U.S. Congressman John William McCormack (1891-1980) served in the House of Representatives for 42 years, including eight as Speaker of the House. During those four decades McCormack helped enact much of the major legislation of the 20th century, including the Social Security Act, the G. I. Bill, the Marshall Plan, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

John W. McCormack, the very model of the cigar chewing big-city Irish politician, rose slowly but steadily to the highest circles of power in Washington. McCormack was born in South Boston, Massachusetts, on December 21, 1891, to Joseph H. McCormack, a bricklayer, and Ellen (O'Brien) McCormack. His mother was born in Boston and his father was born on Prince Edward Island. Both Joseph McCormack and Ellen O'Brien were children of Irish immigrants who arrived in the United States during the Irish potato famine in 1848. John McCormack was born into a family of 12 children, but only...