“A Witness to History: George H. Mahon, West Texas Congressman" is available for purchase at both TTU Press and the TTU Library!
Author Janet M. Neugebauer is deputy director of the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University. Kent Hance, who provided the foreword, is a former Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“A Witness to History” tells the story of George H. Mahon, a man who went to Congress in 1935, when the House Committee on Appropriations still allocated a small amount of money to buy military horses. Forty-four years later, when Mahon retired as chairman of that same committee, the committee was debating funds to purchase a bomber capable of traveling at 2,000 miles an hour. With a career spanning nearly a half century--including almost the entire Cold War--Mahon grew from a West Texas country lawyer to one of the most powerful men in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving 22 consecutive terms from 1935-1978.
During his time in Congress, Mahon worked easily with the giants of government, enjoying the friendship and confidence of seven of the eight presidents with whom he served. He worked just as comfortably with his constituents in the 19th Congressional District of Texas. Mahon served on several Congressional committees, but it is through his service on the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations that he had the greatest national impact. He often bragged that under his leadership the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations was the most non-partisan committee in Congress. Mahon led the subcommittee with a strong but gentle hand that earned him the respect of all who served with him.
Publication of this book was made possible in part by a generous grant from The CH Foundation.
For more information about the book, please visit:
www.ttupress.org/Products/9780896729889/a-witness-to-history.aspx
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