RAYBURN, SAM

born Jan. 6, 1882, Roane county, Tenn., U.S. died Nov. 16, 1961, Bonham, Texas in full Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn American Democratic Party leader who served for more than 48 years in the U.S. House of Representatives (191361), including 17 years as speaker. His public longevity, combined with his broad political influence behind the scenes, caused him to be known as Mr. Democrat. Reared on a farm after his family moved to Texas, young Rayburn taught school and became a lawyer at Bonham. Politics soon dominated his interests, and he began public life as a state legislator (190713), being chosen speaker of the Texas House of Representatives in 1911. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1912, he was reelected 25 consecutive times thereafter. Energetic, studious, ambitious, and affable, he became influential in government circles and in closed-door party councils. As chairman of the powerful congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (193137), he was a major architect of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program. He was coauthor of six important laws: the Railroad Holding Company Act, Truth-in-Securities Act, Securities Exchange Act, Federal Communications Act, Rural Electrification Act, and the most bitterly contested of all New Deal legislation, the Public Utility Holding Company Act. Rayburn was elected Democratic leader of the House in 1937 and became speaker in September 1940. Noted for his tart common sense, honesty, and unflagging patriotism, he was a trusted adviser to President Roosevelt and to three succeeding presidents. He was a dedicated party man who described himself as a Democrat without prefix, without suffix, and without apology. After winning a battle in 1961 to enlarge the House Rules Committeethe hardest internal House struggle in 50 yearsRayburn's health failed, and he returned home before Congress adjourned that year. Additional reading Alfred Steinberg, Sam Rayburn (1975).