Rayburn, Sam

Rayburn, (Samuel Taliaferro) Sam

(1882–1961) U.S. representative; born in Roane County, Tenn. A farm boy, he worked his way through Mayo Normal College and taught school while earning his law degree at night. A powerful Democrat in the Texas House (1906–12), he quickly rose to prominence in the U.S. House of Representatives (1913–61) on the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, aided by John Nance Gardner. A Southern populist, he sponsored New Deal legislation including the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to regulate Wall Street. He took special pride in the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Elected Speaker of the House (1940–61), he was politically more influential in Washington than in Texas, where oil men had assumed power. He supported Roosevelt's and Truman's foreign policies, but his and Senator Lyndon Johnson's policy of moderation and compromise during the 1950s ultimately alienated liberal Democrats, who backed John Kennedy in 1960. Rayburn aided President Kennedy's liberal legislative package by enlarging the House Rules Committee.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.