Thomas Foran was the chief prosecutor in the Chicago Conspiracy trial. He was generally seen as the government's straight man at trial-- restrained and professional--but in his summation denounced the defendants as "evil men," "professional extremists," and "liars and obscene haters."
Foran was a man of many friends. He was proud of his close working relationship with the FBI, but was also quick to cite his friendship with Robert Kennedy, claiming to be a "better friend" of RFK than was Tom Hayden. Foran was especially close to Mayor Richard Daley, having served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for Chicago. On the witness stand, Daley described Foran as "one of the greatest attorneys in the country and the finest man I have met in public or private life.
At the time of the Conspiracy Trial, Foran had served two years as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The former World War II carrier pilot and 1950 graduate of Detroit Law School won a reputation as a tough fighter of organized crime, prosecuting over 150 crime figures.
Until 1999, Foran continued to practice law in the twenty-person Chicago firm of Foran & Schultz. His clients included Bethlehem Steel, McDonald's, O'Hare Airport, Milton Bradley, and Hasbro. He died in 2000 following a battle with bone cancer.