ABSTRACT
Sam Rayburn was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's (FDR) key spokesman in the United States (US) House of Representatives. So important was he to the New Deal's success in the House that Roosevelt said of Rayburn, he was "the most valuable man in Congress". In 1934 Rayburn described himself, with considerable justification, as being "a helluva New Dealer." The battle over the Utility Holding Company Act exposed Rayburn to the more serious threat of the utility lobby, which flooded his office with letters, telegrams, and phone calls. Rayburn's leadership of the New Deal in the House was an important facet of his maintaining support in his Congressional district. Rayburn knew the lake was an invaluable project for his district, and he fought for it with great tenacity. FDR was enormously popular in Rayburn's district, as he was in Texas generally.
