Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay (pronounced /dəˈleɪ/ ; born April 8, 1947 in Laredo, Texas ) is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party (GOP) House Majority Leader from 2003–2005. In 2005, after a Texas court charged DeLay with criminal violations of state campaign finance laws and money laundering, he resigned as House Majority Leader. DeLay pleaded not guilty, claiming political motivation for the charges. Additionally, two former senior aides to DeLay have been convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal, but though the lobbyist knew DeLay, in August 2010, the United States Department of Justice closed the Abramoff-related case file against the former congressman without bringing an indictment.[1] On November 24, 2010, DeLay was convicted by a Texas jury of the primary money laundering and conspiracy charges, for which he faces life in prison. DeLay intens to appeal his conviction.[2] Before entering politics, DeLay worked in pest control , explaining one of his nicknames, "The Exterminator ." He began his long and successful career as a politician in 1978 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives . Until 1985, when DeLay became a born-again Christian and changed his lifestyle, another of his nicknames was "Hot Tub Tom" because of his drinking and partying. In 1988, after just a few years in the U.S. House, DeLay was appointed Deputy Minority Whip . In 1994 he helped Newt Gingrich effect the Republican Revolution , which gave the Republicans the victory in the 1994 midterm election and swept Democrats from power in both houses of Congress, putting Republicans in control of the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. In 1995, he was elected House Majority Whip . With the Republicans in control of both chambers in Congress, DeLay, along with Gingrich and conservative activist Grover Norquist , helped start the K Stre! et Proje ct , an effort to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire only Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials. DeLay was elected House Majority Leader after the 2002 midterm elections , earning his most famous nickname, "The Hammer," for his enforcement of party discipline and retribution against those who did not support the legislative agenda of President George W. Bush . On policy issues, not just political strategy and tactics, DeLay was known as one of Capitol Hill 's fiercest, staunchest conservatives during his years in Congress, earning very high marks from conservative interest groups (e.g., business, gun rights , pro-life ) and very low marks from liberal ones (e.g., civil liberties , labor unions , environmental protection ). Since leaving Congress, along with tending to his legal troubles, DeLay has co-authored (with Stephen Mansfield ) a political memoir, No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight , founded a strategic conservative poltical consulting firm, First Principles, LLC , and competed on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars , until stress fractures in his feet caused him to withdraw. DeLay made political news when he became perhaps the most famous Republican yet to promote the "birther " conspiracy theory about President Barack Obama . DeLay also remains involved in foster care , as he and his wife have founded a "Christ-centered" foster community called Rio Bend , near Richmond, Texas . The DeLays formerly fostered three teenage boys, and have one grown daughter of their own, Danielle, a professional dancer.
Early life and education
DeLay was born in Laredo, Texas . He spent most of his childhood in Venezuela due to his father's work in the petroleum and natural gas industry. He attended Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas where he both played football and was the lead dancer in school productions. He attended Baylor University for! two yea rs, majoring in pre-med, but was expelled for drinking and painting Baylor school colors on a building at rival Texas A&M University. The Washington Post reported that DeLay obtained student deferments from military service while in college and that he received a high draft lottery number in 1969 which ensured that he would not be drafted for the Vietnam War. DeLay graduated from the University of Houston in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology.
Personal life
DeLay married Christine Furrh, whom he had known since high school, in 1967. In 1972, the DeLays had a daughter, Danielle, who is now a professional dancer.
During his time in the Texas Legislature , DeLay struggled with alcoholism and gained a reputation as a playboy , earning the nickname "Hot Tub Tom". By the time of his election to Congress in 1984 he was drinking "eight, ten, twelve martinis a night at receptions and fundraisers." Howeer, in 1985 DeLay became a born-again Christian , and later gave up hard liquor. Of the Rev. Ken Wilde, an evangelical minister from Idaho who founded the National Prayer Center in Washington, D.C., which houses volunteers who come to the capital to pray for the nation's leaders, DeLay said, "This is the man who really saved me. When I was going through my troubles, it was Ken who really stepped up." Of his conversion, DeLay said, "I had put my needs first . . . I was on the throne, not God. I had pushed God from His throne." In criticizing Newt Gingrich for secretly having an affair with a staffer while Gingrich, as House Speaker , was simultaneously impeaching President Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky , DeLay said, "I don't think that Newt could set a high moral standard, a high moral tone, during that moment.... You can't do that if you're keeping secrets about your own adulterous affairs." Differentiating between Gingrich's adultery and his ow! n admitt ed adultery, DeLay said, "I was no longer committing adultery by that time, the impeachment trial. There's a big difference.... I had returned to Christ and repented my sins by that time.
DeLay declined to comment on a 1999 report in The New Yorker that he was estranged from much of his family, including his mother and one of his brothers. As of 2001, DeLay had not spoken to his younger brother, Randy, a Houston lobbyist, since 1996, when a complaint to the House Ethics Committee prompted Tom DeLay to state that he cut his brother off in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest .
In 1994, Christine DeLay began volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate for abused and neglected children in foster care , and soon thereafter, the DeLays became foster parents to three teenage boys. In 2005, Christine and Tom DeLay founded Rio Bend, a "Christ-centered" foster care community in Richmond, Texas , that cares for abused and neglected children "as an answer to problems hey felt plagued the current foster care system," according to the Rio Bend website, which continues, "The DeLays developed Rio Bend's vision based on Christine's time spent as a special advocate, as well as their experiences together as therapeutic foster parents."
In August 2009, it was reported that they own two Bichon frisé dogs named Bailey and Taylor.
Early private sector career
After graduating from college, DeLay spent three years at pesticide-maker Redwood Chemical and then purchased Albo Pest Control which DeLay grew into a large and successful business. This work was the source for his nickname, "the Exterminator." In the eleven years DeLay ran the company, the Internal Revenue Service imposed three tax liens on him for failure to pay payroll and income taxes. The United States Environmental Protection Agency 's ban on a pesticide that was used in extermination work led DeLay to oppose governmen! t regula tion of businesses, a belief that he has carried with him throughout his political career.
Political career
Local politics
In 1978, DeLay won the election for an open seat in the Texas House of Representatives . He was the first Republican to represent Fort Bend County in the state House.
DeLay ran for Congress in 1984 from the 22nd District, after fellow Republican Ron Paul decided to run in the Republican primary for the 1984 U.S. Senate race instead of for reelection (Paul subsequently returned to Congress from a neighboring district). He easily won a crowded six-way primary with 53 percent of the vote, and cruised to election in November. DeLay was one of six freshmen Republican congressmen elected from Texas in 1984 known as the Texas Six Pack . He was reelected 10 times, never facing substantive opposition in what had become a solidly Republican district.
span class="mw-headline" id="Early_Congressional_career">Early Congressional career
As a member of the Republican minority in the 1980s, DeLay made a name for himself by criticizing the National Endowment for the Arts and the Environmental Protection Agency . During his first term in Congress, DeLay was appointe
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