John Henry Stelle

Stelle recovered from his wounds and returned to serve with 28th and 30th Infantry Divisions in northern France in a series of major battles, including Mount Kemmel, the Somme, and Marne.Stelle rose to the rank of captain during the war and was serving as the commander of Company B of the 315th Machine Gun Battalion (30th Infantry Division) when hostilities ended.Stelle was a lifelong Democrat although he noticeably split from the party in supporting Everett Dirksen, a Republican, in his run for the Senate in 1950 against the incumbent, Scott Lucas, and Dwight Eisenhower in his two presidential campaigns against a former Illinois governor, Adlai Stevenson.Many nights during Stelle's ninety-nine-day tenure, which spanned the holiday season in 1940, the mansion was "lit up like a Christmas tree," as thirty to forty guests were often entertained at one time, a number of them friends from Southern Illinois and Springfield.Horner, a bachelor, had rarely entertained at the mansion during his eight year tenancy - especially so during his second term - so the change Stelle and his family brought was a welcome one in Springfield.The new governor's social agenda at the mansion involved no overspending as the entertainment budget had scarcely been touched during Horner's long illness and his repeated absences from Springfield.Notwithstanding his new quarters, Stelle continued his practice, developed over his many years of owning and managing a farm, of rising early every morning, He would typically have breakfast in the company of the mansion's staff.Most of those appointees were going to be terminated at the end of Stelle's term (the Republican Party swept all the statewide offices in 1940 including the governorship and had its own appointments to make).Day bought vast quantities of yellow paint from a company in Springfield he owned, on a no-bid basis, and the traffic safety measure was instituted.The decision by Stelle to institute a program of marking highways and designating no passing zones no doubt saved thousands of lives over the years to follow.An emergency defense council was put into place, draft boards were appointed, and hundreds of honorary commissions handed out, mostly to veterans who had served previously.[2] Stelle's militia would prove invaluable during World War II in filling the void left by the departure of thousands of Guardsmen and civilians to the military.Stelle became motivated to campaign for benefits for the millions of returning veterans after World War II through his involvement in the American Legion.According to his citation: "Stelle, a World War I veteran and past national commander of The American Legion, quarterbacked a team of Legion officials that, in the space of just six months, designed and put forth the main features of the GI Bill, organized massive public support and shepherded its successful passage through Congress.Stelle's leadership and behind-the-scenes negotiating skills are widely credited for the legislation's surviving stubborn pockets of resistance, intense debate and a conference committee deadlock that nearly scuttled the bill at the 11th hour."Stelle, never one to back down from a fight, openly criticized Bradley, a national hero and former five star general, for VA's slow implementation of the G.I.But the accord was fragile and Stelle, as his one-year term neared its end later that year, began criticizing Bradley publicly again for his poor administration of the agency.Bradley would last another year as head of the VA but would leave the agency in November 1947 to become Chief of Staff of the Army and Stelle would serve out the remainder of his term as National Commander.He also owned a farm a few miles east of McLeansboro where he raised thoroughbred race horses and maintained a sizable dairy herd.Stelle organized an investor group and built Cahokia Downs Race Track in Alorton, Illinois, just east of St. Louis.Over the years, Stelle made numerous improvements and expansions of the house so that, by his death, it had six bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a sleeping porch which could accommodate eight people on four full-size beds.With its imposing columns and portico, the house had a magnificent "Tara-like" appearance and the Stelle Farm and home became a showcase in southern Illinois during the 1940s and 1950s.Another home occupied by Stelle, at 900 Washington Street in McLeansboro, remains standing in essentially the same state as it did during World War I when his wife, Wilma, and son, John Albert, lived there.Kennedy would later credit Stelle with his hair's breath (11,000 vote) win in Illinois, a pivotal state in 1960, which, in turn, made his narrow victory in the national election possible.Judge John Marshall Kames of East St. Louis delivered a lengthy eulogy which noted Stelle "was perhaps the best and most accomplished political organizer this state has known".Later in his eulogy, Kames summed up Stelle's life: "Farm boy to Governor, professional ball player, soldier, lawyer, treasurer of our state, Lieutenant Governor, big businessman, farmer, one of the organizers of and National Commander of the American Legion: that is the record of our departed friend to whose immediate memory we pay tribute and respect today."Bill, as the act became known, "transformed the landscape of American higher education by offering veterans money to attend college."The award confirmed that, thanks to Stelle's efforts, the dream of receiving a college degree was no longer limited to members of the upper class.It also noted: "Stelle's leadership and behind-the-scenes negotiating skills are widely credited for the legislation's surviving stubborn pockets of resistance, intense debate and a conference committee deadlock that nearly scuttled the bill at the 11th hour."The revolutionary enactment changed the American cultural landscape after World War II by creating a massive middle class that continues to this day.