Wayne Hays
| Wayne Hays | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee | |
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In office January 3, 1973 – June 18, 1976 |
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| Speaker | Carl Albert |
| Preceded by | Tip O'Neill |
| Succeeded by | James C. Corman |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 18th district |
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In office January 3, 1949 – September 1, 1976 |
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| Preceded by | Earl R. Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Applegate |
| Member of the Ohio State Senate | |
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In office 1941–1942 |
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| Mayor of Flushing, Ohio | |
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In office 1939–1945 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Wayne Levere Hays May 13, 1911 Bannock, Ohio |
| Died | February 10, 1989 (age 77) Wheeling, West Virginia |
| Resting place | Saint Clairsville Union Cemetery 40°05′09″N 80°54′18″W / 40.0858336°N 80.9048731°W |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Judkins |
Wayne Levere Hays (May 13, 1911, Bannock, Ohio – February 10, 1989, Wheeling, West Virginia) was an American politician whose strong rule of the House Administration Committee extended to even the smallest items. In the mid-1970s, lawmakers avoided crossing Hays for fear that he would shut off the air conditioning in their offices. He resigned from Congress after a much-publicized sex scandal in 1976. He resided in St. Clairsville, Ohio at the time of his death.
While his colleagues might have argued over whether he, as chairman of the House Administrative Committee and the Democratic Campaign Committee, was the second or third most powerful member of Congress, few disagreed that he stood in a class by himself as the meanest man in the House.
Hays graduated from Ohio State University in 1933. He served as mayor of Flushing, Ohio, from 1939 to 1945 and simultaneously served in the Ohio state senate in 1941 and 1942. Starting in 1945 he served a four-year term as Commissioner of Belmont County. He was a member of the Army Officers’ Reserve Corps from 1933 until called to active duty as a second lieutenant on December 8, 1941, with a medical discharge in August 1942.
Hays, a Democrat, was elected to the 81st Congress in 1948, and was subsequently elected to thirteen succeeding Congresses. He was chairman of the powerful Committee on House Administration.
Hays received 5 votes for president at the 1972 Democratic National Convention without campaigning for the office. In 1976 Hays ran for the party's nomination for President as a favorite son candidate in the Ohio primary.
In May 1976, the Washington Post broke the story quoting Elizabeth Ray, Hays's former secretary, saying that Hays hired her on his staff, and later gave her a raise as staff of the House Administration Committee for two years to serve as his mistress. Hays had divorced his wife of 38 years just months prior, and married his veteran Ohio office secretary, Pat Peak, in early 1976, shortly before the scandal broke. Ostensibly a secretary, Ray admitted: "I can't type. I can't file. I can't even answer the phone." She even "let a reporter listen in as the Ohio congressman told her on the phone that his recent marriage (to another former secretary) would not affect their arrangement."
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Wikipedia