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Stories I Never Told the Speaker: The Chaotic Adventures of a Capitol Hill Aide

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Stories I Never Told the Speaker is Marshall Lynam's memoir of 36 years on Capitol Hill. But it is more than that, too. It is a kind of manifesto for anyone who has ever been or wanted to be a congressional staffer. Lynam quotes colleague and friend, Craig Raupe, "who always said there were two kinds of people in Congress -- members and clerks -- and you should damn well never forget which one you were." He then adds with the kind of humility that characterizes his perspective on most of the tales he weaves, "I was a clerk." Lynam is quick to admit that he didn't make much history in his 27 years with Jim Wright. Nonetheless, he has witnessed a lot of it. His testimony to that history is clear, concise, and unpretentious, reflecting his experience as a journalist at The Fort Worth Press and the wisdom and insight that come from growing up during the Great Depression and flying combat missions in World War II before he was old enough to vote. Jim Wright hired Lynam and brought him to Washington in 1962. One thing comes through above all else in these tales: from that day on, Marshall Lynam had fun. Whether doing advance work for Hubert Humphrey's presidential campaign, getting his hands dirty doing "casework" in Jim Wright's congressional office, or maneuvering to keep a Congressional delegation in Jerusalem for Anwar Sadat's historic visit in 1977, there's a twinkle in Lynam's eye and a down home sparkle in his prose when he tells the story. Stories I never told the Speaker is not Jim Wright's story; it's Lynam's. But the love, respect, and gratitude Lynam feels toward the former Speaker is everywhere obvious, without ever becoming syrupy. Even when his stories occasionally stumble toward sentimentality, the reader is rescued by Lynam's marvelous sense of humor. For instance, there was the time Jim Wright was invited to give the keynote address to a Wichita Falls business community gathering celebrating the arrival of an innovative new industry in town -- the maker of a safe cigarette, made not from tobacco, but from lettuce leaves. Up until 1978 when he quit cold turkey, Wright smoked furiously. On this occasion, however, he was already out of cigarettes when he boarded the plane for Wichita Falls from Fort Worth. Lynam, ever the good staffer, gave Wright his Marlboros, all of which the latter smoked before landing in Wichita Falls. The pair were running late, so there wasn't time to stop to pick up smokes on the way to the hall. Instead, Lynam was sure he could find his boss some cigarettes at the dinner. On arriving at the hall, Wright was rushed up to the dais, where he was trapped between several non- smokers. Lynam watched helplessly as his boss reflexively reached first in his right, then his left coat pocket, searching desperately for a smoke before his speech. Before Lynam could deliver a pack of cigarettes to Wright, young women dressed in red, white and blue uniforms handed out samples of the lettuce leaf cigarette company's new product. With relief at last in sight, Wright tore open one of the sample packs as he strode to the podium, lit up, and, as the whole audience focused on the keynote speaker, he inhaled deeply. "Echoing through the hall, the tortured wheeze was one you might hear from a fireman fleeing from a smoke-filled building. . . Raw and rasping, it was the outcry of a man fighting for breath. Head down, shoulders heaving, coughing violently. I was thunderstruck. "I've killed him, I thought. I've killed my boss. . ." After regaining his wind and composure in front of the stunned and silent audience, Wright addressed them, admitting that it might take a while for people to get used to lettuce cigarettes. "But I'll tell you one thing," he said. "I'd rather smoke a lettuce cigarette than eat a tobacco salad." With similar wit, Lynam serves up stories of Lyndon Johnson, Mitch Snyder, Ted Kennedy, Mikhail Gorbachev, Wright's election as Speaker, and characters and events great and small in between. After laughing with Lynam through the first 246 pages, I wondered if he simply would ignore the story of Wright's departure from the House. Not so. The final chapter recounts the events that led to the Speaker's resignation on May 31, 1989, with a surprising lack of rancor and bitterness. There is sadness, yes; but it is a tribute to Lynam that he doesn't avail himself of the chance to pillory his beloved Speaker's tormentor, Speaker Gingrich. Who can ever forget Jim Wright's valedictory to the House? After refuting all the charges brought against him in the press and in the newly emerging medium of talk radio, Wright called for a halt to the media circus that had developed. "I do not want to be a party to tearing up this institution. I love it," he said. "Let me give you back this job . . . as a propitiation for this whole season of ill will." He urged members of the House not to take retribution on each other. "All of us in both political parties must resolve to bring this period of mindless cannibalism to an end. There's been enough of it." Lynam closes his work with the final words of his Speaker on the House Floor. The House would be a better place today, if all had heeded Wright's final injunction. Lynam calls his final chapter "The Man Who Left the House Because He Loved It." It is Lynam's love -- love for the House, love for Washington, love of public service, and love for Jim Wright, that make his memoir refreshing, enjoyable and at times compelling.

I bought this book because the author is one of my patients... I have never been so overjoyed as when I found he had signed this particular book... priceless to me! Thanks so much!!

this book is definatley worth 5 stars. its funny and yet it touches you in a place that most books cant i give it 2 thumbs UP.

Perhaps the best thing about this book - aside from its entertaining stories about national politics and political figures - is its ability to let us see the "movers and shakers" in our nation's government as real, down-to-earth people that stumble in the same ways that we do and laugh at themselves along the way. This isn't a "tell all" about Washington or Texas politics, its just the well-rounded memories of a long-time observer of the scene. Fortunately, Lynam was very good at keeping his eyes and ears open and remembering the key players and their roles - major and minor - in shaping the course of history. Throughout the book, he uses a light touch to recount episodes that reveal a great deal about some of our nation's leaders, but he never moralizes about their behavior and rarely philosophizes about the underlying cause or effects of individuals behaviors. So, if someone is heavily into political research or looking for an expose of Washington DC and Texas political figures, this isn't the book to read. And, because most of the stories deal with Jim Wright in his early years in Texas and then in the U.S. House, the book may be of most interest to Texans, or at least, people familiar with Texas politics. Other than those caveats, I highly recommend the book. It is very readable, entertaining, and made me laugh out loud on several occasions.