Thomas Aquinas Foran (January 11, 1924 – August 6, 2000) was a

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

best known as the chief prosecutor in the

Chicago Seven The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged by ...

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

trial in which seven defendants, including

Jerry Rubin Jerry Clyde Rubin (July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994) was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman. He is known for being one of the ...

, Abbie Hoffman,

David Dellinger David T. Dellinger (August 22, 1915 – May 25, 2004) was an American pacifist and an activist for nonviolent social change. He achieved peak prominence as one of the Chicago Seven, who were put on trial in 1969. Early life and schooling Delli ...

Rennie Davis Rennard Cordon Davis (May 23, 1940 – February 2, 2021) was an American anti-war activist who gained prominence in the 1960s. He was one of the Chicago Seven defendants charged for anti-war demonstrations and large-scale protests at the 1968 D ...

, and

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring t ...

, were charged with inciting riots at the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus maki ...

. Foran also prosecuted several police officers caught on film beating the protestors with clubs.

Biography

Thomas Foran was born in

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

on January 11, 1924. He interrupted his college education to serve as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific in World War II. After the war, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago and received his law degree at the University of Detroit School of Law in 1950. Foran was a senior partner in Foran & Schultz (formerly Foran, Wiss & Schultz), the firm he founded in 1957. The other senior partners were Robert E. Wiss, who died in 1995, and Richard G. Schultz. In private practice, he established a reputation as an expert in eminent domain law, representing the City of Chicago in major public works projects, but he also acted as counsel for property owners. Foran became an assistant corporate counsel for Chicago in 1962.

U.S. Attorney

Foran was appointed a

for northern Illinois in 1968 with the support of the Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley. While in this role, he successfully prosecuted more than 150 organized crime figures, including

Felix Alderisio Felix Anthony "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio (April 26, 1912 – September 25, 1971) was an American enforcer, bagman, hitman and burglar for the Chicago Outfit. He was underboss to Sam Giancana during the 1960s, and boss from 1967 to his imprisonmen ...

Jackie Cerone John Philip Cerone (July 7, 1914 – July 26, 1996), nicknamed Jackie the Lackey, was an American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit during the late 1960s. He was the younger brother of mobster Frank "Skippy" Cerone, father of lawyer Joh ...

Fiore Buccieri Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri (December 16, 1907 – August 17, 1973) was a Chicago mobster and member of the Chicago Outfit who specialized in loansharking. Early years As a youth he was a member of the Chicago 42 Gang with future Outfit boss Sam "Mom ...

Richard Cain Richard Cain (October 4, 1931 – December 20, 1973), also known as Richard Scalzitti, was a notoriously corrupt Chicago police officer and a close associate of Mafia boss Sam Giancana. Early life Richard Cain was born to John and Lydia ( n ...

and William Daddano. During his time as the U.S. Attorney, he professionalized the office and shifted the office away from patronage.

Post-U.S. Attorney

In the 1980s, Tom Foran represented former Governor Dan Walker in his bank fraud case. He died of cancer in Lake Forest, Illinois, on August 6, 2000.

In popular culture

Harris Yulin Harris Yulin (born November 5, 1937) is an American actor who has appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Scarface'' (1983), ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), '' Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), '' Looking for Richard' ...

played Foran in the 1987 film '' Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8'', and in the animated 2007 film '' Chicago 10'' Foran's voice was provided by

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

. He was portrayed by Steven Culp in the 2010 film ''

The Chicago 8 The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants—Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Lee Weiner—charged ...

'' and by J. C. MacKenzie in the 2020 film, ''

The Trial of the Chicago 7 ''The Trial of the Chicago 7'' is a 2020 American historical legal drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. The film follows the Chicago Seven, a group of anti–Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines ...

''.

Gary Houston Gary Joseph Houston (né Garland; born October 12, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season with the Nuggets ( 1979–80). Gary is the half ...

played Foran in the 1992 stage adaptation from transcripts titled '' The Chicago Conspiracy Trial'' and produced by Remains Theatre in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, Tom 1924 births 2000 deaths Loyola University Chicago alumni United States Navy bomber pilots of World War II University of Detroit Mercy alumni Lawyers from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States Attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois Chicago Seven