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Show Veteran Democratic Leader For Past 30 Years Succumbs Suc-cumbs to Pneumonia. PLANNED TO LEAD ILLINOIS DELEGATION Led Movement That Made Woodrow Wilson President Presi-dent of United States. CHICAGO, April 14. Roger Sullivan, Sulli-van, 59 years old, Democratic leader of Cook couply and prominent in state and national politics for thirty yoars, died at his home in Chicago today of bronchial pneumonia. He had been senousiy in a montn. I Mr. Sullivan returnod to Chicago re-i re-i contly from Hot Sprlpgs, Ark., where j he had none for his health aftpr spend- ing a part of the winter at Palrii Bench, Fla., and at Washington, where ho conferred with political leaders, I Planned to Lead Illinois Dcclgatlon. Mr. Sullivan planned to enter the Democratic national convention at San Francisco as the leader of.lho Illinois Il-linois delegation of fifty-eight with tho avowed intention of making that hla last appearance as a political leader. lead-er. Roger Sullivan, condemned in his 'own state by his opponents as a "boss" land more than onco ' read out" of tho (Democratic party by William J. Bryan, Bry-an, led the movement that finally resulted re-sulted In making Woodrow Wiloon president of the United States. Made Wilson Nomination Possible. It was Sullivan who headed the 'Democratic delegation from Illinois at tho Baltimore convention in 1912 a : delegation pledged to Champ Clark 'arid who after sufficient ballots had j been cast to discharge hia obligation jto Illinois, switched the vote of tho 'state to Wilson, and mndo his nomination nomina-tion possible. Roger Sullivan had beon a participant partici-pant in every Democratic convention since 1$92 and in at least three of (he seven he attended, he had been a commanding com-manding figure. Clashes With Bryan. J His clashes with Bryan and with the i Carter Harrison and William R. Hearst j factions of the party in his home state,. I which brought him the title of "bono," jfiom his political enemies, mndo Sul-,l.van Sul-,l.van a Democratic figure throughout I (he- country. ' Despite the frequent attacks on his power and the fact that many of the influential .party organs of Illinois I were ngainst him, Sullivan was tho j leader in Illinois for several years. I Successful Business Man. Rogor Sullivan ns a business man had been noless successful than as a politician. Coming to Chicago in 1879 to work in the railroad shops as an apprentice ap-prentice machinist at ?1.25 a day, ho , was reputed to have accumulated jmore than $1,000,000. j lie was born on a farm near Bclvi-idere, Bclvi-idere, Ills., February 2, 1861. His education" ed-ucation" was obtained in the public schools and he was first employed as a farm boj' at eight dollars a month. Four years after coming to Chicago, i Mr. Sullivan attended his first political politi-cal meeting, a ward caucus and from that day dated his interest in politics, in 1S90 he was elected to his first political office, a clerk of the probate court. During the Cleveland administration adminis-tration he was appointed government ganger. Those were tho only public offices ho ever held. Opposed by Wilson. In 1914 ho was the Democratic nominee nom-inee for United States senator, but -was defeated by Senator L. Y. Sherman. President Wilson opposed Sullivan's election. Two years later his friends proposed his name for vice president, but he refused to enter the race and insisted on the nomination of Thomas R. Marshall for a second term. Sullivan's differences with Bryan, dated back to the free silver campaign of 189C. He had been a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 1892 and 1896, but before the election elec-tion in the -latter year, he Joined the "gold Democrats." Two years after tho election of President McKinley, Sullivan was elected to the state com mlttee. In 1900 he helped nominate 3ryan at Kansas City. Four years later Sulll-an Sulll-an was elected to the Democratic national na-tional committee, thereby laying . the foundation for one of the bltteres political po-litical fights In Illinois Democratic history. his-tory. Bryan opened the battle in 1908 when he served notice on the Democratic Demo-cratic state convention tnat ho would not accept the support of the Illinois delegation unless the convention adopted adopt-ed a resolution demanding Sullivan's retirement from the national committee. commit-tee. Sullivan defeated the resolution indorsing Bryan, which was passed. Sullivan remained amcmber of the national na-tional committee until 1916 despite repeated re-peated efforts to oust him. Mr. Sullivan made his fortune in Chicago gas companies and in the cracker business, Mr. Sullivan and Miss Helen M. Quinlan were married at Chicago in 1885 and to them were born one son and four daughters. |