by Ray Hill | Nov 16, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
By Ray Hill “Any jackass can kick down a barn, it takes a carpenter to build one.” So said Sam Rayburn of Texas. Completely bald, thickly built and one who never forgot his humble beginnings. Sam Rayburn was the looniest serving Speaker of the U. S. House of...
by Ray Hill | Nov 2, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
By Ray Hill James F. Byrnes had resigned from the Supreme Court of the United States to accept the responsibility for running much of America’s war effort at the personal request of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Byrnes had given up a lifetime appointment, but...
by Ray Hill | Oct 26, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
By Ray Hill The autobiography of James F. Byrnes of South Carolina was appropriately named All In One Lifetime. Byrnes served as a Congressman, U. S. senator, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Assistant to the President, Secretary of State and...
by Ray Hill | Oct 19, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
By Ray Hill Few modern day Speakers of the U. S. House of Representatives are as little remembered as Henry T. Rainey of Illinois. One reason for that is likely because his tenure as Speaker was quite brief; Rainey served as Speaker of the House from march 9,...
by Ray Hill | Oct 12, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
By Ray Hill John Nance Garner of Texas was one of the most colorful politicians of the twentieth century. It was Garner who made one of the most oft-repeated comments about the vice presidency. Garner described the office as not being “worth a bucket of warm...
by Ray Hill | Oct 5, 2014 | Archives, Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives
‘By Ray Hill If Nicholas Longworth is remembered at all today, it’s usually because of his marriage to Alice Roosevelt, the tart-tongued daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. Alice Roosevelt was anything but conventional and while their marriage started out...
