Wright was former House speaker
Dallas — Jim Wright, the Texas Democrat who became the first House speaker in history to be driven out of office in midterm, died Wednesday at age 92.
Wright, a World War II veteran and author often praised for his eloquence and oratorical skills, represented a Fort Worth-area congressional district for 34 years, beginning with his election in 1954. He was the House’s Democratic majority leader for a decade, rising to the speakership in January 1987, to replace Tip O’neill.
Although three House speakers had resigned before Wright stepped down on April 30, 1989, they all served during the 19th century and none had been under fire for breaking House ethics rules.
The House Ethics Committee investigated Wright’s financial affairs for nearly a year at the prodding of a littleknown Georgia congressman, Republican Newt Gingrich, who publicly branded Wright a “crook.”
The bipartisan committee charged Wright with 69 violations of House rules on re- porting of gifts, accepting gifts from people with an interest in legislation and limits on outside income. It accused Wright of scheming to evade limits on outside earnings by self-publishing a book, “Reflections of a Public Man,” that he then sold in bulk. He also was accused of improperly accepting $145,000 in gifts over 10 years from a Fort Worth developer.
The Wright episode proved to be a harbinger of the rising partisanship within the House and the personal attacks between members that would mark the chamber for much of the last quarter-century. In fact, Gingrich would become speaker in 1995, until his own ethical lapses led to his departure.
Before his political career, Wright enlisted in the U.S. Army and flew missions in the South Pacific during World War II, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit.
Wright’s long House tenure spanned many historical moments. For example, he was in the presidential motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
Wright authored major legislation in several fields but was most proud of his efforts on behalf of a “pay-as-we-go” interstate highway system and water conservation. He helped President Jimmy Carter fashion the 1978 Camp David agreement that led to peace between Israel and Egypt, and he played a pivotal role in bringing about a negotiated settlement in Central America that later led to the 1990 elections in Nicaragua in which the leftist Sandinista government lost.
After leaving Congress, Wright spoke around the country, particularly at universities, and was a consultant for a petroleum company. He taught a popular political science course at Texas Christian University for nearly 20 years and wrote books, including “Balance of Power: Presidents and Congress from the Era of Mccarthy to the Age of Gingrich” in 1996 and “The Flying Circus: Pacific War — 1943 — as Seen Through a Bombsight” in 2005.
In 1991, Wright lost part of his tongue to cancer. He had more surgery in 1999 when the cancer returned.