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Rayburn Shows Off Gavels

Black and white, half-length photograph of Sam Rayburn smiling and looking at four gavels held in his right hand. His left hand rests on a table with two additional gavels laid out./tiles/collection/8/8776.xml
Photograph reverse with copyright information and text reading, “Out of Storage. Nearing his return to his post as speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn shows some of the gavels he has used on the job, at his home in Bonham, Tex. He has been speaker longer than any other congressman – since 1940, with two terms out, including the last one, when the Republicans took over. He wields the gavel quietly as a rule, and he speaks calmly. But congressional veterans say he is always on the alert.”/tiles/collection/8/8777.xml
Black and white, half-length photograph of Sam Rayburn smiling and looking at four gavels held in his right hand. His left hand rests on a table with two additional gavels laid out.
Photograph reverse with copyright information and text reading, “Out of Storage. Nearing his return to his post as speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn shows some of the gavels he has used on the job, at his home in Bonham, Tex. He has been speaker longer than any other congressman – since 1940, with two terms out, including the last one, when the Republicans took over. He wields the gavel quietly as a rule, and he speaks calmly. But congressional veterans say he is always on the alert.”
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Date

1954-12-03

Maker

Associated Press Newsfeatures

Dimensions

7 1/8 x 9 in. (18.1 x 22.9 cm)

Accession Number

2008.051.003

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

A few weeks before the 80th Congress opened, Speaker-presumptive Sam Rayburn contemplated what it would be like to take up the gavel again. The Democratic Party regained control of the House in the 1948 elections, and Rayburn, at home in Texas, still had a veritable bouquet of gavels from his previous Speakerships.

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