Sex: Male
Date of Birth: November 12th, 1942
State and Region: Illinois/Great Lakes/Midwest
Political Party: Republican
Biography:
Joe Marshall was born in a working-class family in Chicago's urban sprawl on November 12th, 1942. Early in his life he lost his father to the guns of World War 2 and practically lost his mother to the many jobs she had to work in order to keep a roof over their heads. Marshall had to grow up quickly, and grow up quickly he did as he took a job in a local manufacturing plant the moment he was old enough for the lowest pay he was allowed. He forewent any sort of higher education when he turned 18 in 1960, continuing his job at the factory until tragedy struck two years later and the building was burned down by an arsonist, a disgruntled employee just laid off.
Where other men may have simply found another factory to work at, Marshall was inspired to make sure nobody ever had to deal with the problem he had just faced and aspired instead to join the police force. Still young, even if without formal training, Marshall managed to get into the police academy and afford both caring for his mother and his own apartment's rent on a few odd-jobs done on the side. He would go on to excel in the academy and to do the same once he was hired on to the full Chicago Police Department. He rose through the ranks over many, many years fighting both the crime on the streets and in many cases corruption and bigotry within the department. Finally, in 1980, Marshall found himself elevated to become the city's chief of police. As chief his focus was on detaining the biggest offenders and removing them from society before the traffic tickets came out, a policy he dubbed "peace through power".
The approach was popular all around, popular enough that in 1988 his local Republican Party drafted him to run for his normally unwinnable seat in the state assembly. A long-time Democratic incumbent had just left the seat, and with its opening the party recognized that with a candidate like him they might actually have a chance. While reluctant to give up his chief of police job, Marshall believed that the people who he protected needed him in the capital as much as they needed him here and took "peace through power" to the campaign trail, winning a narrow victory against his Democratic challenger and serving in the state legislature since.
With the 1992 elections and regionalization, the sophomore state representative was tapped by the forming regional Republican Party to seek the office of Lt. Governor, convinced that his own moderate policies would complement those of the gubernatorial candidate - Cincinnati Mayor Benjamin Kalrade - and win over the swing voters of the region despite strong bases of Democratic support. Facing fellow former law enforcement officer Duncan Powell of Michigan, Marshall's eloquent oratory and more detailed promises carried five of the region's six states for a victory of 51.3% to 48.7%.
Between 1993 and 1994 Marshall led the legislature to implement a ban on late-term abortions, a moratorium on all tax increases, the right to a secret ballot, and the governor's various policies on healthcare and education. In the wake of the second Rodney King verdict, Marshall took the lead in pushing for the organization of the crowds and made the initial suggestion of the trip from the capital that was noted as helping to soothe the crowd. These actions were credited with the overwhelming support Marshall received in the 1994 Lt. Governor election, in which he won every state against challenger Thomas Druide and carried 56.8% of the vote to Druide's 43.2%.
Following his second election, Marshall took a greater behind-the-scenes role in the legislature corresponding with the body's general lower activity level. He was roused to the bully pulpit one final time to fiercely denounce Kalrade's abandonment of the Republican Party as corrupt and opportunistic. With the governor's resignation over these and other challenges to his integrity, Marshall assumed the governorship and immediately appointed Senator Jefferson McKinley as Lt. Governor before resigning himself, hoping to give the people of the Midwest a fresh start from the ugliness of the final days of the Kalrade administration.
Following his departure from public life, Joe put his assets saved over the years and his earnings from a short time publishing for the Chicago Tribune towards purchasing an old run-down building which he converted into a multi-denominational faith center and soup kitchen called the Temple of Nod, meant as a place of respite for those who felt the need to bring God back into their lives. He continues on running the establishment to this day.
