Texas Congressman Ralph Hall Oldest to Ever Serve in House
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Chris Powers/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Congressman Ralph Hall didn’t have to be in Washington, D.C., on Christmas Day to break a record.
The 89-year-old Texas Republican earned the distinction Tuesday of being the oldest lawmaker to ever serve in the House of Representatives.
Hall eclipsed the record previously held by North Carolina Representative Charles Manley Stedman, who was also 89 when he died in September 1930.
First elected to the House in 1980 when he was 57, Hall started as a Democrat, but like many Texas lawmakers switched over to the Republican Party in 2004. He won a 17th term last month.
Long before he entered politics, Hall pumped gas as a young man and reportedly filled the tank of the noted 1930s bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde.
The congressman’s website says Hall is often quoted, saying, “I’d rather be respected at home than liked in Washington.”
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