And so it was in a kind of insular world that we lived.

And one that had an unabashed patriotism, an unabashed sense of the hackles on the back of

your neck would raise.

You just get caught up in the feeling of somebody reading the Gettysburg address with particular

sensitivity or listening to the national anthem or any number of things that go that way.

It was against that background then that things got to be just a little bit different

when we got the news that Paul Powell had died.

Paul Powell was found dead in a hotel room in Rochester, Minnesota on October 11th, 1970.

He was 68 years old, a widower, and the Illinois Secretary of State at the time.

He had traveled to Minnesota with his girlfriend to receive treatment from the Mayo Clinic for a heart ailment.

When word of Powell's death reached Illinois, his fellow Democrats and Republican adversaries

eulogized their fallen colleague and reflected on his lifelong career in public service.

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley said Paul Powell will be recognized as a major figure in the history of the state.

Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon said Powell has been in the forefront of nearly every battle that has brought help to the helpless and given hope to the young and old.

Admiration for Powell wasn't just confined to the state level either.

Former President Truman served as an honorary Paul Bayer at his funeral.

Paul Powell was leaving behind quite a legacy.

A legacy that would be forever tarnished less than 48 hours after his death.

Throughout his career, Paul Powell had been quoted as saying,

there's only one thing worse than a defeated politician and that's a broke politician.

And apparently those were words to live by for Mr. Powell because the executor of his will, a man named John Rindleman,

made a shocking discovery when he went to clear the contents of Powell's apartment after he kicked the bucket.

...