Former House Speaker Tom Foley Dies at 84
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J.DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Former Speaker of the House Tom Foley has died at 84.
Flags at the Capitol and at the White House were lowered to half staff to honor Foley, a Democrat, on Friday, as bipartisan praise poured in.
The 57th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Foley, of Washington state, was praised by the current Republican speaker John Boehner on Friday as a natural leader. Former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi remembered Foley as a man with a deep passion for fairness and respect for others.
In 1994, Republicans mounted a campaign to defeat him, and he was voted out of office by his Washington state constituents.
Foley passed away at his home in Washington, D.C., from complications of strokes, according to his wife.
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