Sam Rayburn, sa buong Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn, (ipinanganak Enero 6, 1882, Roane county, Tenn., US - namatay noong Nobyembre 16, 1961, Bonham, Texas), pinuno ng politika sa Amerika, na nagsilbing tagapagsalita ng US House ng Mga kinatawan sa halos 17 taon. Una siyang nahalal sa Bahay noong 1912 at patuloy na naglingkod doon nang 48 taon 8 buwan, na sa oras ng kanyang kamatayan ay isang talaan ng talaan. Nahalal siya sa Kongreso ng 25 magkakasunod na beses. Ang Rayburn House Office Building, isang gusali ng kongreso sa Capitol Hill, ay pinangalanan sa kanyang memorya.
Quiz
Isang Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan: Fact o Fiction?
Ang Pag-asa diamante sa ngayon ay mas maliit kaysa sa mga nakalipas na siglo.
Buhay
Ang pamilya ni Rayburn, na nakararami na pinanggalingan ng Scottish, ay lumipat mula sa Tennessee patungong Texas noong 1887, at doon lumaki si Rayburn sa isang 40-acre bukid. Nagtrabaho siya sa pamamagitan ng East Texas Normal College (ngayon ay Texas A&M University — Commerce), nagturo sa paaralan, at naging isang abogado. Naglingkod siya sa Texas House of Representative sa loob ng anim na taon (1907–13) at noong 1911 ay nahalal na tagapagsalita. Nang sumunod na taon siya ay nahalal sa Kongreso ng US, kung saan siya ay nanatili sa halos kalahating siglo.
Masigla, mag-aaral, mapaghangad, at umaalalahan, mabilis na naging impluwensya si Rayburn sa likod ng mga eksena sa gobyerno at sa partido pulitika. Bilang chairman (1931–37) ng malakas na House Committee on Interstate at Foreign Commerce, siya ay isang pangunahing arkitekto ng Bagong Deal. Bilang isang miyembro ng House of Representative, naging coauthor siya ng anim na mahahalagang batas — ang Emergency Railroad Transportation Act, ang "Truth-in-Securities" Act, ang Stock Exchange Act, ang Federal Communications Act, Rural Electrification Act, at isa ng pinaka-mapait na pinagtatalunan ng lahat ng mga batas sa Bagong Deal, ang Public Utility Holding Company Act.
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.
