THE POLITICS OF BIOGRAPHY

Ryan announces his candidacy for U.S. Senate seat (Ian Salisbury, 5/28/2003, Medill News Service)

The all black, all male students of Hales Franciscan High School on the South Side lined the walls of their gymnasium chanting and stomping their feet. Joining in on this special occasion was a group of outsiders--well dressed men and women who waved flags and politely clapped.

The warm reception Wednesday was for Jack Ryan, who had come to the school to officially announce that he would be a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. And Ryan was right at home in the inner city school at 4930 S. Cottage Grove Ave. He has taught English and law there for the past several years. [...]

For Ryan, 43, politics and education are second careers. A tall, thin Irish Catholic, still without any gray hair, Ryan retired from his seven-figure job at the prestigious investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2000, at the peak of the stock market-- and began teaching at Hales, a Catholic prep school near the Robert Taylor housing project.

Interviewing while visiting the school last February, he told a reporter that his goal was to give everyone a decent shot at an education which he admitted, "might sound quixotic."

Ryan said then that he favors school vouchers, and advocates tax credits or scholarships to help families gain access to a good education for their children. "We have to find some way to get families out of having to send a child to a broken down, failed school," he said. [...]

Every student interviewed said that Ryan was tough, but they seemed enthusiastic anyway.

"He was very strict," said Dewayne Ward, a graduating senior. "He had a set of rules. If you didn't follow the rules there would be consequences."

But Ward added, "He made sure class was fun. It was the way he interacted. He let you goof off a little," explaining that within the constraints he had set up, Ryan was not above smiling at wisecracks.

And Ward illustrated the balance between high expectations and teasing by recounting the way Ryan addressed the students. He said, "He called everyone men. He would say 'Good morning, men.'" [...]

One of the problems Ryan may face is distinguishing himself from Illinois? other Republican Ryans: Jim, the former state Attorney General who lost the race for governor in 2002, and George, whose tenure as governor was stained with scandal. For that reason the signs at the rally read only "Jack!"

He has a compelling story to run on at any rate. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 12, 2003 11:27 PM