biography
| name: |
Wright, Jim
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popular name of James Claude Wright Jr
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1922– )
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| biography:
| US representative, born in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. An army veteran with a Distinguished Flying Cross, and an amateur boxer, he served in the Texas legislature (1947–9) and was Democratic mayor of Weatherford, TX (1950–4) before going to the US House of Representatives (1955–89). A member of the Public Works Committee, he protected Texas oil interests and ran unsuccessfully for Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat in 1961. In 1976 he won the majority leadership from three other deadlocked candidates, and was unopposed when he became Speaker of the House in 1986. His legislative blitzkrieg and opposition to Reagan's Central American policy roused the ire of Republicans, including the conservative Newt Gingrich, who charged him with taking advantage of his position to earn royalties on his biography, Reflections of A Public Man (1984), and to benefit a stockyard and banks in which he held investments. Although Wright denied any wrongdoing, he was forced to resign in 1989. |
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