John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was an American politician. First elected in 1928, Patman served 24 consecutive terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for Texas's 1st congressional district from 1929 to 1976. He was a member of the Democratic Party. From 1973 to 1976, he was

Dean of the United States House of Representatives The dean of the United States House of Representatives is the longest continuously serving member of the House. The current dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican Party U.S. Representative from Kentucky, who has served in the House since 1981. The dea ...

. Patman grew up in Hughes Springs, Texas. After graduating from

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberlan ...

, Patman returned to Hughes Springs to be a lawyer. From 1916 to 1917, Patman held his first political office as assistant county attorney for

Cass County, Texas Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,454. The county seat is Linden. The county was named for United States Senator Lewis Cass (D-Michigan), who favored the U.S. annexation of ...

. He then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

from 1917 to 1919. After the war, Patman was elected to the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

in 1920. Patman served two terms in the Texas House before serving as a district attorney in Texas from 1924 to 1929. In Congress, Patman was a fiscal watchdog who challenged practices of major banks and the Federal Reserve. He co-sponsored the Robinson-Patman Act of 1935, which was designed to protect small retail shops against competition from chain stores by fixing a minimum price for retail products. From 1963 to 1975, Patman chaired the

United States House Committee on Banking and Currency United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. Patman served in Congress until his death in 1976. His son

Bill Patman William Neff Patman (March 26, 1927 – December 9, 2008) was an American politician who served from 1981 to 1985 as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 14th congressional district. He was the son of Wr ...

later served in a different U.S. House seat in Texas from 1981 to 1985.

Early life

Patman was the son of John N. and Emma (Spurlin) Patman, was born near

Hughes Springs Hughes Springs is a city in Cass and Morris counties in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 census, its population was 1,575. The town has heavily damaged by an EF2 tornado on November 4, 2022. Geography Hughes Springs is located in western C ...

, on August 6, 1893. After graduating from Hughes Springs High School in 1912, he enrolled in

Law School in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropoli ...

. Receiving his law degree in 1916 he was admitted to the Texas bar the same year. During

Patman enlisted in the

as a private. He later received a commission as a first lieutenant and machine gun officer in the

Texas Army National Guard The Texas Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Texas Military Forces (along with the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard). Texas Army National Guard units are tra ...

's 144th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 36th Division. He remained in the National Guard for several years after the war.

Political career

Early political career

Patman was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1920. He left the House in 1924 when he was appointed district attorney of the fifth judicial district of Texas.

Early Congressional career

In 1928, Patman was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from Texas's 1st congressional district. In 1932, Patman introduced a bill that would have mandated the immediate payment of the bonus to

veterans. It was during the consideration of this bill that the

Bonus Army The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C., in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their servi ...

came to Washington. Patman was a supporter of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

. In January 1932, Patman spearheaded a movement to impeach Treasury Secretary

Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

, which forced the latter's resignation the following month. In 1935, Patman took on the cause of independent retailers, who were engaged in a nationwide battle to stop the growth of chain retailing by taxing chains and restricting their business practices. Patman in the House and

Joseph Taylor Robinson Joseph Taylor Robinson (August 26, 1872 – July 14, 1937), also known as Joe T. Robinson, was an American politician from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1913 to 1937, servin ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

were the sponsors of the 1936 Robinson-Patman Act, an effort to preserve independent wholesalers and retail outlets ("Mom and Pop stores") by preventing manufacturers or large retailers from becoming involved in wholesaling. Patman was one of four members of the Texas congressional delegation to originally sign the "

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manif ...

," ( Martin Dies Jr. signed subsequently) a resolution in protest of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision in '' Brown v. Board of Education''.

Watergate inquiry

Wright Patman's eponymous committee played an important role in the early days of the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...

that eventually brought down the

Nixon Administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...

. The Patman Committee investigated the hundred dollar bills found on the Watergate "plumbers" upon their arrest, suspecting they could directly link them to

CREEP Creep, Creeps or CREEP may refer to: People * Creep, a creepy person Politics * Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), mockingly abbreviated as CREEP, an fundraising organization for Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign Art ...

, the president's re-election committee. The Patman Committee's 1972 investigation was stymied by pressure from the White House, in part aided by Congressman

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. Despite these efforts to stop Patman, his investigative course ultimately proved to be Nixon's undoing in the sense that the money trail, as reported on in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', helped lead to the establishment of the Ervin Senate Select Committee on Watergate in April 1973.

Loss of chairmanship

In 1975, Patman was voted out of his position as Chairman of the Banking committee by younger Congressmen, in a revolt against the 'Seniority system' which also removed

Felix Edward Hébert Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

and

William R. Poage William Robert Poage (December 28, 1899 – January 3, 1987) was a Texas politician who was won election to the United States House of Representatives 21 times, serving 42 years. Early life and education William Robert "Bob" Poage was born in ...

from their positions as chairmen. Patman was replaced by Henry S. Reuss by a caucus vote of 152–117. The main reason given for the caucus removing Patman was concern about his age and effectiveness.

Personal life

In 1919, Patman married Merle Connor, who died in 1967. They had four children, including

, who served in the U.S. House from 1981 to 1985. Wright Patman remarried in 1968 to Pauline Tucker. Patman died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

on March 7, 1976. He was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Texarkana. "His funeral in Texarkana was one of the largest, most important occurrences in the town's history," wrote Mark Stanley in a 2004 essay for the ''East Texas Historical Journal''.

Legacy

Patman is regarded as a liberal and

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

who brought federal jobs and works projects to his district, where agriculture previously was the dominant economic sector. However, the left wing

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pr ...

scored Patman low in its 100-point "liberal quotient" (LQ) scale, at 13 in 1972 and 24 in 1973. In contrast, the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded o ...

rated Patman a more favorable 47 out of 100 in 1973. In the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union is named after him. This credit union serves the banking needs of elected and former members of the House and their staff. In addition,

Wright Patman Lake Wright Patman Lake is a reservoir in northeast Texas in the United States. The lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir formed on the Sulphur River in Bowie and Cass counties by Wright Patman Dam. The reservoir provides flood contr ...

and Wright Patman Dam in Northeast Texas are also named for him.

In fiction

Wright Patman is the Governor of Texas in the alternate history novel '' Settling Accounts: In at the Death'' by

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...

, part of the TL-191 series.

Publications

*''Tax Exempt Foundations and Charitable Trusts: Their Impact on Our Economy'' (December 1962) 87th Congress, 2nd Session *''Commercial Banks and Their Trust Activities: Emerging Influence on the American Economy'' (Washington DC 1968) 90th Congress, 2nd Session, volumes I and II

Notes

External links

*
Texas A&M University Press: ''Wright Patman: Populism, Liberalism, and the American Dream'' by Nancy Beck Young
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patman, Wright 1893 births 1976 deaths Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Cumberland School of Law alumni People from Hughes Springs, Texas Texas lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland Watergate scandal investigators Military personnel from Texas United States Army officers Texas National Guard personnel Deans of the United States House of Representatives United States Army personnel of World War I