Daniel B. Ryan Jr. (1894 – April 8, 1961) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician who served as a member of the

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the Uni ...

from 1923 to 1926 and again from 1930 until his death in 1961. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The

Dan Ryan Expressway The Dan Ryan Expressway is an expressway in Chicago that runs from the Circle Interchange with Interstate 290 (I-290) near Downtown Chicago through the South Side of the city. It is designated as both I-90 and I-94 south to 66th Street, a d ...

is named in his honor.

Early life and education

He was born in 1894. His father,

Daniel Ryan Sr. Daniel Ryan Sr. (1861/1862–1923) was an Irish-American politician who served as a member and president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Biography Ryan was born in County Tipperary, Ireland. In his early twenties, he moved to Chicago, ...

, was a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

politician who eventually rose to become

President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners The President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is the chief executive of county government in Cook County, Illinois. They are the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Office description Officeholders Recent election res ...

. The Daniel Ryan Woods, a forest preserve on the South Side is named after the elder Ryan. Ryan attended the

De La Salle Institute English: Sign of Faith , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic( De La Salle Brothers} , patron = , established = , founder = Brother Adjutor of Mary, FSC , status = Open ...

and earned a law degree from

Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

. Ryan also served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

Dan Ryan Sr. died in 1923 and the board elected Ryan Jr. to fill the remainder of his father's term. From 1926 to 1930, he operated an insurance business before running for the commission in 1930. After his election, Ryan served on the Roads and Bridges Committee and later the Finance Committee. It was in his chairmanship of the Roads and Bridges Committee that he proposed building a superhighway across the city. He aspired to run for

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

as well as

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

, however, neither post materialized in his career. In 1954, he was elected as president of the county board, assuming his father's old position. As board president, he floated bond issuance to fund the construction of highways. He won re-election in 1958 and planned to run for another term at the time of his death. Ryan was a promoter of superhighways for the Chicago area, but financing was difficult before creation of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

, and in 1955, Ryan engineered an ambitious bond issue program to jump-start construction of expressways in Cook County.

Personal life

He was married to Ruby H. O'Connor Ryan (1902–1998) and had one son, Daniel Ryan III. She succeeded him on the commission as board member and served until 1981. On April 8, 1961, Ryan died from a heart attack. Eighteen months after his death, in December 1962, the stretch of highway that he fought to build opened as the Dan Ryan Expressway. Ryan is buried in the family plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery alongside his father, mother and wife. In 2018, Dan Ryan III criticized a proposal from Bill Daley, who was running for mayor, to rename the Dan Ryan Expressway after former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Dan 1894 births 1961 deaths De La Salle Institute alumni Presidents of the Cook County Board of Commissioners 20th-century American politicians Illinois Democrats