How the Race for House Majority Leader Was Won by Onme Vote
Peabody, Bruce 1. Oppenheimer and Robert L.
How the Race for House Majority Leader Was Won-By One Vote by Bruce 1. Oppenheimer and Robert L. Peabody At noon on December 6, 1976, less reelection of Democrats. than a month before the new...
...Wright himself plunged into canvassing with renewed vigor...
...I reached out like my hand was deadweight and turned up the last card...
...Wright campaigned in 23 districts, ten of which elected first-term Democrats to the 95th Congress...
...Forty-Eight New Democrats The November 1976 election produced 48 new House Democrats, who differed from the 94th class in a number of ways...
...Not all the campaigning had positive results...
...But he also warned Bolling supporters that if there were trouble, it would come on the second ballot...
...Why were Bolling, Burton, and McFall so concerned with how Wright was doing...
...After McFall and Bolling had responded with good humor to Wright’s introduction, each made a short, soft-sell speech to the freshmen...
...So it is only natural that Bolling, Burton, McFall, and Wright took an active interest in campaigns for House seats...
...Then, I saw activities for two reasons...
...Contacting sitting members presented little problem as long as the House was in session-until October 1, 1976-but gaining a firm commitment was something else...
...It dawned on others a bit position in the 20th century, all but before it did me, I think, because I three previously served as either the was suddenly surrounded by people majority or minority floor leader...
...As leader in the House majority party...
...So it was Wright who made the most substantial gains from the November election...
...Referring to the McFall votes, he said: “We should each get about half...
...Wright had several reasons for hoping that he might take the final ballot...
...Through the fall of 1975 and well into the summer of 1976, Burton, Bolling and McFall less intensively, could be seen around Congress locked in conversation with isolated members...
...Even more confounding was the new Burton total...
...Bolling limited his involvement mostly to asking his friends among regular Democratic contributors to indicate their preference for his own candid a cy...
...Telephone calls went out to “soft” commitments, and there were last-minute attempts to win over the supporters of McFall...
...he has to handle the external relations, too...
...He talked to Ben Palumbo, his caucus administrative assistant, about procedures for the opening caucus...
...Of course it was easier for Burton and Wright to be asked to help candidates because of their formal positions or their close association with the House Democratic Campaign Committee apparatus...
...In addition to campaigning across the land, all of the candidates except Bolling were actively engaged in fundraising for Democratic House candidates...
...More than 20 Democratic candidates, only about half of whom would make it to Congress, got an opportunity to talk politics with Burton and potential financing with Russ Hemenway, the executive director of the National Committee for an Effective Congress...
...Quite frankly, I believe we might even win the first ballot...
...The B ur t on an d B olling campaigns, bolstered by the heavy return of the 94th freshmen, also took on added momentum...
...He was very deeply interested in flood control matters...
...Burton preferred to be opposed by the candidate whom he would have the best chance of defeating...
...deciding which The final count, checked and rebills will come before the House and checked by loyal supporters from when...
...In the Bolling campaign, there was a Monday breakfast meeting for members of his executive committee, with more than 25 representatives attending In addressing the group, Gillis Long was optimistic, if restrained: “Dick Bolling and I have counted this thing backwards and forwards and none of us can see how we can do worse than second bn the first ballot...
...Wright was also Of the American Political Science Association...
...party on the floor...
...The second round of balloting began almost immediately...
...The first one was Dick 200-year history of Congress...
...Bolling-he’d been a child prodigy of the immortal Sam Rayburn, but you can’t be that forever...
...In addition to his prospective chairmanship of the Public Works Committee- a credential Wright and his supporters would take full advantage of in the majority leadership contest - Wright’s strength also stemmed from four additional sources...
...Each member at the breakfast was then given 3-by-5 cards, color-coded to designate people that he (or she) was responsible for contacting...
...Returning to Texas after the war, Wright married, became a partner in a trade extension and advertising firm, and took his first plunge into electoral politics...
...I think I was helpful to Allen and I think he was helpful to me when he seconded my nomination...
...He’d run [against Albert] and backed off before...
...In November Rostenkowski would arrange for Wright to meet with Mayor Richard Daley and the Chicago House delegation, and at the very end of the campaign Daley would take an active role in contacting other big city mayors on Wright’s behalf...
...Bolling, Wright, and McFall appeared to have in the range of 40 to 50 firm commitments...
...Phil Burton was the last to be introduced...
...But mostly he just waited for the end of what he knew was a losing cause...
...He rose through the ranks and exentually piloted B-24 combat missions in the South Pacific, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross in the process...
...After about 15, minutes, the boxes were removed and the final count began...
...He talked with Abner Mikva and several other close friends about possible leadership assignments in the event of victory...
...Finally, his membership in the relatively close-knit Texas Democratic state delegation gave him a strong launching pad...
...Now, how can I help you in your campaign to be elected to the House...
...Every candidate had a core of members who volunteered their support, signed letters of endorsement, or otherwise became active in the campaign...
...At this point I’m behind the other candidates but I would hope to catch up...
...He spoke only briefly at the meeting and then returned to his office to make a few phone calls...
...Burton was quick to congratulate Wright...
...McFall of California, Phillip Burton of The first inkling of the results California, Richard Bolling of Mis- came when two of Wright’s Texas souri, and James C. Wright, Jr...
...In a gesture of good will, Wright had invited his opponents to attend and address the new members...
...The Main Event Democrats began to assemble on the House floor about 1:00 p.m...
...In response to their ent siasm for his candidacy, he began to talk with other members, many of them friends who served with him on the Public Works Committee...
...Phil Burton, by contrast, was all energy and nervous, highly directed activity...
...many of the 1974 class had won in normally Republican districts...
...If Bolling had been in the runoff, and the executive branch and with everyone agreed, he would have interest groups, the media, and the beaten either Wright or Burton...
...They had hoped for a wider gap between Bolling and Wright...
...Of course, that was true of Jim Wright, too, but we felt to a lesser extent...
...When the speeches had concluded, members were given 3-by-5 yellow cards an which to write in their choice for Majority Leader...
...Estimates of how the four candidates were doing as of late summer 1976 are highly subjective and impossible to verify...
...There was speculation that Burton had, in fact, shifted some votes to Wright in order to have a more conservative- and hence weaker--opponent on the final ballot...
...Carroll Hubbard of Kentucky, the first elected chairman of the Class of ’74...
...Through the Ranks James C. Wright, Jr...
...Of there was good news...
...A few members remained uncommitted going into the voting session in December...
...was born in Fort Worth, Texas on December 22, 1922...
...In the long run, these second- and third-ballot commitments proved decisive to Wright’s victory...
...electorate...
...In addition to tentative counts, the Burton, Bolling, and Wright camps had concocted various scenarios by which their candidates would gain strength on successive ballots and win...
...Thomas P. ers, relatives, staffers, and other spec*‘Tip” O’Neill, Jr...
...We thought McFall was beatable...
...I didn’t know what it meant...
...This interest went beyond just keeping track of the winners of primaries, making congratulatory calls, and sending encouraging letters...
...A Pragmatic Conservative Jim Wright a liberal by Texas standards but a pragmatic conservative to most of his colleagues, was the last candidate to enter the race...
...Because Wright’s support came in large part from moderate to conservative House Democrats, the liberal Burton would have a good deal more difficulty gaining that support in a runoff with the more moderate Bolling than he would in gaining a majority of Bolling supporters in a runoff with Wright...
...Wright’s pitch was simple and direct: “As you know, I’m seriously considering becoming a candidate for Majority Leader...
...So I went up there and spent an entire day with him, going from one end of his district to the other, making maybe as many as 25 appearances before different groups...
...A Firm Commitment The critical problem for dl four candidates was how to contact their colleagues and the incoming freshmen and secure enough commitments from them for a majority in the December 6 Democratic caucus...
...It was too cute by a piece...
...the least visible nationally, and thus, in the eyes of the television and press reporters, least to end up in the winner's circle...
...It took another 15 minutes before the count was handed to Caucus Chairman Thomas Foley of Washington...
...Wright, taking advantage of his close friendship with Bob Strauss, the chairman of the Democratic Party, worked the convention in a different fashion...
...Wright’s campaign efforts for new members outside the South also helped him, especially in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland, where there was a strong interest in public works and flood control projects...
...Both Burton and Wright were encouraged that Wright was so close to Bolling that he might overtake him on the second ballot...
...Burton and McFall continued to work mainly alone, while Bolling and Wright had wives, top staff, and a number of close friends and supporters sitting in on their final decision-making...
...But having campaigned for six months or longer, the candidates found it difficult to sit back with just a few hours to go...
...The Bolling camp received word that one of the most conservative southern Democrats had been persuaded by another conservative to vote for Bolling on the grounds that Wright could not possibly beat Burton...
...Within Their Grasp As the campaign entered its final week, Burton, Bolling, and Wright all felt that the majority leadership was within their grasp...
...Jim Wright thought he would probably run second, with about 85 votes to Bolling’s first-place 90...
...Then I heard somebody at the other table say, “Jim Wright wins this box by five votes...
...He reports that he “crossed tracks at several points during that period” with Phil Burton, who says he appeared in about 20 districts...
...Craig Raupe, one of his principal assistants, remembers driving back from West Virginia to Washington with Wrigth, folowing a March speech in the district of House Commerce Committee Chairman Harley Staggers...
...Most were considerably more liberal than either Wright or McFall...
...From the Wright campaign’s perspective, the luncheon went even better than anticipated...
...Many last-minute activities could be delegated to supporters or staff...
...Jim Wright’s activity was relatively restrained that morning...
...of supporters burst forth from the Texas-had been fighting intensely for speaker’s lobby, where the votes were better than a year for the right to being tabulated, and signaled enthubecome the second most important siastically to their colleagues...
...A switch of two votes and Bolling would have been in the runoff...
...of Massachusetts, a tators who looked on from the House popular and effective Majority Leader galleries heard nominating and secfor the past four years, would be onding speeches, listened intently to unopposed as Speaker...
...More than any other factor, Boiling's efforts to erode Burton7s hold on the 94th class changed Burton from a candidate seemingly assured of victory to one who was vulnerable...
...Several Surprises As the tellers returned, it was clear from their various expressions that Wright was in and Bolling out...
...Wingate Hazekiah Lucas in the primary...
...He reviewed lists of first-, second-, and third-ballot commitments...
...In 1974 New York and California accounted for a total of 19 new Democrats...
...As Wilson remembers: “Near the end of counting my box, Burton was five votes ahead and just one card was left uncounted...
...However, both Wright and McFall faced problems in making inroads with the class of 1974...
...By that time, Wright estimated, he had also talked with about 165 sitting members...
...I had been up there with him...
...maintaining and improving ex- both sides, was Wright, 148, Burton, ternal relations with the White House 147...
...After public school, Wright attended Weatherford College in his home town and, later, the University of Texas...
...In 1954, Wright, at 32, upset fourterm Democratic Rep...
...Until the final week, Wright had guessed Burton was the leading candidate with about 100 votes, but over the last few days he thought erosion had set in...
...First, as a former Texas assistant whip and as one of three deputy whips under McFall afid John Brademas since 1973, Wright had proved his loyalty and hade useful contacts with other members...
...Later, Burton strongly denied that he was involved in any vote switching: “I believe in straight football...
...One incumbent Democrat recalls that Burton spent a morning with him shaking hands outside a supermarket, but the member nevertheless ended up voting for an opposing candidate...
...The hay,” he said “was either in the barn or it wasn’t by then...
...Only McFall, who had recently been revealed as a recipient of some of Tongsun Park’s money, failed to generate additional support as a result of the election...
...Second-term Rep...
...They discussed the strenghts and weaknesses of the various candidates, and "the more Wright talked the more enthusiastic he became about the possibilities of running...
...Most observers concur that Burton, with 60 or more firm votes, remained the front-runner through September...
...Bolling appeared relaxed and confident...
...He set up individual breakfasts, luncheons, or afternoon cocktail sessions with as many of these prospective freshmen as he could reach, about 20 in all...
...He went over his final choices for nominating and seconding speeches...
...In the meantime the process of nomination was underway...
...The 95th freshmen were also more politically experienced, with three-quarters having held prior political office...
...The answers to these questions lie partly in Wright’s background, his rather maverick political career, and the sources of his political support...
...It was possible to secure a few converts on regional or ideological grounds, but that would still leave a large enough bloc to almost guarantee a Burton victory...
...nominating speech and three twominute seconding speeches...
...all the White...
...Wright sought and got an assignment on the Public Works Committee in his first days in the House...
...On the other hand, there was considerable question about his ability to grow into the job...
...The first members Wright approached were his Texas colleaguesChick Kazen, Jake Pickle, Dick White, Bob Poage, and Charles Wilson, among others...
...I supplied material to him that I thought would be useful to him...
...First, the Ray Roberts come in, and when he position is viewed as the traditional jumped up in the air, I knew then that steppingstone to the speakership...
...Of the four contenders for Majority Leader, Jim Wright was able to make the most of these differences...
...Under the auspices of the Democratic Caucus, Burton set up a hospitality suite in the convention’s headquarters hotel...
...Dan Rostenkowski, the leader of the Chicago delegation and a highranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, was an early and important activist in the Wright campaign...
...Therefore, the other fellows didn’t devote much time or attention to him...
...They gathered in small groups at various points about the chamber like fight fans anxiously waiting for the main event to begin...
...Assuming that at least 40 of those Democrats who were likely to be reelected would remain vague or uncommitted, then the four candidates were competing for approximately 200 incumbent Democratic votes...
...Above all, it was a simple calculus of votes- a strong new challenger represented a special threat to moderates McFall and Bolling...
...For McFall, it had been a relatively quiet final weekend...
...As after the first ballot, supporters of Burton and Wright used what little time was available to contact known supporters of the dropped candidate...
...Defeated after his first term, Wright was subsequently elected mayor of Weatherford, a suburb of Fort Worth...
...Otherwise, why were McFall and Bolling still running...
...Four tellers were assigned to represent each candidate, one for each ballot box...
...After some 15 minutes ?he boxes were taken from the chamber to the speaker’s lobby, and the counting began...
...Increasingly, Wright found himself trying to align second- and even third-ballot votes in the event a member’s first choice was forced to drop out...
...The Majority Leader is not just a point man on legislation...
...But a substantial number of members, as many as 30 to 40, refused all along to take any position...
...As the chamber quieted, he announced the first-ballot totals: Burton 106 Bolling 81 Wright 77 McFall 31 All t h e c a n d i d a t e s had overestimated their first-ballot support by seven to ten votes...
...The Bolling forces, on the other hand, were discouraged...
...If there was a major area where Burton was vulnerable it was among the members who had been newly elected to the 94th Congress...
...Behind the rail, Jim Healey, Rostenkowski’s a dm inis t rative assistant, watched quietly and would only comment: “The second ballot’s the key...
...the ballot outcomes, and sensed the But in contrast to O’Neill’s easy intense, behind-the-scenes manaccession four candidates-John J. euvering...
...reaching over, shaking hands and conSecond, although ultimate power rests gratulating me...
...When asked how a candidate for majority leader went about informing a member of his contribution, especially when indirect funds were involved, one member replied: “They let you know...
...in the preceding class, it had been only half...
...I candidates except McFall could easily knew he was happy...
...He went on to win the general election by 98.8 per cent of the vote and has since run unopposed in seven of his twelve bids for reelection...
...Hubbard agreed with Burton on the importance of organization, but then went on to give Wright a ringing endorsement: “I’m for Jim Wright for Majority Leader, 100 per cent...
...His Maverick Career Why did Jim Wright decide to run for Majority Leader...
...Whereupon Wright got up, thanked Burton, and introduced Rep...
...Nominating speeches generally swing few votes, but in a close election and with 48 new members present, every possible action was important...
...The hundreds of reportits biannual party reforms...
...Flurries of Concern Wright announced his candidacy on July 27, which set off flurries of concern in the three other camps, especially Bolling’s and Burton’s...
...Jim Wright did not begin seriously sounding out other members until late spring of 1976...
...When I want a vote I ask for it...
...Third, he had gained some natiofial visibility and a reputation for policy expertise during the 94th Congress as head of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Energy Task Force, which worked to put together an alternative to the Ford administration s energy proposals...
...The new members should follow in the footsteps of the Class of ’74, which had almost immediately become an effective force in the House...
...As the meeting adjourned the participants were given Bolling campaign buttons to wear and to pass out to supporters at the caucus...
...The last few days took on added drama and intensity, but much of it remained behind the scenes...
...An Active Interest The outcome of the November 1976 elections remained an uncertainty in the calculations of the four candidates for Majority Leader...
...Bolling, meanwhile, was seated, smiling and relaxed, in the front center of the chamber...
...In another incident, a midwestern freshman contender got a call from a used car dealer from Texas who wanted to contribute $1,000 to his campaign on Wright’s behalf...
...McFall, as Majority Whip, was somewhat reluctant to go all out until after Speaker Carl Albert made his retirement plans known...
...The member responded, “Wright doesn’t have a chance, but if you want me to vote for him, I will...
...Former Caucus Chairman Dan Rostenkowski would preside until a new chairman could be elected...
...As the balloting neared its end, Dan Rostenkowski, a principal Wright supporter, was standing next to a member in line who had already marked his ballot for Burton and asked him, “Why did you do that...
...His knowledge of legislation, his ready wit, and his willingness to work hard helped him rise steadily to a position of prominence and influence under a series of rather ineffective Democratic chairmen of the committee...
...But before the results could be fully absorbed, Foley announced the start of the third ballot...
...It was hard to believe that he had increased his total by only one vote...
...At that time he was still the man to hat-the Whip, the natural heir to the majority leadership, and he had done st very effective job as Whip...
...So as more and more potential freshman members won local primaries, the candidates began to shift their focus to these prospective supporters...
...Gillis Long was arguing that his candidate, Bolling, would go over the 100 mark on the first ballot...
...Wright was not sure who would be his final opponent, but he was optimistic about a steadily mounting number of second- and third-ballot commitments...
...A close friend of Wright’s recalled their joint assepsment of Wright’s three opponents in the spring of 1976: “All of them had pluses, but all of them had weaknesses...
...A group of Burton supporters discussed how to approach a member of their 94th Class from the midwest who was still undecided...
...The candidates repaired to their personal offices or holed up in a subcommittee room hideaway...
...Another large group was in Pennsylvania, which had been especially hard hit by flood damage...
...Much of the campaigning that Bolling, Burton, McFall, and Wright undertook was on behalf of incumbents and freshmen already predisposed to vote for them...
...Since Burton was a candidate for Majority Leader, it was agreed that it would be best if he resigned his caucus chairmanship immediately...
...Each candidate was allowed one three-minute...
...Wright said he would have to wait and see...
...Wright sought no commitments at these private meetings, because he was not yet a candidate, but he did form about a dozen relationships that later, after extensive cultivation, turned into votes for him...
...It Wright recalled: would be the closest, most volatile, “Two fellows came in the door and least predictable contest for the holding up one finger with smiles on office of House Majority Leader in the their faces...
...Finally, they tended to be more conservative than those elected in 1974...
...Bolling waited until September 1975 before he began his quest for commintments...
...Burton anticipated staying out in front on all three ballots...
...He was still the dark horse candidate, but he felt he could win...
...Burton, in contrast, was off and running almost from the time of his election as chairman of of the Democratic Caucus...
...and working to insure the Why was Wright, the most conservBruce Oppenheimer and Robert peabody ative candidate, able to defeat liberals teach political science at the University of Burton and Bolling when, by all indiHouston and Johns Hopkins University, cations, House Democratic liberals outThis article is adapted from a numbered conservatives by a ratio of paper they presented at this year’s meeting at least three to two...
...With 75 returning members, the vast majority of whom had voted for Burton for Caucus chairman, this was a sizable bloc of votes that McFall, Bolling, and Wright could not allow to go to Burton uncontested...
...The supporters of the three remaining candidates fanned out to contact known McFall supporters...
...One candidate even enclosed checks [from interest group or individual contributors] in a letter he sent me...
...I don’t believe in curve balls or triple laterals...
...Wright obtained the written endorsements of all but two of the 22-member Texas Democratic state delegation...
...With the exception of soliciting the Support of potential incoming freshmen, all four candidates went through a slowdown in campaign momentum from late July (following the Democratic Convention) until the final weeks of the campaign...
...Bolling thought he would edge Wright on the second ballot and then defeat Burton ha6dily...
...He promptly crossed out Burton’s name and wrote in Wright’s...
...By pulling votes away from Burton, Bolling not only helped himself, but may have helped Wright as well...
...He tried to make prior contact through letters or telephone calls with every House Democratic nominee who would be in New York City...
...And I have reason to believe that he fulfilled that commitment in an active way...
...Wright chaired the committee’s Speaker’s Bureau, and Burton, as chairman of the Caucus, was an ex-officio member...
...Not the least of its consequences was that it heightened the morale of his supporters and staff...
...If you are going to go out and win, you can’t do that...
...we just felt he’d worn out his welcome...
...They began lining up in four alphabetically assigned lines to deposit their ballots in boxes and be checked off as having voted...
...I was overwhelmed by with the Speaker, the Majority Leader a tide of emotion, and then when the has major party responsibilities- announcement was made, I still was in marshaling the forces of the majority a kind of state of euphoria...
...The case of Allen Ertel of Pennsylvania, as recalled by Wright, provides a good example: “I believed that Allen Ertel had a chance to win that race in Pennsylvania...
...whether he meant there was one more The House Majority Leader is es- vote to be counted, or that one finger pecially important in party leadership meant w-o-n, or what...
...The first-ballot results were heartening to both Burton and Wright...
...Burton-he had a significant constituency’ the insurgency forces in the House, but we felt it had a cap on it...
...By the opening of the 95th Congress, Jim Wright was in line to become the next chairman of Public Works...
...It was ‘Jim Wright.’ ” By the narrowest of margins, one vote, House Democrats had elected themselves a new Majority Leader...
...Second, Wright was chairman of the Speaker’s Committee for the Democratic National Congressional (Campaign) Committee, uirhich, was particularly useful in establishing cohtacts with incoming freshmen...
...I didn’t know have won...
...McFall, Burton, and Bolling all got a relatively early start in seeking personal commitments from other members...
...But when Foley read the tally there were several surprises: Burton 107 Wright 95 Bolling 93 The closeness of the Wright-Bolling vote was surprising...
...People in the Burton camp were confidently predicting a first-ballot showing of as many as 120 votes...
...His main theme was the importance of getting organized...
...I think most of the analysis on which the others were relying gave Allen little or no chance to win...
...He also waited to hear whether Peter Rodino of New Jersey would agree to make his nominating speech...
...He’d been after the job for two years, but he still hadn’t locked it up...
...for the caucus meeting...
...Bob Eckhardt, who served with Wright in the state legislature and is now the leading liberal in the Texas congressional delegation...
...And yet he won...
...In a close contest the defeat of sup porters or an unexpected influx of new members could have a major effect on the outcome...
...McFall supporters were projecting no figures for public consumption, but privately they were hoping for at least 40 votes...
...The night before the caucus Wright had received a call from a Bolling supporter: “. . . I had been verbally assured by one of those most active in the Bolling campaign that if Dick did not emerge in the final runoff, he and everyone whom he could influence would be trying to help me...
...In addition, Bolling supporters who believed that Burton had kicked back votes on the second ballot were further motivated to support Wright over Burton...
...In 1976 the two states elected only three new members...
...Charles Wilson of Texas was one of Wright’s tallycheckers...
...Ahead of both his time and his constituency, Wright called for the passage of measures like abolition of the poll tax, an anti-lynching bill, admission of blacks to the University of Texas law school, and a strong bill requiring the registration of lobbyists...
...I was kind of the 14 men who have held that stunned...
...McFall, Wright, and Burton actively raised money...
...Loose Ends By Monday morning, December 6, the day of caucus, the candidates were still cleaning up loose ends and working out the final details of their floor strategies...
...Immediately after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted as a private in the Army...
...He felt then, although he later had to reduce his count, that he would have the first-ballot support of 7 1 returning members...
...Whether in fact Burton did kick back votes would be debated long after the contest ended...
...By mid-summer the great majority of House Democrats had aligned themselves with one or more of the four candidates...
...In the 94th Congress, only 12 per cent of the Democratic freshmen were from the South (and two of them were from Virginia suburbs outside Washington), as opposed to 28 per cent in the 95th...
...Most of them were elected from traditionally Democratic seats...
...Wright finally announced his candidacy following a heartening series of discussions with prospective House freshmen at the Democratic Convention in New York City in July...
...Burton and Wright used the Democratic Convention in July to cultivate likely incoming freshmen...
...Why did he wait so long to enter the race...
...One of the most important activities of the final week-Wright’s supporters believe it was the decisive event -was a luncheon Wright sponsored for the 48 freshmen and their wives...
...A distinguished southern moderate, who had been courted by both Wright and Bolling, walked by Gillis Long and in soft tones murmured, “I’m going to be with Dick...
...He had conferred with his assistant in the Whip’s office, Irv Sprague, and one or two California colleagues...
...Although he could have ‘stayed in for one more ballot, McFall chose to withdraw...
...As the speech-making continued, politicking went on uninterrupted on the floor, with supporters of each candidate trying to sway undecideds or at least get second-ballot commitments...
...During most of the preliminary business the caucus buzzed with activity, and rumors continued to circulate...
...For example, of Wright’s 23 appearances, almost half were in the South...
...All four majority leader candidates actively Campaigned for Democratic House candidates, both nonincumbents and incumbents, but Wright and Burton were much more active than Bolling and McFall...
...Although a few close supporters continued to work in his behalf, Wright had largely ceased active campaigning...
...He was the most liberal member of the Texas House,” recalls Rep...
...Bolling, as a liberal and a senior statesman, was the only candidate, capable of making a serious dent in this group’s loyalties, and by assiduous effort he did so, playing on B urt o n ’ s hard - t o -ge t -alo ng-with aspect...
...Just as the 94th class came from districts where Burton would appeal, the 95th class came from districts more susceptible to Wright...
...I made the judgment that Allen was a good man, that he deserved my help if he had a chance to win...
...than a month before the new 95th As a result of pressure from enterCongress convened, the House Demo- ing freshmen, the leadership contests cratic Caucus--248 returning members on December 6 were open to the and 48 newly elected freshmen- met public for the first time in the history to select its new leaders and transact of Congress...
...He was 60 years old...
...Burton was pleased to be leading, although not by as much as he had hoped for...
...During the second-ballot counting period, Burton and Wright walked around the floor and happened to run into each other at the back of the chamber...
Vol. 9 • November 1977 • No. 9
