Samuel "Sam" Taliaferro Rayburn was born in Tennessee in 1882. He was the eighth of 11 children. When Sam was 5 he moved west with his family to a 40-acre cotton farm just outside the small community of Flag Springs, Texas. At the age of 18, Sam left the family farm and went to East Texas Normal College in Commerce. His father sent him off with $25 and he added to that by sweeping school rooms, ringing the class bell and building fires in school stoves. After a year of college, he paid debts and earned more money teaching in Greenwood, Texas. He then returned to Commerce and finished his three-year degree in two years.Sam first ran for public office in 1906 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. While serving in the legislature, he attended and graduated from law school at the University of Texas in Austin. After two terms as State Representative, Sam was reelected to serve as speaker of the Texas House. He was only 29 at this time.In 1912, Sam ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. After winning that election, he, as a Democrat never again faced a Republican opponent. During his 48 years in the House, Rayburn served as minority leader for four years, majority leader for three years, and speak for 17 years. Even though he was a Democrat for life, he tended to be more moderate on most issues and he was never afraid to be independent or cut across party lines about any specific issue. This earned him respect from both sides of the House floor.His legislative accomplishments include authorship of the Truth in Securities Act of 1933 and the Railroad Holding Company Bill. A year after those he authored bills that created the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. In 1935, he co-authored the Rural Electrification Act, which helped to bring electricity to most rural homes in America. As Democratic majority leader, Sam Rayburn guided President Franklin Roosevelt's ...
