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Bartee Haile
A White House errand boy delivered a handwritten message from the President to the Speaker of the House on May 10, 1949.
Sam Rayburn left the floor earlier in the day feeling that his passionate defense of an administration bill had been near perfect. But, if anyone could find fault with his remarks, it was Harry Truman.
“Sam, you made a wonderful speech this afternoon,” read the note. “You choked me up so I could hardly talk.”
Mr. Sam began his 54year career in public service while still in law school at the University of Texas. Confident that legislative duties would not conflict with his studies, the folks back in Bonham elected their favorite son to the Texas House in 1906.
Toward the end of his third term, the incumbent congressman in Rayburn’s home district resigned to run for the U.S. Senate. Knowing it could be many years before he had another shot at an open seat, the 30-year-old politician threw his hat in the ring.
When all the ballots were counted in July 1912, only 618 votes separated the top three candidates in the eight-man field. The choice of slightly less than a quarter of the electorate, Sam Rayburn packed his bags for Washington never dreaming he would stay in the nation’s capital for the next 48 years.
In those days, junior members of the House, much like children, were seen but rarely heard. Rayburn respected this unwritten rule and spent nearly two decades learning the ropes.
His tutor was the dean of the Texas delegation, John Nance Garner of Uvalde. Rayburn was a rising star in Democratic circles, when Cactus Jack grudgingly gave up the speakership, a prize that had taken 28 years to win, for the vice-presidency.
Following in Garner’s footsteps, Rayburn became majority leader in his 12th term. Three years later, in September 1940, he was selected Speaker of the House by fellow Democrats replacing William B. Bankhead, who died on the job.
His own career cut short by an unsuccessful attempt to deny FDR a third term, Garner gave his protege a parting piece of advice: “Always do what is right for the country, remembering that while it may not be popular at the time, if it is right for the country, it will be advantageous in the end.”
With the gavel in Rayburn’s hand, Texas was truly in the driver’s seat. In addition to the Speaker, second only to the President in political power, the chairmen of five influential committees all hailed from the Lone Star State.
Although shaped by the Sage from Uvalde, Rayburn differed in temperament and style. As the Democrat in charge, cantankerous Cactus Jack never hesitated to crack the whip to keep colleagues in line. The more reserved Rayburn preferred low-key consultation to confrontation, which he disdained as a distasteful last resort.
However, Rayburn strongly objected to a cover article in a 1943 issue of Time that characterized him as “the great compromiser.”
“I am not a compromiser,” he fumed. “I’d rather be known as a persuader. I try to compromise by getting people to think my way.”
The consummate behind- the-scenes politician, Rayburn shunned the limelight and had nothing but contempt for those that did not. “Damn the fellow who’s always seeking publicity,” he said scornfully.
Rayburn’s record reign as Speaker was interrupted twice by short-lived Republican majorities in the House. He resumed his customary role in 1949 after two years as minority leader only to relinquish the gavel again in 1953 on the heels of the Eisenhower landslide.
Rayburn promised to cooperate with the first Republican president in 20 years, while at the same time taking a solemn vow to protect the achievements of the New Deal. “Any jackass can kick a barn down,” he commented colorfully, “but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”
The honeymoon was short, to say the least. Mr. Sam eventually rated the Eisenhower administration “the most inept and blundering I have ever served with” and accused the GOP-dominated 83rd Congress of being “as dynamic as the dodo and as forward looking as yesterday.”
When the Democrats retook the reins in 1955, Texans were cast in the leading roles. For six remarkable years, Lyndon Johnson ran the Senate as majority leader and Speaker Rayburn called the tune in the House.
Then, in 1961, the curtain suddenly dropped on the Lone Star Show. Johnson, like Garner before him, stepped down to be John F. Kennedy’s running mate. Ten months after LBJ was sworn in as vice president, Rayburn passed away at age 79, after a long illness.
Harry Truman arrived early for the funeral in Bonham “to walk around the square and shake hands with Sam’s friends.” To everyone, the plain-spoken ex-president said, “Sam Rayburn was a man who made his friends proud and his critics ashamed.”
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Bartee welcomes your comments and questions at barteehaile@gmail.com or P.O. Box 130011, Spring, TX 77393.