Word: governors
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...although he proclaimed Hurricane Katrina an "incident of national significance," thus enacting a disaster-response plan headed by then Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, he did not invoke any powers under the National Emergency Act. This is common practice; natural disasters are usually declared state emergencies by the acting governor, who then requests federal aid. (See a bin Laden family photo album...
...tarantulas instead. Later, in the summer, the fervent Elvis Presley fan made headlines for belting out the King's "Treat Me Nice" at a Chicago block party. "It was unbelievable," says Tom Duff, president of the post-production company that hired him for the gig. "This guy was our governor, and he's turning up his collar and singing Elvis on our dock." In another wink to the looming charges, Blagojevich appeared onstage in June at "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a Second City comedy production that lampooned his antics. "His one specific critique of the show was that the prop hairbrush...
...Flickering Dream Not long ago, Blagojevich's reviews were mostly glowing. The first Democratic governor in Illinois in a generation, he had charisma, connections, deep coffers and a Horatio Alger-type bio. "You have to remember, a lot of people thought that Rod Blagojevich had a very good shot at becoming President of the United States," says Mike Jacobs, a state senator from Rock Island, Ill., and a former friend. "I know that sounds comical today...
...Blagojevich somehow considers dangling a U.S. Senate seat "routine." Even today, the comeback he's attempting to engineer - he told TIME he is "not ruling out the possibility" of a return to politics - is being driven in part by dollars. "We're in debt because I was an honest governor," he says. "O.K.? And now I don't have job prospects. This is among the things that are upside-down. If I ever do this again, I'm going to make sure I take care of my family financially...
...Read "Governor Gone Wild: The Blagojevich Scandal." Read "Behind the Blagojevich Mess: A State in Disarray...