جدول المحتويات:
سام رايبورن ، كاملاً صموئيل تاليافيرو رايبورن (ولد في 6 يناير 1882 ، مقاطعة روان ، تينيسي ، الولايات المتحدة - توفي في 16 نوفمبر 1961 ، بونهام ، تكساس) ، زعيم سياسي أمريكي ، شغل منصب رئيس مجلس النواب الأمريكي. النواب لما يقرب من 17 عاما. تم انتخابه لأول مرة في مجلس النواب في عام 1912 وخدم هناك بشكل مستمر لمدة 48 سنة 8 أشهر ، والتي كانت وقت وفاته فترة قياسية. انتخب للكونجرس 25 مرة متتالية. تم تسمية مبنى Rayburn House Office ، وهو مبنى مكاتب الكونغرس في الكابيتول هيل ، في ذاكرته.
اختبار
دراسة التاريخ: حقيقة أم خيال؟
الماس الأمل اليوم أصغر من تلك الموجودة في القرون الماضية.
الحياة
انتقلت عائلة Rayburn ، ذات الأصل الاسكتلندي في الغالب ، من ولاية تينيسي إلى تكساس في عام 1887 ، ونشأ فيها Rayburn في مزرعة مساحتها 40 فدانًا. شق طريقه من خلال كلية إيست تكساس للمعلمين (الآن جامعة تكساس إي أند إم - التجارة) ، ودرّس المدرسة ، وأصبح محاميًا. خدم في مجلس النواب بولاية تكساس لمدة ست سنوات (1907–113) وفي عام 1911 تم انتخابه رئيسًا. في العام التالي تم انتخابه في الكونجرس الأمريكي ، حيث بقي لمدة نصف قرن تقريبًا.
أصبح Rayburn نشطًا ، وجادًا ، وطموحًا ، وعاطفيًا ، وسرعان ما أصبح مؤثرًا وراء الكواليس في الحكومة وفي السياسات الحزبية. بصفته رئيسًا (1931-1937) للجنة مجلس النواب القوية بشأن التجارة الخارجية والداخلية ، كان مهندسًا رئيسيًا للصفقة الجديدة. كعضو في مجلس النواب ، كان مؤلفًا لستة قوانين مهمة - قانون النقل بالسكك الحديدية في حالات الطوارئ ، وقانون "الحقيقة في الأوراق المالية" ، وقانون البورصة ، وقانون الاتصالات الفيدرالي ، وقانون كهربة الريف ، وواحد من أكثر قوانين الصفقة الجديدة إثارة للجدل ، وهي قانون شركة المرافق العامة القابضة.
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.
