Michael F. Sheahan

Michael F. Sheahan (born 1944/1945) is an American politician and sheriff. He formerly served as Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois and as a Chicago alderman.

Early life Sheahan was born in 1944 or 1945.

He received a Master of Education from Governors State University and a bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph's College.

He was reelected in 1983 and 1987.

During the Council Wars of the mayoralty of Harold Washington, Sheahan was a member of the Vrdolyak 29, a bloc of alderman, led by Edward Vrdolyak, which stood in opposition to Washington. Amid the Washington mayoralty, Sheahan even spoke of possibly switching to the Republican Party.

During the period in which Eugene Sawyer was mayor, he was considered supportive of the mayor. He was also considered a political ally of mayor Richard M. Daley. O'Grady ultimately had failed to live up to his 1986 campaign promises of disposing of politics and corruption in the Cook County Sheriff's Office, and had become unpopular among his constituents.

Amid the 1990 campaign, a Cook County correctional officer was shot and critically wounded while hanging signs for Sheahan outside of the South Side bar. Three men, including a correctional officer who supported O'Grady, were arrested for this.

In 1990, Sheahan defeated O'Grady by a broad margin.

Early into his tenure, he received praise for running what appeared to be a much less corrupt Sheriff's Office than his predecessors had. He also received criticism over abuse of inmates by jail guards.

In November 2005, he announced that he would not be seeking reelection the following year. Richard M. Daley appointed him as Chicago's Director of Special Events in 1993. He would long serve as a Daley aid. James sits on the board of Special Olympics Chicago.

Electoral history Aldermanic

Sheriff 1990

1994

1998

2002