Rod Blagojevich
Milorad "Rod" R. Blagojevich (Milorad due to his Serbian heritage) was the Democratic governor of the state of Illinois from January 13, 2003 until impeachment on January 29, 2009. He was born on December 10, 1956, in Chicago. Before being elected as governor, Blagojevich served as Cook County Assistant State's Attorney and then Representative for Illinois' 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives (elected in 1996)[1].
On December 9, 2008, Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges for attempting to sell the recently vacated U. S. Senate seat of Barack Obama. [2] The tapes released by the conservative Republican prosecutor show Blagojevich complaining that Obama refused to give him anything in return for the Senate seat.
On January 9, 2009, Blagojevich was impeached by Illinois House of Delegates. His trial before the Illinois State Senate resulted in a unanimous decision of 59-0 for impeachment. Lieutenant Governor Patrick Quinn was sworn in as governor of Illinois on January 29, 2009.[3]
The episode highlight's Chicago's reputation for corrupt politics, especially since Obama's seat was involved and some of his unsavory associates were also linked to Blagojevich.