The Austin-Boston Connection Five Decades of House Democratic Leadership, 1937-1989

For the more than fifty years that Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives, leadership was divided between Massachusetts and Texas. "The Austin-Boston Connection "analyzes the importance of the friendships (especially mentor-protege relationships) and enmi-ties within congressional delegations, regional affinities, and the lynchpin practice of appointing the Democratic Whip.