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1959 — Speaker Spotlight

Roll Call Marks Milestone for Sam Rayburn

In 1959, Roll Call paid tribute to the House’s Speaker, the legendary Sam Rayburn (D-Texas), who, as the top of the page indicates, was the longest serving Speaker and had served a whopping 48 years in Congress.

During his time in office, Rayburn introduced an amendment for a third House office building, which today bears his name.

Rayburn had served as Speaker more than twice as long as any of his predecessors when he died of cancer in 1961.

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