Foley, Thomas S.

The office of Speaker of the House returned to a traditional stance above the fray of partisanship when Washington Democrat Thomas S. Foley (1929– ) held the position from 1989–1995. Foley's judicious presence was a marked contrast to that of his hard-charging predecessor, Texas Democrat Jim Wright, who quit mid-term after questions arose about his personal finances.

Foley's approach resembled those of Speakers such as Sam Rayburn and Nicholas Longworth more than those of Wright or “Czar” Thomas reed. A thoughtful and articulate man, Foley was perhaps the first Speaker his Democratic colleagues felt comfortable putting in front of a television camera. With a knack for telling stories and a near-photographic memory, Foley was a superb negotiator who was on good terms with most Democrats and many Republicans. He rose to Speaker without displaying the vaunting ambition and partisanship that characterizes many other leaders.

The only Speaker from west of the Rocky Mountains, Foley came to the House in 1964 from a largely rural district in western Washington. A veteran of numerous battles against secrecy and seniority in the committee system, Foley became chair of the Democratic Caucus in 1977. He moved easily up the party's leadership ladder without major opposition, becoming majority whip in 1981 and majority leader in 1987. Foley's apprenticeship was cut short after Wright abdicated rather than face an extended inquiry into his finances. [Page p172]Foley's reputation for integrity and evenhandedness was an antidote to Wright's style.

R. Michael Jenkins, Congressional Quarterly

As Speaker, Foley was able to lead Democrats on economic issues and to oppose the 1991 Persian Gulf War without opening his party to charges of a lack of patriotism. Some liberal colleagues grumbled about his distaste for fiery torch-bearing and harsh discipline. Many were dissatisfied with his handling in 1992 of a scandal involving bad checks written by members at the House's internal bank. (See House Bank and Post Office Scandals.)

With the arrival of the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton in 1993, Foley was put in the position of having to pass an ambitious presidential program with a caucus that was not united either on policy or in loyalty to the new chief executive. Effective opposition from a unified Republican minority and Clinton's political missteps, most notably on a national health care overhaul plan, contributed to the disarray within the party.

In addition to vulnerability based on his high-profile leadership post, Foley was also attacked in his district for not supporting Washington state's newly enacted term-limit law (later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court). Amid the national Democratic rout in 1994, Foley lost in the general election, only the third such defeat for a sitting Speaker. The last had been Galusha A. Grow, a Pennsylvania Republican, who lost in 1862; his predecessor, William Pennington of New Jersey, lost in 1860.

After his departure from Congress, Foley joined a Washington, D.C., law firm and in 1997 became ambassador to Japan. He was replaced as ambassador in 2001 by former Senate majority leader Howard H. Baker Jr., a Tennessee Republican.