, both of whom sought the presidency. In 1992, Dixon lost in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to Carol Moseley Braun. This defeat shocked observers; at the time no Senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. His vote to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court contributed to his defeat.

Braun, a black woman, had the complete support of black voters, and as a known reformist liberal got a large share of liberal voters, and also attracted many women voters in what was termed "The Year of the Woman".

Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.

Dixon chaired the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1994 and 1995.

After his term in the Senate, Dixon resumed practicing law with the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis and lived in Fairview Heights, Illinois, where he died on July 6, 2014 from natural causes just 1 day shy of his 87th birthday.

His autobiography, The Gentleman from Illinois: Stories from Forty Years of Elective Public Service, was published in 2013 by Southern Illinois University Press.

Electoral history

• 1980 General Election - U.S. Senate
  • Alan J. Dixon (D), 56.0%
  • Dave O'Neal (R), 42.5%
• 1986 General Election - U.S. Senate
  • Alan J. Dixon (D) (inc.), 65.4%
  • Judy Koehler (R), 34.1%
• 1992 Democratic Primary - U.S. Senate
  • Carol Moseley Braun (D), 38.30%
  • Alan J. Dixon (D) (inc.), 34.61%
  • Albert Hofeld (D), 27.09%