Word: tsarism
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Speaker of the House since 1936 has been William Brockman Bankhead of Alabama.* His way of rule was not the harsh tsarism of Joe Cannon (1903-11), the rough-&-tumble domination of Nick Longworth (1925-31). Partly from natural bent, partly of necessity, he used the gentler arts of persuasion, parliamentary device, friendship. His pre-New Deal predecessors had special patronage to dispense, and patronage was power. Franklin Roosevelt took away most of the Speaker's patronage, leaving William Bankhead with no club to hold, no favors to give...