Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961), often called "Mr. Sam," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.
Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and graduated from Mayo College (now Texas A&M; University-Commerce) in Commerce in North/ Northeast Texas. After a year of teaching school, he won el...
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Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961), often called "Mr. Sam," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.
Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and graduated from Mayo College (now Texas A&M; University-Commerce) in Commerce in North/ Northeast Texas. After a year of teaching school, he won election to the Texas Legislature. During his third two-year term in the Legislature, he was elected Speaker of the House at the age of twenty-nine. The next year, he won election to the United States House of Representatives in District 4. He entered Congress in 1913 at the beginning of Woodrow Wilson's presidency and served in office for more than forty-eight years. Rayburn was baptized in the Primitive Baptist Church (which is also known as Old Line Baptist or Hardshell Baptist) by Elder H.G. Ball.
Though a menacing and powerful presence on...
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