James C. Wright 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 until his resignation on June 30, 1989 (January 3, 1955-June 30, 1989). Majority leader (Ninety-fifth through Ninety-ninth Congresses), Speaker of the House (One Hundredth and One Hundred First Congresses). Died on May 6, 2015, in Fort Worth, Tex. Interment at City Greenwood Cemetery, Weatherford, Tex.