Wright, Jim REP

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</div><div>James Claude Wright, Jr. (born December 22, 1922), usually known as Jim Wright, is a former Democratic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19.1875px;">U.S.</a> Congressman from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19.1875px;">Texas</a> who served 34 years in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19.1875px;">U.S. House of Representatives</a> and was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19.1875px;">Speaker of the House</a> from 1987 to 1989. Wright resigned from the House in 1989 because of a scandal.<div>
</div><div>James Claude Wright, Jr. (born December 22, 1922), usually known as Jim Wright, is a former Democratic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S.</a> Congressman from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Texas</a> who served 34 years in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. House of Representatives</a> and was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Speaker of the House</a> from 1987 to 1989. Wright resigned from the House in 1989 because of a scandal.<table id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding: 5px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><tbody><tr><td><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Early_life" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">1 Early life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Career_in_Congress" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">2 Career in Congress</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Speaker_of_the_House" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">3 Speaker of the House</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Aide_controversy" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">4 Aide controversy</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Ethics_investigation_and_resignation" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">5 Ethics investigation and resignation</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Life_after_Congress" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">6 Life after Congress</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#References" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">7 References</a><ul style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Notes" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">7.1 Notes</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#Further_reading" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">7.2 Further reading</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">8 External links</a></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Early life</h2>Wright was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,Texas" title="Fort Worth, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Fort Worth</a>. Because his father was a traveling salesman, Wright and his two sisters were reared in numerous communities in Texas and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma" title="Oklahoma" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Oklahoma</a>. He mostly attended Fort Worth and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas,Texas" title="Dallas, Texas" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Dallas</a> public schools, eventually graduating from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.H.Adamson_High_School" title="W. H. Adamson High School" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Oak Cliff High School</a>, then studied at<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherford_College" title="Weatherford College" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Weatherford College</a> in his mother's hometown of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weatherford,Texas" title="Weatherford, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Weatherford</a>, the seat of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_County,Texas" title="Parker County, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Parker County</a> west of Fort Worth and then at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_at_Austin" title="University of Texas at Austin" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">University of Texas at Austin</a>, but he never received a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree" title="Bachelor's degree" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">bachelor's degree</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a> In December 1941, Wright enlisted in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces" title="United States Army Air Forces" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">United States Army Air Forces</a>, and after training was commissioned as an Air Corps 2nd Lt. in 1942. He trained as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier(air_force)" title="Bombardier (air force)" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">bombardier</a> and earned a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross(USA)" title="Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Distinguished Flying Cross</a> flying combat in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-24_Liberator" title="B-24 Liberator" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">B-24 Liberators</a>with the 530th Bomb Squadron, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/380th_Air_Expeditionary_Wing#World_War_II" title="380th Air Expeditionary Wing" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">380th Bomb Group (Heavy)</a> in the South Pacific during <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">World War II</a>. His retelling of his wartime exploits is contained in his 2005 book The Flying Circus: Pacific War—1943—As Seen through A Bombsight.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-UTA-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a>After the war, he made his home in Weatherford, where he joined partners in forming a Trade Show exhibition and marketing firm. As a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Democratic_Party" title="United States Democratic Party" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Democrat</a>, he won his first election without opposition in 1946 to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_House_of_Representatives" title="Texas House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Texas House of Representatives</a>, where he served from 1947 to 1949. He was defeated in his bid for reelection in 1948, after a rival claimed that Wright was weak in opposing both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism" title="Communism" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">communism</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage" title="Interracial marriage" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">interracial marriage</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a> He was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor" title="Mayor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">mayor</a> of Weatherford from 1950 to 1954. In 1953, he served as president of the League of Texas Municipalities.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-UTA-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Career in Congress</h2>In 1954, he was elected to Congress from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_12th_congressional_district" title="Texas's 12th congressional district" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Texas's 12th congressional district</a>, based in Fort Worth but also including Weatherford. He won despite the fervid opposition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_G.Carter" title="Amon G. Carter" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Amon G. Carter</a>, publisher of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Star_Telegram" title="Fort Worth Star Telegram" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Fort Worth Star Telegram</a> newspaper and later the benefactor of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_Carter_Museum" title="Amon Carter Museum" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Amon Carter Museum</a>. Carter supported the incumbent Democrat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingate_Lucas" title="Wingate Lucas" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Wingate Lucas</a>. Wright would be re-elected fourteen times, gradually rising in prominence in the party and in Congress. He developed a close relationship thereafter with Amon G. Carter, Jr. Wright often said that the easiest way to "defeat an enemy is to make him your friend."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a> In 1956, Wright refused to join most of his regional colleagues in signing the segregationist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Manifesto" title="Southern Manifesto" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Southern Manifesto</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a> In 1957, he voted for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1957" title="Civil Rights Act of 1957" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Civil Rights Act</a>, which created the Division of Civil Rights within the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Justice_Department" title="U.S. Justice Department" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. Justice Department</a> and the investigatory <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Commission" title="Civil Rights Commission" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Civil Rights Commission</a>. Signed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.President" title="U.S. President" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. President</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Eisenhower" title="Dwight Eisenhower" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Dwight Eisenhower</a>, the law was pushed through Congress by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Senator" title="U.S. Senator" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">U.S. Senator</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B.Johnson" title="Lyndon B. Johnson" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Lyndon B. Johnson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker(politics)" title="Speaker (politics)" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Speaker</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rayburn" title="Sam Rayburn" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Sam Rayburn</a>. However, Wright refused to support the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964" title="Civil Rights Act of 1964" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Civil Rights Act of 1964</a>, which required desegregation of public accommodations and established the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Employment_Opportunity_Commission" title="Equal Employment Opportunity Commission" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Equal Employment Opportunity Commission</a>. It was signed into law by Wright's friend, President Johnson.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>In 1961, Wright finished in third place in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_election" title="Special election" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">special election</a> called to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States" title="Vice President of the United States" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Vice President</a> Lyndon Johnson.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a> Two finalists for the Senate emerged from a field of seventy-one candidates. College <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor" title="Professor" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">professor</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G.Tower" title="John G. Tower" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">John G. Tower</a>, then of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_Falls,Texas" title="Wichita Falls, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Wichita Falls</a>, narrowly defeated the interim appointee <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blakley" title="William Blakley" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">William Blakley</a>, a Dallas industrialist, in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runoff_election" title="Runoff election" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">runoff election</a>. Tower hence became the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Republican</a> senator from Texas since<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_in_the_United_States" title="Reconstruction era in the United States" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Reconstruction</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-UTA-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a>Wright continued to serve in the House and was elected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Majority_Leader" title="House Majority Leader" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">House Majority Leader</a> by one vote in December 1976, defeating <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bolling" title="Richard Bolling" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Richard Bolling</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri" title="Missouri" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Missouri</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Burton" title="Phillip Burton" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Phillip Burton</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">California</a>. Wright won the majority leadership position with the support of all but two Democrats from the large Texas delegation, all party members of the Public Works Committee, and virtually all other Southern representatives members as well.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>In the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas/Fort_Worth_Metroplex" title="Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex</a>, Jim Wright is known for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Amendment" title="Wright Amendment" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Wright Amendment</a>, a contentious law he sponsored that restricts air travel from Dallas's secondary airport, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Love_Field" title="Dallas Love Field" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Love Field</a>. Passed in 1979, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Amendment" title="Wright Amendment" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Wright Amendment</a> was originally designed to protect the fledgling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DFW_airport" title="DFW airport" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Dallas Fort Worth International Airport</a>. The Amendment allows non-stop flights originating from or bound to any commercial airport within 50 nautical miles (93 km) of the DFW Airport Control Tower to serve only states bordering Texas. This requires any flight going to or coming from a destination within that 50-mile (80 km) radius (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Love_Field" title="Dallas Love Field" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Dallas Love Field</a> and the now defunct <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Southwest_International_Airport" title="Greater Southwest International Airport" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Greater Southwest International Airport</a> in Fort Worth were the only airports affected) to land in a contiguous (bordering) state before continuing on to its destination. This effectively limited traffic from Love Field and GSIA to small, regional airlines (and provided the springboard for the later success of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines" title="Southwest Airlines" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Southwest Airlines</a>, which initially flew only within Texas) who were largely unable to compete with DFW Airport as a result. While the Amendment was welcomed at first, there were increasing doubts about its necessity as DFW grew into one of the three largest airports in the world. Many saw it as a boondoggle to benefit one particular group. Others saw it as an unlawful restraint of trade imposed against the two affected airports, and no others. However, the largest opposition came increasingly from people who simply felt that the Amendment had outlived its usefulness and was also an unwarranted intrusion on the free markets of the deregulated airline industry. In 2006 Congress passed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Amendment#Repeal_efforts" title="Wright Amendment" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006</a>, which repealed the Wright Amendment in stages, with the last restrictions on travel from Love Field scheduled to be lifted in 2014.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[4]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[6]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[8]</a>Wright strongly supported the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_Super_Collider" title="Superconducting Super Collider" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Superconducting Super Collider</a> project in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxahachie,Texas" title="Waxahachie, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Waxahachie</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_County,Texas" title="Ellis County, Texas" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Ellis County</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a> but the work was halted by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton" title="Bill Clinton" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Bill Clinton</a> administration in 1993.<div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19.1875px;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 177px; padding: 3px !important;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SpeakerWright.jpg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/SpeakerWright.jpg" width="175" height="257" class="thumbimage" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: left; padding: 3px !important;"><div class="magnify" style="border: none !important; background-image: none !important; float: right; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SpeakerWright.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration: none; display: block; background-image: none !important; border: none !important;"><img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.22wmf8/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" style="border: none !important; vertical-align: middle; display: block; background-image: none !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important;" /></a></div>Speaker Wright</div></div></div><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Speaker of the House</h2>In 1986 he was elected Speaker of the House, succeeding <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_O%27Neill" title="Tip O'Neill" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Tip O'Neill</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[9]</a> when the latter retired the following January.In 1988, he chaired the Democratic Party convention that nominated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_S.Dukakis" title="Michael S. Dukakis" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Michael Dukakis</a> for president. During that convention, Wright introduced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F.Kennedy,Jr" title="John F. Kennedy, Jr" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">John F. Kennedy, Jr</a>, for Kennedy's first televised speech.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-UTA-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a> About 25 years earlier, on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, in his final speech before being assassinated, praised Wright's service in the Congress, saying "and here in Fort Worth he has contributed to its growth. He speaks for Fort Worth and he speaks for the country, and I don't know any city that is better represented in the Congress of the United States than Fort Worth." <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[10]</a><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Aide controversy</h2>In 1989, controversy arose from media reports that Jim Wright's main aide, John Mack, had violently attacked Pamela Small sixteen years earlier. Small was attempting to replace blinds in a store Mack managed, and he took her to the storeroom where he then asked her to lie down. When she refused, he repeatedly hit her in the head with a hammer, stabbed her with a steak knife, and slashed her throat, before putting her in his car and going to see a movie.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[11]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[12]</a>Pamela Small survived the attack, and reported it to the police. John Mack pled guilty to malicious wounding "with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable and kill" and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. However, after repeated correspondence with Rep. Wright, whose daughter was married to his brother, Mack was paroled after serving less than 27 months and given a job working for Wright on Capitol Hill. Critics, including feminist activist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Dworkin" title="Andrea Dworkin" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Andrea Dworkin</a>, alleged that Wright manipulated the legal system to get Mack off and, subsequently, protected him from media scrutiny.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[13]</a> The story later broke in 1989, when Pamela Small gave an interview about her ordeal with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Post" title="Washington Post" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Washington Post</a>. Amid media criticism, John Mack resigned from his post.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[14]</a><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Ethics investigation and resignation</h2>In 1988 Wright became the target of an inquiry by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.House_Committee_on_Standards_of_Official_Conduct" title="U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">House Ethics Committee</a>. Their report in early 1989 implied that he had used bulk purchases of his book, Reflections of a Public Man, to earn speaking fees in excess of the allowed maximum, and that his wife, Betty, was given a job and perks to avoid the limit on gifts. Faced with an increasing loss of effectiveness, Wright tendered his resignation as Speaker on May 31, 1989, the resignation to become effective on the selection of a successor.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[15]</a> He was the first Speaker to resign because of a scandal. On June 6, the Democratic Caucus brought Wright's speakership to an end by selecting his replacement, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Foley" title="Tom Foley" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Tom Foley</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington(state)" title="Washington (state)" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Washington</a>, and on June 30 Wright resigned his seat in Congress.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[16]</a>The incident itself was controversial and was a part of the increasing partisan infighting that has plagued the Congress ever since. The original charges were filed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich" title="Newt Gingrich" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Newt Gingrich</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[17]</a> in 1988 and their effect propelled Gingrich's own career advancement to the Speaker's chair itself.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-UTA-2" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Parenti" title="Michael Parenti" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Michael Parenti</a>, critic of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security" title="National security" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">national security state</a>, attributed Wright's forced resignation to the critical questions he was raising in the late 1980s with regard to CIA covert actions in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Nicaragua</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[18]</a> Wright had not only criticized Reagan's policy, but taken the extremely unusual step of entering into negotiations with the Nicaraguan government as speaker.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[19]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_K.Black" title="William K. Black" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">William K. Black</a> claims that Wright's interventions in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis" title="Savings and loan crisis" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Savings and Loan (S&L) crisis</a> "were decisive in forcing him to resign in disgrace from the House". Black wrote that Wright had been saved from financial ruin and elevated to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Speaker of the House</a> by massive campaign contributions from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_fraud" title="Control fraud" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">control frauds</a> like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Keating" title="Charles Keating" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Charles Keating</a>. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_fraud" title="Control fraud" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">control frauds</a> managed to get hundreds of executives of S&Ls, many legitimate, to talk with their representatives in the US congress to delay effective governmental action against the frauds. This action only increased (a) the billions of dollars their ultimate failures cost the US taxpayers and (b) the magnitude of the resulting scandal. The scandal robbed Wright's Democratic party of the "sleaze factor" issue in the 1988 presidential election, thereby handing the election to the Republican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H.W.Bush" title="George H. W. Bush" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">George H. W. Bush</a>, according to Black. He resigned to avoid the official documentation of his role in this that would almost certainly have come from hearings by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Ethics" title="United States House Committee on Ethics" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">United States House Committee on Ethics</a>, as it did for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five" title="Keating Five" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Keating Five</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[20]</a>The charges filed against Wright did not mention Nicaragua. A report by special counsel implicated him in a number of influence peddling charges, such as Vernon Savings and Loan, and attempting to get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_K.Black" title="William K. Black" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">William K. Black</a> fired as the deputy director of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Savings_and_Loan_Insurance_Corporation" title="Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation</a> (FSLIC) under Gray. However, the charges against him concluded that, "while the Congressman's dealings with representatives of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board may have been intemperate, the committee was not persuaded that there is reason to believe that he exercised undue influence in his dealings with that agency."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-nytWright-21" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[21]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-Riccucci44-22" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[22]</a><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">Life after Congress[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Wright&action=edit&section=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Life after Congress" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">edit</a>]</h2>After his resignation from the House, Wright retired to Fort Worth. He serves as a professor at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Christian_University" title="Texas Christian University" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Texas Christian University</a> there, teaching a course titled "Congress and the Presidents". He has also written several books since his retirement. He is an avid reader but has been stricken with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macular_degeneration" title="Macular degeneration" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">macular degeneration</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright#cite_note-wtha-1" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a>In 2004, Wright was inducted into the Texas Trail Hall of Fame in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Stockyards" title="Fort Worth Stockyards" style="text-decoration: none; background-image: none;">Fort Worth Stockyards</a>. His exhibit says "Fort Worth Loves Him!"<h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 19.1875px;">References</h2></div></div>