page_title: John W. McCormack
section_title: Speaker of the House
hierarchical_section_title: John W. McCormack / Congressional career / Speaker of the House
caption_attribution_description: "Speaker of the House John W. McCormack (D-Massachusetts) (standing), addresses those attending a luncheon at the US Capitol honoring top Department of Defense executives. Left to right are Congressman George H. Mahon (D-Texas), committee chairman of the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee; General (GEN) Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman, US Army Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Congressman McCormack."
context_page_description: John William McCormack was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts. An attorney and a Democrat, McCormack served in the United States Army during World War I, and afterwards won terms in both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Massachusetts State Senate before winning election to the United States House of Representatives. He became the 45th Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1962.
  McCormack enjoyed a long House career, and advanced through the leadership ranks to become the 45th Speaker of the House. He served as Speaker from 1962 until his 1971 retirement.
  McCormack's Congressional career was highlighted by his support for the New Deal measures undertaken to combat the Great Depression, U.S. involvement in World War II, and support for the Great Society programs of the 1960s, including civil rights, education, and health care for the elderly. A staunch anti-communist, McCormack supported U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. His support for the war and the seniority system in Congress caused increasing numbers of younger members to challenge his leadership; McCormack survived a 1969 contest with Mo Udall for the Speakership.
context_section_description: After Rayburn's death in November 1961, McCormack acted as Speaker until winning election to the post in early 1962; he served from January 1962 until retiring from the House in 1971.  McCormack's nine years as Speaker were predominated by House passage of Great Society legislation during the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson, including laws to expand civil rights, access to public education, and health care for the elderly.
  McCormack was the first Catholic to be elected Speaker, and some critics complained that his religion sometimes showed in his leadership qualities.  As an example, during the 1961 debate on federal aid to schools, McCormack insisted that church schools should be included, and the bill died because of disagreement over this issue.  In 1963, McCormack changed his position, and oversaw passage of an aid bill devoted primarily to public schools.
  The latter part of McCormack's tenure increasingly focused on the debate over the Vietnam War, which he supported.  McCormack's demeanor changed during these years and he reminded some observers of a kindly elder relative attempting to provide wisdom and guidance to unruly younger family members.  According to House members, McCormack's strength was his personal consideration of members, which inspired them to return his affection and sparked a desire to work with him.  His weakness was that the seniority system created entrenched committee chairmen who wielded great power in the House, but could not be controlled by the Speaker.  As Speaker, McCormack pursued a national agenda; he was proud of fighting for passage of farm bills, though he said he did not have "more than five flower pots in my whole district."
  Between the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 and the swearing-in of Hubert Humphrey as Vice President on January 20, 1965, McCormack was first in the line of succession for the presidential powers and duties, thus he received Secret Service protection.
  In January 1969, Arizona congressman Morris Udall attempted to unseat McCormack as Speaker.  In 1970, the political attacks increased and several congressmen urged McCormack to step down because of his age.  Jerome R. Waldie of California asked a party caucus to declare a lack of confidence in his leadership, which it refused to do.  McCormack decided not to run for reelection to the House in 1970, but kept his decision secret until he announced it publicly in May 1970.  McCormack was succeeded as Representative in 1971 by Louise Day Hicks, and as Speaker by Carl Albert.
caption: McCormack (standing) speaking at a Department of Defense luncheon, February 1966
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Speaker of the House John W. McCormack (D-Massachusettes) (standing), addresses those attending a luncheon at the US Capitol honoring top Department of Defense executives.  Left to right are Congressman George H. Mahon (D-Texas), committee chairman of the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee; General (GEN) Earle G. Wheeler, Chairman, US Army Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and Congressman McCormack.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "285", "Image YResolution": "285", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint.NET v3.22", "Image DateTime": "2004:08:19 09:34:02", "Image Artist": "PHC ALBERT SMITH", "Image ExifOffset": "642", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "778", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4495", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2850", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1986"}