(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The late Harold Washington, Chicago's first African-American Mayor, would have been 100 years old last month. He's remembered for his high spirts and stirring speeches, but some political experts say he left behind lessons in how to govern too.
Even during the often bitter Council Wars that pitted the black mayor against a 29-member City Council majority, Washington could sometimes joke with opposition leader Ed Vrdolyak and his allies.
Former NBC 5 Political Reporter Peter Nolan says afterward, he was able to sit down with them, because compromise was the name of the game.
"Different from today, everybody's angry in politics especially with their opponents," Nolan said.
Nolan says that was true in Springfield as well, where the late Democratic State Senate President Phil Rock and Republic Leader James Pate Phillip could rail at each other on the floor and eat dinner together afterwards.
Today—he agrees—compromise is considered a bad thing. He believes it's because people from both sides don't get to know each other well enough in the off-hours.
Nolan suggests government can get a lot done when political opponents don't treat each other as mortal enemies.
"Sorry to say, with all the things going on in the country and the world, somebody's gotta sit down and say 'I'll give you this, you give me this," he explained.
"We've gotta to work some compromise in and we gotta have some civility."
Nolan is the author of the book "Campaign: The Election that Rocked Chicago."
