page_title: Sam Rayburn
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Sam Rayburn / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Sam Rayburn's graduation class of 1903 from East Texas Normal College (now Texas A&amp;M-Commerce). He is in the back row, second from the right.
context_page_description: Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn was an American politician who served as the 43rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House Speaker, former House Majority Leader, two-time House Minority Leader, and a 24-term congressman, representing Texas's 4th congressional district as a Democrat from 1913 to 1961. He holds the record for the longest tenure as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving for over 17 years.
  Born in Roane County, Tennessee, Rayburn moved with his family to Windom, Texas, in 1887. After a period as a school teacher, Rayburn won election to the Texas House of Representatives and graduated from the University of Texas School of Law. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1912 and continually won re-election until his death in 1961, serving 25 terms all told. Rayburn was a protege of John Nance Garner and a mentor to Lyndon B. Johnson.
  Rayburn was elected House Majority Leader in 1937 and was elevated to the position of Speaker of the House after the death of William B. Bankhead.
context_section_description: Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, on January 6, 1882. He was the son of Martha Clementine (Waller) and William Marion Rayburn, a former Confederate cavalryman. The Rayburn family descended from Ulster Scots immigrants who emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in 1750. In 1887 the Rayburn family moved to a 40-acre cotton farm near Windom, Texas. Rayburn grew up in poverty as he, his nine siblings, and his parents all participated in running the farm. Toiling in the fields made Rayburn determined to get a good education and help the poor and downtrodden.
  Rayburn went to co-educational East Texas Normal College (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) in Commerce in 1900 with $25 (around $750 in 2020) that his father saved up to help take care of his first few months of college expenses. To help cover tuition and room and board, Rayburn rang the school bell to signal the end of classes and swept out Commerce's public school buildings, earning $3 a month. Rayburn obtained his teaching credentials before completing his bachelor of science degree, and earned additional income by teaching in the public school of Greenwood, a small community in Hopkins County. He graduated in 1903 in a class of 13 (9 men and 4 women) and taught school for two years.
caption: The East Texas Normal College graduating class of 1903. Rayburn is in the back row second from the right.
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