Forrest Edward Claypool[1] is an American politician who has held several positions in the governments of Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois.

In 2007–2008, Claypool served as a key member of Barack Obama campaign's media team, in his capacity as a longtime partner of David Axelrod.

In 1993, Daley asked Claypool to take on the task of overhauling the Chicago Park District after allegations of the hired truck scandal that made public while he was the mayor's chief of staff.

Under Claypool's tenure and Daley's command, many of the politically appointed positions were eliminated and many employees were forced to reapply for their jobs.

Using the money saved from staff attrition and layoff, as well as from canceling projects he felt were wasteful, Claypool began to downsize and privatize some of the park district's services instead of performing them in-house.

(Kelly 1995, American City and County) The CPD also began experimenting with the partial privatization of Soldier Field and its parking lots.

Waging a fierce campaign in which he attacked what he saw as patronage and a bloated bureaucracy in the county government, Claypool went on to upset incumbent Commissioner Ted Lechowicz 51–49% in the March 19 Democratic primary.

This quote ran under the banner headline, "Hell Freezes Over: Cook County Board rejects Stroger's budget" in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Quigley dropped out in mid-December, saying "I am throwing my full effort and support to help elect Forrest Claypool as the next County Board President."

Claypool refused to endorse Stroger and was chastised heavily by Democratic politicians and stalwarts including Mayor Daley.

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, Forrest Claypool announced he would enter the Cook County Assessor election as an independent candidate.

He officially qualified to be entered onto the general election ballot on June 28, after collecting more than three times the number of voter signatures required for independent candidates seeking office in Illinois.