Sam's Successor?

The school bill went down to a crushing defeat; the House-Senate foreign aid program came seriously compromised out of the committee room. And so, with the last major business of the session cleared away, tired, taut House Speaker Sam Rayburn, 79, agreed to rest his ailing back (TIME, Sept. 1). Last week, with his niece Jane Bartley in tow, Rayburn packed up and flew off for an indefinite rest at his home in Bonham, Texas, leaving behind a promise to return in case any legislative trouble arises.

There was never any question about who would succeed Mr. Sam in the Speaker's high-backed swivel chair for the remainder of the session. For the eleventh time during his 17 years as House majority leader, Democrat John McCormack of Massachusetts was for mally elected as Speaker pro tern. Since there is little legislation pending that is likely to demand Mr. Sam's presence, McCormack will run the House until it adjourns toward the end of September. If Rayburn's health were to cause his resignation this session, McCormack would be the automatic choice of the House to succeed the venerable Texan--and a favorite to take permanent possession of the Speaker's gavel in the next Congress.

As Rayburn's chief lieutenant, gaunt John McCormack, 69, has made little secret of his hope that some day he will follow Mr. Sam to the speakership. Whether the White House shares the same hope is a matter for debate. An up-from-poverty Bostonian, McCormack for years ran the Democratic Party in Massachusetts as his private constituency until, in 1956, rising young Senator John Kennedy smoothly took over. Swallowing that defeat, McCormack has publicly avowed his support for Kennedy ever since--but there are Democrats who think that the anger of "The Archbishop" (Roman Catholic McCormack's cloakroom nickname) has never been totally quieted.

This session, McCormack has worked hard for the Administration program--with one major exception. He put up a strong fight to add a measure that would provide loans for parochial and private schools to the White House's education program. By his tactics on behalf of the loan provision, he helped defeat the Administration's school legislation. White House aides claim that they hold no grudge against him for the school-bill defeat; they also insist that relations between McCormack and the President are good.

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