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Fun Fishing at Sam Rayburn Reservoir (Pode 2024)
Sam Rayburn, na íntegra Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (nascido em 6 de janeiro de 1882, no Condado de Roane, Tennessee, EUA - faleceu em 16 de novembro de 1961, Bonham, Texas), líder político americano, que atuou como presidente da Câmara dos Deputados dos EUA. Representantes por quase 17 anos. Ele foi eleito para a Câmara em 1912 e serviu lá continuamente por 48 anos e 8 meses, o que na época de sua morte era um mandato recorde. Ele foi eleito para o Congresso 25 vezes consecutivas. O prédio de escritórios da Rayburn House, um prédio do Congresso em Capitol Hill, foi nomeado em sua memória.
Questionário
Um estudo da história: fato ou ficção?
O diamante da esperança de hoje é menor do que o dos séculos passados.
Vida
A família de Rayburn, de origem predominantemente escocesa, mudou-se do Tennessee para o Texas em 1887, e lá Rayburn cresceu em uma fazenda de 40 acres. Ele trabalhou no East Texas Normal College (atualmente Texas A&M University - Commerce), ensinou na escola e se tornou advogado. Ele serviu na Câmara dos Deputados do Texas por seis anos (1907 a 13) e em 1911 foi eleito orador. No ano seguinte, ele foi eleito para o Congresso dos EUA, onde permaneceu por quase meio século.
Enérgico, estudioso, ambicioso e afável, Rayburn rapidamente se tornou influente nos bastidores do governo e da política partidária. Como presidente (1931–37) do poderoso Comitê da Câmara sobre Comércio Interestadual e Estrangeiro, ele foi um dos principais arquitetos do New Deal. Como membro da Câmara dos Deputados, ele foi co-autor de seis leis importantes - a Lei de Transporte Ferroviário de Emergência, a Lei “Verdade em Valores Mobiliários”, a Lei da Bolsa de Valores, a Lei das Comunicações Federais, a Lei das Comunicações Federais, a Lei da Eletrificação Rural e uma das mais amargamente contestadas de todas as leis do New Deal, a Lei da Companhia de Serviços Públicos.
Rayburn was elected Democratic leader of the House of Representatives in 1937 and became speaker of the House on Sept. 16, 1940. He held the latter office for almost 17 years, exceeding by a wide margin the previous record set by Kentucky statesman Henry Clay in the first quarter of the 19th century. Noted for his tart common sense, his honesty, and his unflagging patriotism, Rayburn was a trusted adviser to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy. A dedicated party man who described himself as a Democrat “without prefix, without suffix, and without apology,” Rayburn was often called “Mr. Democrat.” He was permanent chairman of the Democratic National Convention in 1948, 1952, and 1956. After he won the battle in 1961 to enlarge the House Committee on Rules—the hardest internal House struggle in 50 years—Rayburn’s health failed quickly. Before Congress adjourned that year, he went home to Bonham, Texas, where he died.
Legacy
At the time of his death, Rayburn was regarded as an extraordinarily able legislator who had gone on to become the most effective speaker of the House since Joe Cannon was divested of his power in 1910. That assessment of Rayburn did not change in the decades following his death. His pivotal role in the House as a broker between the Northern and Southern wings of the Democratic Party, however, was later better understood and appreciated. During Rayburn’s tenure, power in the House was lodged in the hands of committee chairs who gained their positions through seniority. Because the American South still was overwhelmingly Democratic and the Republican Party was not competitive there, Southern Democrats in the House—with their seniority and their control over chairs of committees—tended to have great power. Northern Democrats tended to be more liberal than their Southern counterparts, but their lack of seniority and committee chairs diminished their influence in the House. Rayburn brokered the interests of both wings of the Democratic Party.
Although the office of speaker at that time lacked great formal powers, Rayburn used the limited influence of the office to maximum advantage. He also relied heavily on his personal prestige, his skill at persuasion, and personal friendships built up over decades in the House to bridge the regional differences within the Democratic Party and to forge a working majority in the House. His leadership style usually resulted in congenial relations not only between the Northern and Southern wings of the Democratic Party but also between Rayburn and the Republican leadership of the House—a considerable accomplishment, especially when viewed in the light of the divisive House of Representatives in the early 21st century.
