CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois Gov.  James R. Thompson has died. He was 84. Thompson’s prosecutions of public officials in a state infamous for public corruption helped catapult him to become Illinois’ longest-serving chief executive.

His wife, Jayne, told the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times that he died Friday night at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. The Tribune, citing a police report, reported Thompson had been recovering there for several weeks after suffering heart problems.

Thompson was a Republican from Chicago who was first elected in 1976. He served four terms. A moderate, he managed the state through recession years in the 1980s.