Born in Spokane, Washington, Foley attended Gonzaga University and pursued a legal career, after graduating from the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle. He joined the staff of Senator Henry M. Jackson, after working as a prosecutor and an assistant attorney general. With Jackson's support, Foley won election to the House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Republican Congressman Walt Horan. He served as Majority Whip from 1981 to 1987, and as Majority Leader from 1987 to 1989. After the resignation of Jim Wright, Foley became Speaker of the House.
Foley's district had become increasingly conservative during his tenure, but he won re-election throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1994 election, Foley faced attorney George Nethercutt. Nethercutt mobilized popular anger over Foley's opposition to term limits, which coincided with the Republican Revolution, leaving Foley as the highest-profile casualty.[3] After leaving the House, Foley served as the United States Ambassador to Japan from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.
Early life, education, and legal career
Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, Foley was the son of Helen Marie (née Higgins), a school teacher,[4] and Ralph E. Foley (1900–1985), a Superior Court judge for 34 years.[5] He was of Irish Catholic descent on both sides of his family;[6] his grandfather Cornelius Foley was a maintenance foreman for the Great Northern railroad in Spokane.[5]
Following law school, Foley entered private practice. In 1958, he began working in the Spokane County prosecutor's office as a deputy prosecuting attorney,[8] and later taught at Gonzaga's School of Law (in Spokane) from 1958 to 1959. He joined the state attorney general's office in 1961 as an assistant attorney general.[8]
In 1961, Foley moved to Washington, D.C., and joined the staff of Senator Henry M. Jackson.[8] He left Jackson's office in 1964 to run for Congress.[8]
Congressional service
Official congressional portrait of FoleyOfficial portrait as chairman of the Agriculture Committee
During his first term in the House, Foley was appointed to the Agriculture Committee and the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. He served on the latter committee through 1975, when he became chairman of the Agriculture Committee. In 1981, when Foley was appointed Majority Whip, he left the Agriculture Committee to serve on the House Administration Committee. Six years later, January 1987, he was elected House Majority Leader.
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.[8]
Foley brought suit, challenging the constitutionality of a state law setting eligibility requirements on federal offices. Foley won his suit, with a United States District Court declaring that states did not have the authority under the United States Constitution to limit the terms of federal officeholders.[20]
However, in Foley's bid for a 16th term in the House, his Republican opponent, George Nethercutt, used the issue against him, 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, though he ultimately served for five. Foley lost in a narrow race. While Foley had usually relied on large margins in Spokane to carry him to victory, in 1994 he won Spokane by only 9,000 votes, while Nethercutt did well enough in the rest of the district to win overall by just under 4,000 votes. Since Foley left office, no Democrat has garnered more than 45 percent of the district's vote.
Foley became the first incumbent Speaker of the House to lose his bid for re-election since Galusha A. Grow in 1862. He is sometimes viewed as a political casualty of the term limits controversy of the early 1990s. President Clinton attributed Foley's defeat to his support for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.[21]
Later career
From 1995 to 1998, Foley was head of the Federal City Council, a group of business, civic, education, and other leaders interested in economic development in Washington, D.C.[22]
Foley died at his home in Washington, D.C. on October 18, 2013, following months of hospice care after suffering a series of strokes and a bout with pneumonia.[26] He was 84 and was survived by his wife, Heather. Services were held at St. Aloysius Church at Gonzaga University, as well as in Washington, D.C.[27][28] Speaker John Boehner, and Nancy Pelosi, who had also served as Speaker, issued statements honoring Foley.[29] In a White House statement, President Barack Obama called Foley a "legend of the United States Congress" who "represented the people of Washington's 5th district with skill, dedication, and a deep commitment to improving the lives of those he was elected to serve.", going on to praise Foley for his bipartisanship and subsequent ambassadorial service under former President Clinton.[30] Vice President Joe Biden also released an official statement, saying "Tom was a good friend and a dedicated public servant.", citing his work in Congress with Foley in the 1980s on budgetary issues.[31] Washington Governor Jay Inslee also released a statement, acknowledging Foley's efforts to reach consensus and emphasize mutual common ground, and his work in the legal system and in Congress. Former President George H. W. Bush stated that Foley "represented the very best in public service--and our political system" and "never got personal or burned bridges."[32]
^"My Life". Vintage. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
^King, Colbert I. (September 8, 2007). "Fred, Did We Really Know You?". The Washington Post. p. A15; "Order in the House — and the Garage". Washington Business Journal. June 30, 1997. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
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