Speaker 1: And we continue with our American stories. Our next story
Speaker 1: comes to us from Jeff Bloodworth, who's a professor of
Speaker 1: American history againan university. He's also a fellow at the
Speaker 1: Jack Miller Center, a partner of ours here on our
Speaker 1: American stories. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 2: John McCormick was the most American Speaker of the House
Speaker 2: in US history, But the roots of this americanness are
Speaker 2: not what he claimed them to be. The supposed son
Speaker 2: of Irish immigrants rose to national prominence on alongside John Kennedy.
Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty one, jfk was inaugurated as the nation's
Speaker 2: first Catholic president. Later that year, McCormick became the first
Speaker 2: ever Catholic Speaker of the House. Proof positive of immigrant
Speaker 2: and America's rise to the mainstream. McCormick, ironically had reinvented
Speaker 2: his immigrant story. In this he could not be more American.
Speaker 2: America is the land of reinvention. Ben Franklin, who was
Speaker 2: often called the first American, established the template. Born in Boston,
Speaker 2: he escaped and dentured servitude as a teen by fleeing
Speaker 2: to Philadelphia. In that city, he reinvented his roots and
Speaker 2: in the process bade himself into a founding father. McCormick
Speaker 2: followed a similar path. He reinvented his immigrant story to
Speaker 2: become Speaker of the House. In that office, he presided
Speaker 2: over the most prodigious legislative session in American history and
Speaker 2: remade the nation's immigration policy. John McCormick claimed to be
Speaker 2: the eldest son of Irish immigrants who dropped out of
Speaker 2: grammar school when his father died to be the family's breadwinter.
Speaker 2: In reality, his dad, Joe McCormick, was neither Irish nor dead.
Speaker 2: Joe McCormick was a Protestant Scotsman who hailed from Canada
Speaker 2: before settling in Boston. The Nobses, they were called, were
Speaker 2: despised in Irish Catholic Boston and far from dead. Joe
Speaker 2: McCormick had instead abandoned his family. Added to this, the
Speaker 2: Speaker was not his eldest son to succeed in Irish
Speaker 2: Catholic Boston politics. Young McCormick had reinvented his family history.
Speaker 2: His living Scottish Novie father became a dead Irish immigrant.
Speaker 2: His live Irish mother, who was born in Boston to
Speaker 2: Irish immigrants, was now born in the Old Country. His
Speaker 2: three older siblings, who were very much alive, were said
Speaker 2: to have died in infancy. The eldest son of Irish
Speaker 2: immigrants who supported a widow mother was a biography more
Speaker 2: befitting an ambitious politician. McCormick came from humble room once
Speaker 2: his father left. He did drop out of high school
Speaker 2: to work and support his mother and younger siblings. That
Speaker 2: much was true. Tall, gaunt and reserved, he lacked the
Speaker 2: shamrock style made famous by colorful Boston politicians. Tellingly, in Congress,
Speaker 2: he'd befriended powerful southern congressional barons of scotch Irish descent.
Speaker 2: The scotch Irish were Protestant Scots who had emigrated to
Speaker 2: Ireland in the seventeenth century before coming to America in
Speaker 2: the eighteenth century. The scotch Irish, as they were dubbed,
Speaker 2: largely settled in Appalachia and the South. Not coincidentally, McCormick,
Speaker 2: the reinvented Irish Catholic with a Scottish father, shared much
Speaker 2: in cultural style with these men. In Congress, McCormick was
Speaker 2: a bridge who built relationships and alliances across religious and
Speaker 2: regional lines, but the reinvented Irish politician nevertheles less, carried
Speaker 2: an urban Catholic grudge his entire political life. In the
Speaker 2: nineteen twenties, Rule Protestant America struck against Catholic urban immigrants
Speaker 2: via prohibition and immigration restrictions. Most everyone knows about Prohibition,
Speaker 2: but forgotten to history was the nineteen twenty four National
Speaker 2: Origins Act. This legislation was the source of McCormick's grudge.
Speaker 2: The nineteen twenty census revealed that urbanites outnumbered Rule Americans
Speaker 2: for the very first time in US history. Massive overseas
Speaker 2: immigration to cities had shifted power to urbanites from Rule Americans.
Speaker 2: In reaction, Congress passed the nineteen twenty four National Origins Act.
Speaker 2: The law and effect froze immigration, especially for Catholics and
Speaker 2: Jews coming from southern in Eastern Europe. Elected to Congress
Speaker 2: in nineteen twenty eight, McCormick devoted his very first House
Speaker 2: speech to denouncing the law. He may have reinvented his
Speaker 2: Irish immigrant story, but the congressman was a devout Catholic
Speaker 2: who loathed the anti Catholicism and ruled bias in the law.
Speaker 2: His career helped soothe these tensions. In nineteen forty he
Speaker 2: became Majority Leader alongside Texas Speaker Sam Rayburn. For twenty
Speaker 2: one years, the duo ruled over House Democrats, but their
Speaker 2: alliance was more than just a partnership between the two men.
Speaker 2: They established what was called the Austin Boston Alliance. In
Speaker 2: this a congressman from Texas and Massachusetts held either the
Speaker 2: Democratic Speaker or Majority Leader post for nearly a half century.
Speaker 2: This cemented a political alliance between the Catholic and Jewish
Speaker 2: urban north and the rule Protestant South. Mccorick was one
Speaker 2: half of the Democrat's political spine for more than his
Speaker 2: purported irishness. A devout Catholic who never drank alcohol, he
Speaker 2: valued loyalty, remembered everything, and kept everyone's secrets. There was
Speaker 2: never a hint of scandal in his political life. He
Speaker 2: and his wife, Harriet Joyce were renowned for being one
Speaker 2: of Washington's most devoted couples. Unlike other congressional leaders who
Speaker 2: worked late and then hit the cocktail circuit, McCormick dined
Speaker 2: with his wife every night of their fifty one year marriage. Madest, thrifty,
Speaker 2: and upright, he was regarded as the moral compass of
Speaker 2: the House. In nineteen sixty one, the legendary Sam Rayburn
Speaker 2: died elevated to the Speaker's office, the seventy one year
Speaker 2: old McCormick became the first ever Catholic Speaker of the House.
Speaker 2: Along with jfk and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield in
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty two, America's three highest ranking officials were all Catholic.
Speaker 2: This was yet another sign of immigrant America's rise after
Speaker 2: jfkase assassination. Linda Johnson's nineteen sixty four landslide victory gave
Speaker 2: Speaker McCormick an historic opportunity, and the Speaker did not disappoint.
Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty five, he passed ninety three percent of
Speaker 2: all White House submitted bills, and that session, alongside Franklin
Speaker 2: Roosevelt's first Congress, is recognized as the most productive in
Speaker 2: American history. But no single piece of legislation pleased McCormick
Speaker 2: more than the nineteen sixty five Immigration Act. Equipped with
Speaker 2: big majorities, passions of the bill was never in doubt.
Speaker 2: The only real roadblock was Cleveland Congressman Michael Fehan. He
Speaker 2: chaired the House Subcommittee on Immigration and he opposed reform.
Speaker 2: The administration had pushed a bill that gave skilled immigrants priority,
Speaker 2: but Feehan made family unification primary. In other words, those
Speaker 2: migrants seeking entry into the US with an American citizen
Speaker 2: as a family member were given priority. V Hen believed
Speaker 2: this would keep American demography unchanged. Ironically, Feehan's stipulation resulted
Speaker 2: in the exact opposite of his intentions. By the nineteen sixties,
Speaker 2: European immigration to the US had ebbed, but migration from Asia, Africa,
Speaker 2: and Latin America surged. It was these migrants who used
Speaker 2: Vehn's family unification policy. The results are clear. In nineteen
Speaker 2: sixty five, eighty four percent of the US population consisted
Speaker 2: of non Hispanic whites. In twenty fifteen, that number fell
Speaker 2: to sixty two percent. Today, this demographic change has made
Speaker 2: immigration into a hot buttoned political issue yet again. John
Speaker 2: McCormick would recognized today's debates, but Speaker McCormick's career shows
Speaker 2: that immigration is a solvable issue. We have survived these
Speaker 2: debates before and reached a consensus, so we can do
Speaker 2: so again. We did so in nineteen sixty five because
Speaker 2: Speaker McCormick, with his reinvented background had built alliances beyond ethnic, religious,
Speaker 2: and regional boundaries. The Austin Boston Alliance had bridged the rural, urban,
Speaker 2: and Catholic Protestant divide. America is a land of reinvention.
Speaker 2: We Americans are almost always in the process of reinvention
Speaker 2: and becoming something new, but in doing so we stay
Speaker 2: true to our roots. Americans like Ben Franklin and John
Speaker 2: McCormick know that where are you from is not as
Speaker 2: important as where you are going.
Speaker 1: And no finer sentiment has been expressed on our show.
Speaker 1: We Americans are almost always in the process of becoming
Speaker 1: something new. Where you are from is not nearly as
Speaker 1: important as where you're going. A terrific job on the production,
Speaker 1: editing and storytelling by our own Greg Hangler. And a
Speaker 1: special thanks to Jeff Bludworth for bringing us the story
Speaker 1: of speaker John W. McCormick and what a story indeed
Speaker 1: it was. And a special thanks to the Jack Miller
Speaker 1: Center He's a fellow there. Professor Bludworth and the Jack
Speaker 1: Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
Speaker 1: dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
Speaker 1: and history. And does this all sound familiar? Immigration debates,
Speaker 1: the divide between rural America and the city. Well, it's
Speaker 1: still here, folks, and that's why we love telling these stories,
Speaker 1: the story of Speaker John W. McCormick. Here on our
Speaker 1: American Stories.