American politician, the Governor of Illinois on 11/07/1972, in a great uplift of the established democrats, taking the oath of office on 1/08/1973.
As a teenager in 1939, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy for three years where he was trained in the Naval Academy. Upon his return to civilian life, he attended law school and passed the bar in 1950. He worked as a law clerk for Justice Vinson and as assistant to Adlai Stevenson. The first time he ran for public office himself, in 1960, he lost the election.
Walker became the Head of the National Commission on Prevention of Crime and Violence. When Stevenson made his third bid for Congress, Walker was his campaign manager.
He married on 4/12/1947; seven kids.
On 11/01/1973, he went into the hospital with bronchitis. He had his gallbladder and appendix out on 6/09/1976.
Leaving public office, Walker became Vice-President and General Counsel for Montgomery Ward and Co., Chicago, as well as sitting as a Director, 1967-1971.
In 1987, criminal charges were brought against him for bank fraud and perjury, and on 8/05/1987, Walker pleaded guilty to fraud and perjury in the U.S. District Court, Chicago. On 11/07/1987, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, five years probation, 500 hours of community service work, and $231,000 in payments to the Savings Association that he owned as restitution. He entered prison on 1/04/1988.
Link to Wikipedia biography