McCormack, John W.

Seventy years old when he became Speaker of the House in 1962, Massachusetts Democrat John W. McCormack (1891–1980) never managed to get the House running smoothly. Frustrated liberal Democrats tried to oust him in 1969. Their attempt failed, but such an attack on a sitting Speaker was unprecedented. McCormack retired the next year, after forty-three years in the House. He was the first casualty of an increasingly impatient crowd of young Democrats who went on to reform House procedures in the 1970s. (See Reform, Congressional.)

McCormack, a Boston native, never attended high school, but he read law books at the law firm where he worked as an office boy. At the age of twenty-one, McCormack passed the bar. After a stint in the state legislature, he lost his first bid for Congress in 1926 but then, after the incumbent died, won the seat in 1928.

McCormack was an early ally of Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn, who was elected majority leader in 1936. McCormack became secretary and then chair of the House Democratic Caucus. When Rayburn became Speaker, he backed McCormack as majority leader, a key factor in McCormack's victory.

McCormack's poor reputation as Speaker overshadowed his more effective performance in the number-two Democratic post. Rayburn decided when to bring legislation to the floor and how to craft it for the best chance of success; McCormack did the legwork, rounding up votes and speaking for the Democratic leadership during the debate.

McCormack was comfortable on the floor. “I believe in fighting hard, but I don't like personal fights,” he once said. “I go down on the floor of the House and take on my Republican friends.” Although he consistently backed liberal positions on domestic issues, McCormack was never passionate about his beliefs. Not naturally forceful, he had little chance to act independently while Rayburn was in charge.

When Rayburn died in November 1961, McCormack was heir-apparent and succeeded him without challenge. But McCormack was seen as a weak leader by the increasingly active liberal Democrats who were frustrated by the Conservative Coalition of southern Democrats and Republicans. When Republican gains in the 1966 elections reduced the Democratic majority, McCormack drew even more criticism for not bringing southern Democrats into line. His enthusiastic support of the war in Vietnam also put him out of step with many younger members.

In 1969 Rep. Morris Udall, an Arizona Democrat in his forties, ran for Speaker against McCormack. Although Udall received only fifty-seven votes, the challenge was a sign of how the Speaker's authority had declined. McCormack did not run for reelection in 1970.

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