Tom Foley Totally Explained

Everything about Tom Foley totally explained

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 United States 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. However, his defeat in the 1994 Congressional elections made him the first sitting Speaker since 1860 not to win re-election to Congress.

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 Gonzaga University in Spokane and the University of Washington in Seattle, the latter awarded him a 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 5th 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. He became the first Speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains.

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 didn't 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 wouldn't 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 to Nehemiah Perry. He is now commonly viewed as a political casualty of the term limits controversy of the early 1990s.

Electoral history

Here is a chart of the vote in his elections. There are subtotals for the city of Spokane, rural Spokane County, and a Spokane total, as this is the main part of the 5th Congressional District.

Year	Candidate	Party	Spokane	outside	county	district
1994	Tom Foley	D	39331	35323	74654	106074
1994	George Nethercutt*	R	30265	41065	71330	110057
1992	Tom Foley*	D	49675	45919	95594	135965
1992	John Sonneland	R	32508	40108	72616	110443
1990	Tom Foley*	D	38553	37121	75674	110234
1990	Marlyn Derby	D	15082	18363	33445	49965
1988	Tom Foley*	D	56249	53791	110040	160654
1988	Marlyn Derby	R	14438	17772	32210	49657
1986	Tom Foley*	D	43011	37939	80950	121732
1986	Floyd Wakefield	R	12510	14281	26791	41179
1984	Tom Foley*	D	56820	49360	106180	154988
1984	John Sonneland	R	20517	23729	44246	67438
1982	Tom Foley*	D	39810	32362	72172	109549
1982	John Sonneland	R	18482	20420	38902	60816
1980	Tom Foley*	D	41256	31604	72860	120530
1980	John Sonneland	R	32857	33662	66519	111705
1978	Tom Foley*	D	28346	18858	47204	77201
	Duane Alton	R	20923	18942	39865	68761
	Mel Tonasket	I	5574	4580	10154	14887
1976	Tom Foley*	D	41720	27905	69625	120415
	Duane Alton	R	30318	25519	55837	84262
	Bear Sandahl	L	834	407	1241	1959
	Ira Liebowitz	USL	403	181	584	935
1974	Tom Foley*	D	30717	18726	49443	87959
1974	Gary Gage	R	16925	12020	28945	48739
1972	Thomas S Foley*	D	58282	35060	93342	150580
1972	Clarice Privette	R	12468	8637	21105	34742
1970	Tom Foley*	D	40791	20532	61323	88189
1970	George Gamble	R	19926	11928	31854	43376
1968	Thomas Foley*	D	41203	19227	60430	88446
1968	Richard Bond	R	29659	16988	46647	67304
1966	Thomas Foley*	D	35533	15334	50867	74571
1966	Dorothy Powers	R	25357	13232	38589	57310
1964	Thomas S Foley*	D	41377	17587	58964	84830
1964	Walt Horan (Inc)	R	32262	16757	49019	73884

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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