The Gentleman From Mississippi William M. Colmer By Ray Hill William Meyers Colmer is one of the longest-serving members of the U.S. House of Representatives in Congress. Colmer was elected to the House at a time when Southern states were ruled by one party and...

James P. Kem of Missouri By Ray Hill The election of 1946 carried numerous Republican candidates into Congress on a tidal wave of dissatisfaction with war-time regulations still in place following the Second World War. No loss was as personally galling to President...

James P. Pope of Idaho & Tennessee By Ray Hill I doubt very much if any readers recall James Pinckney Pope, but there was a time when his name was quite well known here. Indeed, for 24 years of his life, Jim Pope lived in Knoxville with his wife, Pauline; Jim Pope...

Frank A. Barrett of Wyoming By Ray Hill There was a time when Wyoming was not such a rock-ribbed Republican state.  Like much of the rest of the country, with the advent of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, Wyoming elected its share of Democrats to statewide...

The Gentleman From Alabama: George Huddleston By Ray Hill Courtly, nicely dressed and usually wearing a black bowtie, George Huddleston, to all outward appearances, seemed to be a typical Southern congressman.  A fiery speaker, Huddleston had been a successful...

William B. Umstead of North Carolina Like Cameron Morrison and Clyde R. Hoey before him, William Bradley Umstead served as a congressman, U.S. senator and governor of North Carolina.  Although both his time in the United States Senate and as governor were abbreviated,...

Song & Dance Man in the Senate George Murphy of California By Ray Hill The most notable actor who transitioned to politics was, of course, Ronald Reagan. Later came Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected governor. Before either Reagan or Schwarzenegger were...

John E. Rankin of Mississippi By Ray Hill It is a very rare thing when a human being has absolutely no redeeming feature.  There have been instances where someone, usually a psychopath, doesn’t seem to have one good quality.  The People’s House - - - the U.S. House of...

The Irrepressible Perennial Matthew M. Neely of West Virginia Faithful readers of this column will note I have covered some of the same subjects again, at least in terms of personages.  I am attempting to give readers a better feel for what the person was like, his or...

Robert L. Ramsay of West Virginia By Ray Hill I have oftentimes stated my belief that the U.S. House of Representatives, for better or worse, is a reflection of those people who send a congressman to Washington, D.C. Most congressmen work in anonymity, even in today’s...