Wright Patman
Encyclopedia
John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was a U.S. Congressman from Texas
in Texas's 1st congressional district
and chair of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency (1965–75).
, on August 6, 1893. After graduating from Hughes Springs High School in 1912, he enrolled in Cumberland University
Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee
. Receiving his law degree in 1916 he was admitted to the Texas bar the same year. During World War I
Patman served as a private and a machine gun officer.
In 1928, Patman was elected to the House of Representatives
in Texas's 1st congressional district
. In 1932, Patman introduced a bill that would have mandated the immediate payment of the bonus to World War I veterans. It was during the consideration of this bill that the Bonus Army
came to Washington. Patman was a supporter of the Landmark New Deal
.
In January 1932, Patman spearheaded a movement to impeach Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, which forced the latter's resignation the following month.
He was the author of the landmark Robinson Patman Act in 1936.
One observer remembered Patman as a populist
Democrat when, in 2011, Rick Perry
had taken a pungent jab at Ben Bernancke. Patman, sitting as chair of the House Banking Committee in the early 1970s, "snarl[ed] at then Fed
chairman Arthur Burns, before him to give testimony, 'Can you give me any reason why you should not be in the penitentiary?'”
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
and William R. Poage
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 due to concerns about his age and effectiveness. Fourteen months later, Patman died at the age of 82 in Bethesda, Maryland
.
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
in Northeast Texas
is also named for him.
that eventually brought down President Richard Nixon
. The Patman Committee investigated the hundred dollar bills found on the Watergate "plumbers" upon their arrest, suspecting they could directly link them to CREEP
, the president's re-election committee. This investigative course was on the money, as it ultimately proved to be Nixon's undoing in the sense that the money trail, as revealed in the Washington Post, helped plant the basis for the establishment of the Ervin Senate Select Committee on Watergate in April, 1973. (In the final analysis, however, the most universally adopted reason for seeking Nixon's impeachment was his obstruction of justice
occurring in the "smoking gun" tape of June 23, 1972, asking his aides to seek C.I.A. intervention through Director Richard Helms
and Deputy Director Vernon Walters to stop the initial Watergate investigation, begun days after the break-in on orders of newly appointed F.B.I. Director L. Patrick Gray
, for its supposed threat to national security in uncovering "the whole Bay of Pigs
thing"--a Nixon reference which H. R. Haldeman
, party to the June 23 conversation with Nixon, later equated in his book, The Ends of Power, published in February, 1978 in the wake of the House Select Committee
's investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy
, with Nixon's code phrase for the Kennedy assassination, though Haldeman later recanted the statement before he died.
The revelation of the existence of the White House taping system occurred during testimony to the Ervin Committee by Alexander Butterfield
in July, 1973. The Patman Committee's 1972 investigation was stymied on pressure from the White House, in part led by Congressman Gerald R. Ford, within a year to become Vice-President, appointed to the position by President Nixon after Spiro T. Agnew was forced to resign after pleading nolo contendere
to charges of having received bribes during his stint as Governor of Maryland prior to 1969, charges mysteriously surfacing only after the Watergate scandal broke the previous year.
Many speculated at the time that Agnew was deliberately being tossed by Nixon onto the fire as a sacrificial lamb in an attempt to calm the furor surfacing from the previous summer's Senate Select Committee hearings on Watergate which had been nationally televised. Conversely, however, by nominating the moderate Gerald Ford as his new Vice-President, Nixon spread that much more the flames of discontent with his method of governing, resulting in the Articles of Impeachment returned by the House Judiciary Committee
in late July 1974, prompting Nixon's decision to resign, effective at noon August 9.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the First District represents 651,619 people...
and chair of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency (1965–75).
Early life
Patman was the son of John N. and Emma (Spurlin) Patman, was born near Hughes Springs in Cass County, TexasCass County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,438 people, 12,190 households, and 8,654 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 13,890 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
, on August 6, 1893. After graduating from Hughes Springs High School in 1912, he enrolled in Cumberland University
Cumberland University
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...
Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...
. Receiving his law degree in 1916 he was admitted to the Texas bar the same year. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Patman served as a private and a machine gun officer.
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.In 1928, Patman was elected to the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the First District represents 651,619 people...
. In 1932, Patman introduced a bill that would have mandated the immediate payment of the bonus to World War I veterans. It was during the consideration of this bill that the Bonus Army
Bonus Army
The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates...
came to Washington. Patman was a supporter of the Landmark New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
.
In January 1932, Patman spearheaded a movement to impeach Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, which forced the latter's resignation the following month.
He was the author of the landmark Robinson Patman Act in 1936.
One observer remembered Patman as a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
Democrat when, in 2011, Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
had taken a pungent jab at Ben Bernancke. Patman, sitting as chair of the House Banking Committee in the early 1970s, "snarl[ed] at then Fed
Federal Reserve Bank
The twelve Federal Reserve Banks form a major part of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The twelve federal reserve banks together divide the nation into twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the twelve banking districts created by the Federal Reserve Act of...
chairman Arthur Burns, before him to give testimony, 'Can you give me any reason why you should not be in the penitentiary?'”
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 Edward Hébert
Felix Edward Hébert , known as F. Edward Hébert, was the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Louisiana, having represented the New Orleans-based First Congressional District as a Democrat from 1941 until his retirement in 1977.Hébert was born in...
and William R. Poage
William R. Poage
William Robert Poage was a Texas politician.Poage was born in Waco, Texas and served in the United States Navy during World War I. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1925 to 1929, and in the Texas Senate from 1931 to 1937.In 1936, Poage was elected to the House of Representatives...
from their positions as chairmen. Patman was replaced by Henry S. Reuss
Henry S. Reuss
Henry Schoellkopf Reuss was a Democrat U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.-Childhood and education:He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in that city's German section. Reuss earned his A.B. from Cornell University in 1933 and was a member of the Sphinx Head Society. He then earned his LL.B...
by a caucus vote of 152–117. The main reason given for the caucus removing Patman was due to concerns about his age and effectiveness. Fourteen months later, Patman died at the age of 82 in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
.
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
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 control and water conservation for the communities downstream...
in Northeast Texas
Northeast Texas
Northeast Texas is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. It is geographically centered around two metropolitan areas strung along Interstate 20: Tyler in the west and Longview/Marshall to the east...
is also named for him.
Watergate inquiry
Wright Patman's eponymous committee played an important role in the early days of the Watergate scandalWatergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
that eventually brought down President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. 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
Creep may refer to:* CREEP, the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, associated with the Watergate scandal of U.S. president Nixon's administration....
, the president's re-election committee. This investigative course was on the money, as it ultimately proved to be Nixon's undoing in the sense that the money trail, as revealed in the Washington Post, helped plant the basis for the establishment of the Ervin Senate Select Committee on Watergate in April, 1973. (In the final analysis, however, the most universally adopted reason for seeking Nixon's impeachment was his obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
occurring in the "smoking gun" tape of June 23, 1972, asking his aides to seek C.I.A. intervention through Director Richard Helms
Richard Helms
Richard McGarrah Helms was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1966 to 1973. He was the only director to have been convicted of lying to the United States Congress over Central Intelligence Agency undercover activities. In 1977, he was sentenced to the maximum fine and received a suspended...
and Deputy Director Vernon Walters to stop the initial Watergate investigation, begun days after the break-in on orders of newly appointed F.B.I. Director L. Patrick Gray
L. Patrick Gray
Louis Patrick Gray III was acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from May 2, 1972 to April 27, 1973. During this time, the FBI was in charge of the initial investigation into the burglaries that sparked the Watergate scandal, which eventually led to the resignation of President...
, for its supposed threat to national security in uncovering "the whole Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
thing"--a Nixon reference which H. R. Haldeman
H. R. Haldeman
Harry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and for his role in events leading to the Watergate burglaries and the Watergate scandal – for which he was found guilty of conspiracy...
, party to the June 23 conversation with Nixon, later equated in his book, The Ends of Power, published in February, 1978 in the wake of the House Select Committee
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final...
's investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, with Nixon's code phrase for the Kennedy assassination, though Haldeman later recanted the statement before he died.
The revelation of the existence of the White House taping system occurred during testimony to the Ervin Committee by Alexander Butterfield
Alexander Butterfield
Alexander Porter Butterfield is a retired U.S. military officer, public servant, and businessman. He served as the deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon from 1969 until 1973. He was a key figure in the Watergate scandal, but was not personally involved in any wrongdoing, and was not...
in July, 1973. The Patman Committee's 1972 investigation was stymied on pressure from the White House, in part led by Congressman Gerald R. Ford, within a year to become Vice-President, appointed to the position by President Nixon after Spiro T. Agnew was forced to resign after pleading nolo contendere
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
to charges of having received bribes during his stint as Governor of Maryland prior to 1969, charges mysteriously surfacing only after the Watergate scandal broke the previous year.
Many speculated at the time that Agnew was deliberately being tossed by Nixon onto the fire as a sacrificial lamb in an attempt to calm the furor surfacing from the previous summer's Senate Select Committee hearings on Watergate which had been nationally televised. Conversely, however, by nominating the moderate Gerald Ford as his new Vice-President, Nixon spread that much more the flames of discontent with his method of governing, resulting in the Articles of Impeachment returned by the House Judiciary Committee
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
in late July 1974, prompting Nixon's decision to resign, effective at noon August 9.
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