Tom Foley

Thomas Stephen Foley (born March 26 1929 in Spokane, Washington) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, having served as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and ambassador to Japan. He served in the US Congress from 1965 to 1995. His thirty year career in Congress was notable for its length and for his steady climb up the ranks of the Congressional and Party leadership.

Early life and legal practice

In 1946, Foley graduated from the Jesuit-run Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane. He is an Eagle Scout. He went on to attend the University of Washington in Seattle which awarded him an Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951. In 1957, he earned a law degree from the same university.

Following law school, Foley entered private practice. In 1958, he began working in the Spokane County prosecutor's office as a deputy prosecuting attorney. Foley taught at Gonzaga University Law School (in Spokane, Washington) from 1958 to 1959. In 1960, he joined the office of the State of Washington Attorney General.

In 1961, Foley moved to Washington, D.C. and joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs as assistant chief clerk and special counsel, in which capacity he served until 1963.

Congressional service

In 1964, Foley won the Democratic nomination for Washington's fifth congressional district, which was based in Spokane. He faced 11-term Republican incumbent Walt Horan and won by seven points, one of several Democrats elected in the gigantic Democratic landslide of that year. He was re-elected without much trouble until 1978, when he barely defeated conservative activist Rick James. In 1980, physician John Sonneland nearly defeated Foley, only losing by 4 points. Foley didn't face serious opposition again until 1994, even as his district became more conservative.

In 1981, Foley was chosen majority whip by the House Democratic caucus and served in that capacity until 1986, when he moved up to the position of majority leader. In 1989, Jim Wright of Texas stepped down as Speaker of the House amid an ethics scandal, and Foley was elected to succeed him.

Term limits

During his time in the House, Foley repeatedly opposed efforts to impose term limits on Washington state's elected officials, winning the support of the state's voters to reject term limits in a 1991 referendum. However, in 1992, a term limit ballot initiative was approved by the state's voters.

Foley brought suit, challenging the constitutionality of a state law setting eligibility requirements on federal offices. Foley won his suit, with federal courts declaring that states did not have the authority under the U.S. Constitution to limit the terms of federal officeholders.

However, in Foley's bid for a 16th term in the House, his Republican opponent, George Nethercutt, used the issue against him, repeatedly citing the caption of the federal case brought by Foley, "Foley against the People of the State of Washington." Nethercutt vowed that if elected, he would not serve more than three terms in the House (but ultimately served for five terms). Foley lost in a narrow race that coincided with the Republican electoral triumph of 1994. Foley became the first sitting speaker of the House to lose his bid for re-election since William Pennington (R-New Jersey) in 1860. He is now commonly viewed as a political casualty of the term limits controversy of the early 1990s.

Later career

In 1997, Foley was appointed as the 25th U.S. Ambassador to Japan by President Bill Clinton, in which capacity he served until 2001. Foley was awarded an honorary Companion of Honour by the government of the UK.

Foley was a Washington delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

On July 9 2003, Washington Governor Gary Locke awarded the Medal of Merit, the state's highest honor, to Foley.

He is currently the North American Chairman of the Trilateral Commission.

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