So many people arrived that night in 2002, the front door was in almost perpetual motion as politicians and lawyers, downtown businesspeople and suburban union leaders, eased past bystanders and partygoers taking a break outside as they walked up the home’s concrete steps to pay their respects. Inside, the hosts—Illinois’s governor-elect and first lady—greeted their guests graciously. The couple was euphoric. Almost everyone who was a player in Illinois, it seemed, was there to honor the winning couple and celebrate the coming-of-age of Rod Blagojevich, Illinois’s fortieth governor. The always affable Blagojevich proudly put his home on display, showing off the piano in the front room, the kitchen in the back, and especially the library he had spent so much time and energy renovating. Two men who didn’t need the tour stood close by. Blagojevich showed them off as well. Chris Kelly and Tony Rezko had handed Rod Blagojevich the keys to the governor’s office through their fund-raising and loyalty, and Blagojevich was making sure those who didn’t know it before knew it now.
