Speaker of the House 76th, 77th, 78th 79th, 81st and 82nd Congresses
RAYBURN, Samuel Taliaferro, a
Representative from Texas; born near Kingston, Roane County, Tenn., January 6,
1882; moved to Fannin County, Tex., in 1887 with his parents who settled near
Windom; attended the rural schools and was graduated from the East Texas Normal
College, Commerce, Tex., in 1903; studied law at the University of Texas at
Austin; was admitted to the bar in 1908 and commenced practice in Bonham, Fannin
County, Tex.; member of the State house of representatives 1907-1913, and served
as speaker during the last two years; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third
and to the twenty-four succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1913,
until his death; chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce
(Seventy-second, Seventy-third, and Seventy-fourth Congresses); majority leader
(Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth Congresses), minority leader (Eightieth and
Eighty-third Congresses); elected Speaker of the House of Representatives
September 16, 1940, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Speaker William
B. Bankhead; reelected Speaker in the Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth,
Seventy-ninth, Eighty-first, Eighty-second, Eighty-fourth, Eighty-fifth,
Eighty-sixth, and Eighty-seventh Congresses; died in Bonham, Tex., November 16,
1961; interment in Willow Wild Cemetery.
Bibliography
DAB; Champagne, Anthony. Congressman Sam Rayburn. New
Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1984; Hardeman, D.B., and Donald C.
Bacon. Rayburn: A Biography. Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1987.
-- Biographical
Data courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.