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Ralph Hall, Texan who was oldest congressman in U.S. House history, dies at 95
Source: Washington Post
Ralph Hall, Texan who was oldest congressman in U.S. House history, dies at 95
By Emily Langer March 7 at 2:20 PM
Ralph M. Hall, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Texas who was elected 17 times to Congress, where he became dean of his state’s delegation, one of the last veterans of World War II on Capitol Hill and the oldest person in history to serve in the U.S. House, died March 7 at his home in Rockwall, Tex. He was 95.
His longtime political strategist, Ed Valentine, confirmed the death and said he did not know the cause.
A former Navy pilot and Texas state senator, Mr. Hall was elected to the House in 1980 as a Democrat and for the next 34 years — the final decade as a Republican — represented a swath of the Red River Valley in eastern Texas. He announced that his 2014 campaign would be his last and was defeated in the Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney who pledged to serve no more than eight years.
From his early years in Washington, Mr. Hall established a voting record that reflected a district leaning increasingly toward the GOP. At times, according to the Almanac of American Politics, he held the most conservative voting record among House Democrats.
In the 1980s, he backed the budget and tax cuts pushed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. In the ’90s, Mr. Hall supported the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement, a centerpiece of Clinton’s domestic platform.
-snip-
By Emily Langer March 7 at 2:20 PM
Ralph M. Hall, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Texas who was elected 17 times to Congress, where he became dean of his state’s delegation, one of the last veterans of World War II on Capitol Hill and the oldest person in history to serve in the U.S. House, died March 7 at his home in Rockwall, Tex. He was 95.
His longtime political strategist, Ed Valentine, confirmed the death and said he did not know the cause.
A former Navy pilot and Texas state senator, Mr. Hall was elected to the House in 1980 as a Democrat and for the next 34 years — the final decade as a Republican — represented a swath of the Red River Valley in eastern Texas. He announced that his 2014 campaign would be his last and was defeated in the Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney who pledged to serve no more than eight years.
From his early years in Washington, Mr. Hall established a voting record that reflected a district leaning increasingly toward the GOP. At times, according to the Almanac of American Politics, he held the most conservative voting record among House Democrats.
In the 1980s, he backed the budget and tax cuts pushed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. In the ’90s, Mr. Hall supported the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement, a centerpiece of Clinton’s domestic platform.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/ralph-hall-texan-who-was-oldest-congressman-in-us-house-history-dies-at-95/2019/03/07/a5b70684-4105-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html