Sam Rayburn

== Speaker of the House ==

[[Image:Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn.jpg |thumb|left|upright|Portrait by [[Douglas Chandor]], 1941]]

On September 16, 1940, at the age of 58, and while serving as [[Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Leader]], Rayburn became [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] upon the sudden death of Speaker [[William Bankhead]]. Rayburn's ascension to the speakership was surprisingly rapid; that including Bankhead, the three Speakers prior to Rayburn died in office within six years. ([[Henry Thomas Rainey]] died in 1934 and [[Jo Byrns]] in 1936.)<ref>{{cite news |last=Timmons |first=Bascom N. |date=October 24, 1961 |title=Rayburn Maneuvers Kept U.S. Moving in 1941 |page=14 |work=Lawton Constitution |location=Lawton, OK |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/872365732/ |url-access=subscription |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Rayburn's first major crisis after assuming the speakership was [[World War II]]. In the decade prior to the war, the United States was isolationist and decided to not participate in the war when war broke out in 1937 in Asia and 1939 in Europe. Rayburn helped pass the [[Lend-Lease Act]] in March 1941. This act allowed the U.S. to distribute food, oil, and [[materiel]] to the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union. In August 1941, he helped pass the Service Extension Act of 1941. In 1940, a 12-month peacetime draft was instituted by the government to prepare for possible war. The isolationists in the House wanted to not get involved in the war though and wanted to let the peacetime draft expire after 12 months in 1941. After Rayburn talked to all representatives who were anti-draft and tried to persuade them to change their minds, the bill was passed by a vote of 203–202, a one-vote margin. If this bill had been defeated, the U.S. Army stood to lose about two-thirds of its strength and three-fourths of the officer corps due to the end of the draft.<ref name="Washington Post 1991">{{cite news |last=Leyden |first=John G. |date=August 18, 1991 |title=How Mr. Sam Saved the Draft |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/08/18/how-mr-sam-saved-the-draft/40056dca-450a-4dce-b1cd-cb123ef36139/ |access-date=August 9, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Fdr delivers speech.jpg|thumb|right|President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] delivers the [[Day of Infamy speech]] to Congress. Behind him are Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]] (left) and Speaker Rayburn.]]
In early 1944, top Roosevelt officials approached Rayburn and asked him to work discreetly with Congress to gain funding for the production of an [[atomic bomb]]. Later that year, Rayburn secured $1.6 billion to fund the [[Manhattan Project]], the code name for the secret project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb. This secret operation was done with most of the President's own cabinet and even vice presidents as well as all members of Congress except a handful not knowing about the atomic bomb. Only Rayburn, the Senate Majority Leader, and five other congressmen were aware of this operation. Rayburn had to hide the Manhattan Project through fake names and other deceptive means in appropriation bills until the bombs were used in 1945.<ref>{{cite news |last=Carlson |first=Anne |date=September 21, 2006 |title=Sam Rayburn and World War II |website=North Texas e-News |url=http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=21&num=36836 |access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rafalko |first=Frank J. |url=https://irp.fas.org/ops/ci/docs/ci2/2ch1_f.htm |title=Counterintelligence reader : American Revolution to World War II |publisher=National Counterintelligence Center |year=2004}}</ref>

During the [[1944 United States presidential election|1944 presidential campaign]], President Roosevelt offered Speaker Rayburn the vice presidential nomination. Rayburn might have become president had he accepted Roosevelt's offer, but he rejected it. As the Speaker, Rayburn had already reached the pinnacle of his ambition. Ultimately, the [[1944 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|Democratic vice presidential nomination]] went to Missouri Senator [[Harry S. Truman]].

In 1946, the Republicans swept the Democrats in the midterm elections, winning both the House and Senate. The Democrats lost [[1946 United States House of Representatives elections|54 seats]] in the House. Rayburn felt that because he lost in such an overwhelming manner he should step down as House Democratic Leader and not be the Minority Leader in the upcoming congress (this would have likely ended in an early retirement for him before the end of the 1940s). He endorsed the northern Democrat [[John W. McCormack]] for Minority Leader, but there was a "draft Rayburn" movement initiated by President Truman, McCormack himself, and all the northern and southern Democrats. Democrats feared that, without Rayburn as their leader, the Democratic Party would have been torn apart by inter-factionalism between northern and southern Democrats and liberal and conservative Democrats. Many people in Washington were then aware of how important Speaker Rayburn was to hold the Democratic Party together. Rayburn accepted the Minority Leader position and remained the House Democratic Leader for the rest of his life. To show how much they appreciated Rayburn's decision to stay in office as House Democratic Leader, 142 House Democrats and 50 House Republicans surprised Rayburn with a special gift, a 1947 Cadillac. The House Speaker was provided a government-funded vehicle and the representatives felt bad that now Minority Leader Rayburn would have no car in Washington. Rayburn had a strict personal rule to never accept gifts more than $25 to avoid being bribed. The congressmembers circumvented this rule by combining their single $25 checks together to pay for the car. Rayburn returned all 50 Republican representatives' checks (to avoid a conflict of interest) but graciously thanked them for their gesture.<ref name="Champagne2009">{{cite book|first=Anthony|last=Champagne|title=The Austin-Boston Connection: Five Decades of House Democratic Leadership, 1937-1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=emcgJpUb78AC&pg=PA124|year=2009|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-60344-326-5|page=124}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thc.texas.gov/historic-sites%E2%80%8B/%E2%80%8Bsam-rayburn-house/history/rayburns-1947-cadillac|title=Rayburn's 1947 Cadillac - THC.Texas.gov - Texas Historical Commission|website=www.thc.texas.gov|access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Sam Rayburn House Museum June 2017 20 (Sam Rayburn's 1947 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 62).jpg|thumb|left|This 1947 [[Cadillac Series 62|Cadillac Fleetwood Series 62]] was a gift from the House Democrats and House Republicans after he became Minority Leader. 142 Democratic congressmembers and 50 Republican congressmembers donated $25 each to purchase this car.]]
In 1947–1948, Rayburn as Minority Leader helped pass the [[Marshall Plan]] and the aid package that supported the [[Truman Doctrine]] that supported non-communist European countries and helped to stop the spread of communism. He also had to deal with the southern Democrats' ([[Dixiecrat]]s') reaction to President Truman's call for very swift civil rights legislation. The committees were dominated by very powerful southern Democrats who were pro-segregation so these civil rights bills were dead on arrival. Rayburn had to be the moderate between the conservatives and liberals as well as the northern and southern Democrats so he rebuffed Truman's civil rights bills that many party members considered very fast but also rejected the southern Democrats' calls for a pro-segregation candidate to run in place of Truman in the [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 presidential election]]. Rayburn was against a swift poll tax repeal and other fast-track civil rights legislation but also ordered the pro-segregation Democrats to run as a third-party due to his fears that the northern Democrats would boycott the election and help the Republicans win the election. Rayburn was a staunch supporter of Truman and was for a gradual civil rights legislation rollout that wouldn't be too fast and immediate due to the fears of the backlash by southern Democrats. In 1949, after his successful efforts to win back the House, Senate, and Truman's re-election he became Speaker again and supported a repeal of the Texas poll tax. He said that a repeal of the poll tax in Texas would aid the United States in its battle with the Soviet Union for the world's hearts and minds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/speakers_41_50.php|title=41st through 50th - Guide to Speakers of the Texas House - Texas House Speakers Oral History - Projects|first=UT Austin|last=Dolph Briscoe Center for American History|date=November 11, 2008|website=www.cah.utexas.edu|access-date=January 6, 2019|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807000247/https://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/speakers_41_50.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1949 to 1953, Rayburn was Speaker again. He supported Truman's [[Fair Deal]] but the [[Conservative Coalition]] of conservative Republicans and conservative Democrats blocked the Fair Deal legislation from being passed. During his second tenure as Speaker he focused mostly on passing anti-Soviet legislation and getting House support for Truman and the military in the [[Korean War]]. By 1952 the Korean War bogged down and Truman's popularity crashed. He chose not to run for re-election as a result and the Republicans won the House, Senate, and presidency.

[[File:Alaska Statehood signing.jpg|thumb|right|Rayburn and President Eisenhower shaking hands at the signing ceremony for the [[Alaska Statehood Act]]]]
Rayburn's second time as Minority Leader coincided with President Eisenhower's first two years of his presidency. [[McCarthyism]] was in full swing so both parties were trying their best to portray themselves as anti-communist. The [[Communist Control Act of 1954]] and the continuing defense of South Korea and Taiwan and South Vietnam were supported by Rayburn and most Democrats. Rayburn and the Democrats won back the House and Senate in the [[1954 United States elections|1954 elections]].

Rayburn's third and final tenure as Speaker from 1955 to 1961 was one of the greatest moments of his career. His protégé Senator [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] became Majority Leader mostly thanks to Rayburn maneuvering the Senate leadership and making deals to make sure Johnson became Senate Democratic Leader. The trio of Rayburn, Eisenhower, and Johnson worked together well and passed numerous landmark bills such as the [[National Interstate and Defense Highways Act]] that established the [[Interstate Highway System]], the [[National Aeronautics and Space Act]] that established [[NASA]], the [[Federal Aviation Act of 1958]] that established the [[FAA]], the [[National Defense Education Act]], the [[Colorado River Storage Project|Colorado River Storage Project Act]], the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]] and the [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]], which were the first civil rights acts passed since [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]].

[[File:Kennedy inauguration footage.ogv|thumb|left|Rayburn swears in Lyndon B. Johnson as Vice President on January 20, 1961 (1:19)]]
In 1958–1959, Rayburn helped admit [[Alaska Statehood Act|Alaska]] and [[Hawaii Admission Act|Hawaii]] into the United States as the 49th and 50th states. Rayburn heavily fought for Alaska after realizing that then-Democratic Alaska would counter then-Republican Hawaii in the Senate and [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]. In 1961, Rayburn wanted to pass more civil rights legislation along with President Kennedy but the powerful [[House Rules Committee]] was dominated by a conservative coalition of Democrats and Republicans who rejected any socially liberal legislation. Rayburn sought to end the impasse by changing House rules to add three spots (two majority and one minority) to the committee. Rayburn defended his plan in a rare speech on the House floor. "I think this House should be allowed on great measures to work its will and it cannot work its will if the Committee on Rules is so constituted as not to allow the House to pass on those things." In a 217–212 vote, Rayburn and the Democratic leadership won a narrow but significant victory.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawrence |first=W. H. |date=August 21, 1959 |title=Hawaii Becomes the 50th State; New Flag Shown |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/990821onthisday_big.html |access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail|title=Texas Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn's Bold Move to Increase the Size of the Committee on Rules - US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov|access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:RayburnOfficefromDome.jpg|thumb|right|Rayburn's influence and great rapport with congressmembers and the Washington bureaucracy allowed the [[Rayburn House Office Building]] to be designed and built within 10 years. At 2.4 million square feet, it is larger than the next two largest Capitol office buildings combined.]]
Himself a protégé of [[Vice President of the United States]] [[John Nance Garner]], Rayburn was a close friend and mentor of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and knew Johnson's father, [[Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr.|Sam]], from their days in the Texas Legislature. Rayburn was instrumental to Lyndon Johnson's ascent to power, particularly his rapid rise to the position of [[Senate Minority Leader|Minority Leader]]. Johnson had been in the Senate for a mere four years when he assumed the role. Johnson also owed his subsequent elevation to [[Senate Majority Leader|Majority Leader]] to Rayburn. Like Johnson, Rayburn did not sign the [[Southern Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=3020998 |first=Tony |last=Badger |title=Southerners Who Refused to Sign the Southern Manifesto |journal=[[The Historical Journal]] |volume=42 |issue=2 |year=1999 |pages=517–534 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x98008346|s2cid=145083004 }}</ref>

As Speaker of the House, Rayburn forged close friendships and partnerships with [[legislatures]] of emerging independent countries and democracies on the continent of [[Africa]], especially [[Nigeria]], a rising political power on that continent. Rayburn was a good friend of [[Jaja Wachuku]], the first indigenous [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker]] of the [[Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria|Nigerian House of Representatives]], from 1959 to 1960.

=== Personal integrity ===
Although many Texas legislators were on the payroll of public service corporations, Rayburn refused to be. As he recounted in a speech during his congressional campaign:
<blockquote>When I became a member of the law firm of Steger, Thurmond and Rayburn, Messrs. Thurmond and Steger were representing the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe Railroad Company]], receiving pay monthly. When the first check came after I entered the firm, Mr. Thurmond brought to my desk one-third of the amount of the check, explaining what it was for. I said to him that I was a member of the Legislature, representing the people of Fannin County, and that my experience had taught me that men who represent the people should be as far removed as possible from concerns whose interests he was liable to be called on to legislate concerning, and that on that ground I would not accept a dollar of the railroad's money, though I was legally entitled to it. I never did take a dollar of it. I have been guided by the principle in all my dealings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rayburn |first=Sam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wux2AAAAMAAJ |title="Speak, Mister Speaker" |date=1978 |publisher=Sam Rayburn Foundation |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

This practice of refusing to accept fees from clients with interests before the legislature was "virtually unheard-of" at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Champagne |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omx3AAAAMAAJ |title=Congressman Sam Rayburn |date=1984 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-1012-5 |pages=32 |language=en}}</ref> Later, while serving in Congress, a wealthy oil man had a very expensive horse delivered to Rayburn's farm in Bonham. No one apparently knew the oil man delivered the horse except him, Rayburn, and a Rayburn staffer. Rayburn returned the horse.<ref>Anthony Champagne, ''Congressman Sam Rayburn'' 31 (1984)</ref>

H.G. Dulaney, an aide to Rayburn and later the director of the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum, said that after speaking in Texas on one occasion Rayburn learned his driver had been given an envelope with money inside from the sponsor of the speech. He said Rayburn made the driver turn around and return the money. Author [[Robert Caro]] said, "No one could buy him. Lobbyists could not buy him so much as a meal. Not even the taxpayer could buy him a meal. He refused not only fees but travel expenses for out-of-town speeches; hosts who... attempted to press checks upon him quickly realized they had made a mistake... Rayburn would say, 'I'm not for sale' - and then he would walk away without a backward glance."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3545640&itype=NGPSID|title=Bennett backs off on ethics remarks|last=Eddington|first=Mark|date=February 25, 2006|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|language=en-US|access-date=August 9, 2019}}</ref>

=== Legacy ===
[[Image:Rayburn-Sam-LOC.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sam Rayburn]]
In shaping legislation, Rayburn preferred working quietly in the background to being in the public spotlight. As Speaker, he won a reputation for fairness and integrity. In his years in Congress, Rayburn always insisted on paying his own expenses, even going so far as to pay for his own travel expenses when inspecting the [[Panama Canal]] when his committee was considering legislation concerning it, rather than exercising his right to have the government pay for it. After he died his estate was valued at just under $300,000, which was mostly land he owned, and the amount of cash he had in various checking accounts was just over $26,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rayburnmrspeaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Inventory-Appraisement-of-Sam-Rayburn-Estate.pdf|title=Inventory & Appraisement of the Estate of Sam Rayburn, Fannin County Clerk's Office|access-date=August 20, 2014|archive-date=August 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821072104/http://www.rayburnmrspeaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Inventory-Appraisement-of-Sam-Rayburn-Estate.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rayburn was well known among his colleagues for his after business hours "Board of Education" meetings in hideaway offices in the House. During these off-the-record sessions, the speaker and powerful committee chairmen would gather for poker, bourbon, and a frank discussion of politics. Rayburn alone determined who received an invitation to these gatherings; to be invited to even one was a high honor. On April 12, 1945, Vice President [[Harry Truman]], a regular attendee since his Senate days, had just arrived at the "Board of Education" when he received a phone call telling him to immediately come to the [[White House]], where he learned that [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was dead and he was now President of the United States.

Rayburn coined the term "[[Sun Belt]]" while strongly supporting the construction of [[U.S. Route 66|Route 66]]. It originally ran south from [[Chicago]], through [[Oklahoma]], and then turned westward from Texas to [[New Mexico]] and [[Arizona]] before ending at the beach in [[Santa Monica, California]]. Arguing in favor of the project, he stated famously that America absolutely must connect "the Frost Belt with the Sun Belt".

Rayburn also had a knack for dressing to suit his occasion. While in [[Washington, D.C.]], he would sport expensive suits, starched shirts, and perfectly shined shoes. However, while back in his poorer district in Texas, Rayburn would wear simple shirts, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats. Several politicians have imitated this pattern, including [[Ronald Reagan]]'s example of clearing brush when at home in California, while wearing fine suits in Washington.

The phrase "A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one" is attributed to Rayburn.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 12, 1953 |title=The Prelude of the 83rd |magazine=[[TIME]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817667-2,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930084514/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817667-2,00.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Kennedy Giving Historic Speech to Congress - GPN-2000-001658.jpg|thumb|right|Speaker Rayburn is seated at right behind President [[John F. Kennedy]] in this May 25, 1961, photograph showing Kennedy announcing the [[Apollo program]].]]

His home in Texas, now known as the [[Sam Rayburn House Museum]], was designated a U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]]. In 1957, Rayburn dedicated the [[Sam Rayburn Library and Museum]] in [[Bonham, Texas|Bonham]] in the style of a [[Presidential library system|presidential library]] to preserve his memory, library collection, honors, and mementos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://av.cah.utexas.edu/index.php/Rayburn:Dv_00147|title=Rayburn:Dv 00147 - GLIFOS|website=av.cah.utexas.edu|access-date=January 6, 2019|archive-date=May 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529053743/http://av.cah.utexas.edu/index.php/Rayburn:Dv_00147|url-status=dead}}</ref>