Word: rayburnisms
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...final tally was 217 for, 212 against: 64 Democrats, all from the South and border states, voted against Rayburn, but 22 Republicans, mostly from the urban Northeast, crossed over the party line to save him from a humiliating defeat. When Rayburn announced the totals. Howard Smith stood up and shuffled off the floor and into the cloakroom. "Well," he said with a wan smile, "we done our damnedest." Rayburn's smile was far from wan. "We won." he said, his eyes dancing, "and I am satisfied...
...Country Boys. The two wily old congressional giants who were pitted against each other in the fight have much in common. Sam Rayburn and Howard Smith both have the patina of age-Rayburn is 79, Smith 78-and the special dignity that accrues to old men who have long exercised power in causes greater than their own ambitions. Both are gruff on the surface, kind underneath. They were country boys, raised on farms, and they still, whenever they can get out of Washington, instinctively head for rustic serenity-the Rayburn cattle ranch near Bonham, Texas or the Smith dairy farm...
...most striking difference, the Great Divide of personality, is a matter of the temperature of the heart. Smith is a bit frosty; displays of emotion make him visibly uncomfortable. Sam Rayburn, in contrast, is a sentimentalist, a man of strong and easily stirred feelings, who unashamedly weeps in public when moved. Men who were there still choke up when they recall Rayburn's anguished speech in the House on the death of his old friend Alben Barkley, the speech that ended, "God comfort his loved ones. God comfort me." The difference carries over into politics. Judge Smith...
Since 1932, the prevailing tendencies of the times have gone against Judge Smith. He has authored some important legislation-notably the anti-subversive Smith Act-but his essential role in Congress has been to delay defeat for his causes. Sam Rayburn has moved with the drift of things, and so helped to make history, not just slow it down...
Great Compromiser. Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn decided way back in boyhood that he was going to be Speaker of the House some day. and he early set about making his dream come true. He got elected to Congress in 1912, at 30, after serving six years in the Texas state legislature. He became House Speaker in 1940, has held that post ever since except for the two intervals. 1947-48 and 1953-54, when the Republicans had a majority in the House. By virtue of his early start, plus sheer longevity, Rayburn has established two records that, apart from his other...