James Claude "Jim" Wright Jr.

Speaker Jim Wright’s portrait by prolific portrait artist Marshall Bouldin III was unveiled on July 10, 1989. Executed in Boudin’s painterly style, Wright is shown in a relatively informal manner. He casually turns away from the desk, marked as a work space by the disheveled papers and mug. A Texas longhorn signifies Wright’s home state and is the type of personal signifier then coming into vogue in Congressional portraits. No. 2005.016.048; "James Claude Wright Jr." 1991. Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives.

James Claude "Jim" Wright Jr.Speaker of the House of Representatives (1987-1989), United States Representative (D-Texas) (1955-1989)

WRIGHT, James Claude, Jr., a Representative from Texas; born in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Tex., December 22, 1922; graduated from Adamson High School, Dallas, Tex., 1939; student at Weatherford College, Weatherford, Tex., 1939-1940, and the University of Texas, Austin, Tex., 1940-1941; enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in December 1941; commissioned in 1942 and flew combat missions in the South Pacific; was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; partner in a national trade extension and advertising firm; member of the Texas state house of representatives, 1947-1949; mayor of Weatherford, Tex., 1950-1954; served as president, League of Texas Municipalities, 1953; delegate, Democratic National Convention, 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968, and Democratic National Convention chairman in 1988; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fourth and to the seventeen succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1955, until his resignation on June 30, 1989; majority leader (Ninety-fifth through Ninety-ninth Congresses), Speaker of the House of Representatives (One Hundredth and One Hundred First Congresses); died on May 6, 2015, in Fort Worth, Tex.

18 US Congresses Served

84th – 101st(1955 – 1991)

House Years of Service

1955 – 1991

State / Territory

Texas

2 Positions

Representative

Speaker Of The House

Party

Democrat