Former Speaker of the House Tom Foley dies at 84 [View all]
Last edited Fri Oct 18, 2013, 05:55 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: The Spokesman-Review
Tom Foley, a Spokane native who rose to the highest position in the U.S. House of Representatives – a spot two heartbeats away from president – died Friday. He was 84.
Spokane’s most successful politician, Foley served 30 years in the House representing Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District, the last five as speaker, before losing both jobs in a historic electoral defeat in 1994. He went on to serve as U.S. ambassador to Japan for President Bill Clinton from 1997 through 2001, was a presidential adviser on foreign policy matters, a principal at a high-powered Washington, D.C., law firm and served on the boards of many organizations.
He died this morning at 9:13 Eastern time of complications from strokes, according to his wife, Heather Foley.
Tall and in his later years silver-haired, Foley looked like a congressman ordered up from Hollywood’s Central Casting, but he worked his way up through the ranks of the House.
Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/oct/18/tom-foley-former-speaker-dies/
The AP also has an obit. So does the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
(Edited around 6pm ET) Now New York Times and Washington Post and Seattle Times.
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