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The Trials Of Len Small, William R. Harshbarger

Masters Theses

Len Small, governor of Illinois from 1921 to 1929, was a politician associated with the Lorimer-Lundin-Thompson political machine which influenced Illinois politics from 1897 until the late 1920s. During that era, Small held offices in the county and in the state Senate. He served one appointed term as United States subtreasurer, two terms as state treasurer, and two terms as governor. Small ran six times for governor: 1912, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936. He came to the governorship in 1920 following a bitter feud between his patron, William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson and Frank O. Lowden. As a result, …