During World War II, Daley served in the United States Navy in the Mediterranean theatre.
He reached the rank of Lieutenant, junior grade at the end of the war.
He served as an Assistant State's Attorney in the Office of the Cook County State's Attorney and as a special deputy to the Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance during Adlai Stevenson's administration.
[2][3][4][5] In the 1964 statewide, at-large election for the Illinois House of Representatives, Daley was elected to the 74th General Assembly, as one of 118 Democrats and 59 Republicans selected by voters for the Illinois House of Representatives.
[7] He was replaced as Democratic Committeeman by state legislator Andrew J.