Burris has long history of brazenness
'I AM A VISIONARY' | First African American elected to statewide office cites 'divine providence'
The choice of Roland Burris for Illinois' open U.S. Senate seat may surprise some but not likely Burris himself, a man who has brimmed with confidence -- even when he was losing elections -- throughout his more than 30 years in the public eye.
The 71-year-old Burris -- who often refers to himself in the third person -- has never been shy about broadcasting his ambitions and loudly celebrating his achievements.
"I am a visionary," he declared in a 2002 interview with the Sun-Times when he was running for governor, his third unsuccessful try at the job.
In a 1994 interview with the paper, during his first effort at capturing the governor's office, Burris said his past success -- he had been elected comptroller and attorney general ‹ was "divine providence" that began at age
15 when he decided to become a lawyer and officeholder.
"People said I was either crazy or divinely directed. I accept the latter," he said. "I believe without a doubt that I am predestined to be a role model." In 1953, as a youth in downstate Centralia, Burris tried to integrate the local swimming pool. Burris' father, Earl Burris, spent $100 -- more than a month's earnings as a laborer for the Illinois Central railroad and as a grocery story owner -- to hire a lawyer for his son.
Under growing community pressure, the pool attendants sold tickets to Burris and a handful of other black children, who then dove into the previously forbidden pool. Giddy with success, they returned to Burris' home to celebrate.
But Earl Burris was upset because the lawyer never showed up at the pool to represent the boy. Burris later said his father told him, "If we as a race are going to get anywhere, we need lawyers and elected officials that are responsible and responsive." At 15, Burris set his sights on law school and statewide elected office.
Attending Southern Illinois University, he studied political science, played football and was president of his fraternity. Later, he earned a law degree at Howard University.
After law school, Burris launched a career in banking, becoming one of the first black professionals at Continental Bank. In 1973, he earned a Cabinet post in Gov. Dan Walker's administration.
Six years later, he became the first black politician in Illinois elected to statewide office. He served three terms as comptroller, the state's chief financial officer. In 1990, he was elected attorney general.
Speaking of himself in the 2002 interview, Burris said, "Roland Burris, who started way down here, in the segregation of a southern Illinois community, was able to set goals, plan and strategize and make it." Burris professional life has been mostly conflict-free and he has often run on a theme of "integrity." A religious person, he has called the bible his "blueprint for life." As attorney general, Burris battled environmental polluters, created divisions to help protect victims of domestic violence and child abuse and restarted the civil rights division to fight racial profiling.
But it was as attorney general that he also found himself the target of criticism in connection with the prosecution of Rolando Cruz in the 1983 murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville.
In 1992, as Burris sought the death penalty for Cruz -- who had been convicted twice by juries -- a Burris deputy resigned in protest. Deputy Attorney General Mary Brigid Kenney became convinced that Cruz was innocent, the victim of "many instances of prosecutorial misconduct." She asked Burris to stop defending the case before the Supreme Court but Burris refused. In her letter of resignation, Kenney claimed her boss had "seen fit to ignore the evidence in this case." Burris countered that "it is not for me to place my judgment over a jury, regardless of what I think." The state Supreme Court eventually tossed out the conviction and a DNA test in 1995 matched a different man, Brian Dugan, to the crime.
Burris has given $15,296 to Blagojevich since 2002. That includes contributions directly from him and his firm, Burris & Lebed Consulting. The firm's clients have included Comcast, the Illinois Funeral Directors Association and Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council.
His wife Berlean Burris, with whom he has two grown children, Rolanda and Roland II, has said her husband is "serious, but he knows how to have fun," including enjoying cartoons and dancing.
Contributing: Chris Fusco, Kate Grossman