Topic: Rod R. Blagojevich

Blagojevich's congressional portrait

Milorad "Rod" Blagojevich (pronounced /bləˈɡɔɪ.əvɪtʃ/ ( listen); Serbian: Милорад Благојевић; born December 10, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was elected governor in 2002, succeeding George Ryan. He was the second Serbian American to be elected governor of any state in the United States.

Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges December 9, 2008. The charges involved conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. The Justice Department complaint alleges that the governor conspired to commit several "pay-to-play" schemes, including attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacated United States Senate seat to the highest bidder. Ultimately, he appointed fellow Democrat and former state attorney general Roland Burris on New Year's Eve 2008. Burris was seated after some initial opposition in mid-January 2009. On January 8, 2009, the Illinois House of Representatives voted to impeach Blagojevich by a 114–1 vote for corruption and misconduct in office, the first time such an action has been taken against a governor of Illinois, making him the second state official in Illinois history to be impeached. On January 27, 2009, Blagojevich began a high profile media blitz orchestrated by power publicist Glenn Selig, founder of the crisis management public relations firm The Publicity Agency. During the two day blitz, he visited Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View, multiple programs on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC where he proclaimed his innocence and insisted he would be vindicated. Blagojevich was subsequently convicted and removed from office on January 29, 2009 by a unanimous 59–0 vote in the Illinois State Senate. In a separate vote, the Senate voted unanimously to permanently bar Blagojevich from holding public office again in the state of Illinois. Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn was subsequently sworn in as new governor.