SAM "MR. DEMOCRAT" RAYBURN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 10/12/1949 - HFSID 155707

SAM RAYBURN.TLS: "Sam Rayburn" as Speaker of the House, 1p, 7½x9½. Washington, D.C., 1949 October 12. On imprinted letterhead to Mr. Bascom N. Timmons, Washington, D.C. Begins: "Dear Tim". In full: "Thanks for the suggestion made in your letter of October 3rd. I do wish someone had the time to write something about the distinguished men who have served Texas in the Congress throughout these years. I wouldn't know just where to look for such a man, but it would certainly be a valuable historical thing. Thanks again for calling my attention to it and I will keep my eyes open. With every good wish, I am Sincerely yours". Rayburn wrote this letter during his second term as Speaker of the House (1940-1947, 1949-1953, 1955 until his death in 1961). Seven years later, when Rayburn was serving his third and final term as Speaker, an active U.S. Senator and future U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, would write his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage (1956), a collection of senatorial biographies that included Texan Sam Houston. Other Texans who notably served in Congress included Lyndon B. Johnson, whom Rayburn, who was known as "Mr. Democrat", groomed for the presidency (at the time of this letter, Johnson, who had served in the U.S. House from 1937-1949, was in his first term as U.S. Senator, 1949-1961). Rayburn, however, did not live to see LBJ assume the presidency upon the assassination of JFK and later be elected to the office in his own right. Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (1882-1961), a native of Tennessee, had moved to Texas at the age of five and became the archetypal Texan. He had first entered Texas politics as a State Representative (1907-1913; Speaker of the Texas House, 1911-1913) before serving the 4th District of his state as a U.S. Congressman from 1913-1961 (Majority Leader, 1937-1940 and Minority Leader, 1947-1949 and 1953-1955 as well as Speaker). During the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought his support on the New Deal program, foreseeing its success with Rayburn as an advocate. Noted for his loyalty and integrity to his Party and his country and well as his oratory, Rayburn was a trusted advisor to Presidents Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy as well as FDR. Lightly creased with folds, horizontal fold at the descender of the "y" and the end of the "n" in Rayburn. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 29½x17½.