Word: rayburnisms
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...House was haunted. McCormack evoked the spirit in the opening words of his acceptance speech: "Speaker Rayburn was not only a great man. He was a good man." For all of McCormack's days as Speaker, he will be pursued by the memory of his predecessor and dear friend, the little Texan who had presided over the House more than twice as long as any other man. The House had rarely given a Speaker such wholehearted trust and respect...
There was no Democratic challenge to Majority Leader McCormack's more or less automatic succession to Rayburn's chair-nor was there any marked enthusiasm about it. Some liberal columnists and editorial writers grumbled, but the young liberals of the House, much closer in "style" to their President than to their new Speaker, were too prudent to voice their misgivings publicly...
...leaders. In the evenings, with his wife in their hotel suite, McCormack snips dozens of useful items from the newspapers and furiously pens helpful memoranda in an often undecipherable scribble, then dispatches them to his colleagues the next day. One of McCormack's first acts after Sam Rayburn's death was to offer to help get Rayburn's staff new jobs. For years, Congressmen of both parties, eager to deliver speeches but frustrated because they could not get recognition from the Chair, knew they could come to McCormack with their problem. His invariable answer: "You just...
Member of the Board. The U.S. in 1928 was at the pinnacle of Republican prosperity, but Depression-and the Democrats-were soon to come. In Washington, John Nance Garner of Texas was floor leader of the Democratic House minority. Garner and his crony, Texas Representative Sam Rayburn, were ever on the lookout for promising newcomers, and they liked the look of the freshman from Boston. McCormack voted his party's line undeviatingly. He worked diligently at the menial committee assignments that are a new Congressman's lot, and he quickly learned the procedural rules of the House...
...Hell," growled Garner, "we want you on Ways & Means." McCormack was dumfounded, for Ways & Means was and is one of the most powerful and sought-after committees in the House. McCormack followed Garner's instructions and persuaded the Massachusetts delegation to nominate him for the post; then Sam Rayburn called to tell him that the entire Texas delegation would vote for him. McCormack was the first Democratic Representative to win the cherished assignment after less than two terms in office...