Wayne Hays | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's18th district | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – September 1, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Earl Ramage Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Applegate |
| Chair of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – June 18, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Tip O'Neill |
| Succeeded by | James Corman |
| Chair of theHouse Administration Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1971 – June 18, 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Friedel |
| Succeeded by | Frank Thompson |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 99th district | |
| In office January 1, 1979 – December 31, 1980 | |
| Preceded by | A. G. Lancione |
| Succeeded by | Bob Ney |
| Member of theOhio State Senate | |
| In office 1941–1942 | |
| Mayor ofFlushing, Ohio | |
| In office 1939–1945 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wayne Levere Hays (1911-05-13)May 13, 1911 Bannock, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | February 10, 1989(1989-02-10) (aged 77) Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Saint Clairsville Union Cemetery 40°05′09″N80°54′18″W / 40.0858336°N 80.9048731°W /40.0858336; -80.9048731 (Union Cemetery) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Judkins Patricia Peak |
| Children | 1 |
Wayne Levere Hays (May 13, 1911 – February 10, 1989) was an AmericanWorld War II veteran and politician who served 14 terms as a U.S. Representative fromOhio from 1949 to 1976. ADemocrat, he resigned from Congress after a much-publicizedsex scandal.
Hays was born inBannock, Ohio, the son of Bertha Taylor and Walter L. Hays.[1] He graduated fromOhio State University[2] in 1933. He served as mayor ofFlushing, Ohio, from 1939 to 1945 and simultaneously served in the Ohio state senate in 1941 and 1942. Starting in 1945 he served a four-year term as Commissioner ofBelmont County. He was a member of the Army Officers' Reserve Corps from 1933 until called to active duty as a second lieutenant on December 8, 1941, with a medical discharge in August 1942.
While his colleagues might have argued over whether he, as chairman of the House Administrative Committee and the Democratic Campaign Committee, was the second or third most powerful member of Congress, few disagreed that he stood in a class by himself as the meanest man in the House.
— Bud Shuster, 1983[3]
Hays was first elected as a Democrat to the81st Congress in 1948,[2] and was subsequently elected to thirteen succeeding Congresses. He was chairman of the powerfulCommittee on House Administration.[2]
Hays received 5 votes for President at the1972 Democratic National Convention without campaigning for the office. In 1976, Hays ran for the party's nomination for President as afavorite son candidate in the Ohio primary.[4]
Hays's strong rule of the House Administration Committee extended to even the smallest items. In the mid-1970s, lawmakers avoided crossing Hays for fear that he would shut off the air conditioning in their offices.[5]
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In May 1976, theWashington Post broke the story quotingElizabeth Ray, Hays' former secretary, saying that Hays hired her on his staff, and later gave her a raise as staff of the House Administration Committee for two years, to serve as hismistress. Hays had divorced his wife of 38 years just months prior, and married his veteran Ohio office secretary, Patricia Peak, five weeks before the scandal broke.[4] Ostensibly a secretary, Ray admitted: "I can't type. I can't file. I can't even answer the phone." She even "let a reporter listen in as the Ohio congressman told her on the phone that his recent marriage (to another former secretary) would not affect their arrangement."[6]
Time Magazine reported, "Liz chose to tell her story after Hays decided to marry Pat Peak and did not invite her. 'I was good enough to be his mistress for two years but not good enough to be invited to his wedding,' she pouted." Three days later, Hays admitted to most of the allegations on the House floor, denying only "that Miss Ray's federal salary was awarded solely for sexual services. She was not, insisted Hays, 'hired to be my mistress.'"[5] He resigned as chairman of the Committee on House Administration on June 18, 1976, and then resigned from Congress on September 1, 1976.[2]
Marion L. Clark, aWashington Post editor, who was a member of team that reported the sex scandal, was killed September 4, 1977, when she reportedly walked into a moving small private airplane propeller at the airfield of Iosco County Airport,East Tawas, Michigan.[7]
Hays and his first wife had a daughter, Martha Brigitta.
After leaving office, Hays returned to Red Gate Farm, his 300-acre property inBelmont, Ohio, where he bredAngus cattle andTennessee Walking Horses.[2] Hays served one term, from 1979 to 1981, as member of theOhio House of Representatives.[2] In the 1978 Democratic Primary, he defeatedEdmund A. Sargus, Jr., a future Judge on theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.[8] Hays was defeated for re-election by future CongressmanBob Ney.
Hays died at Wheeling Hospital inWheeling, West Virginia, on February 10, 1989, at the age of 77, after suffering a heart attack at his home.[2][9]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 18th congressional district January 3, 1949 – September 1, 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Administration Committee January 3, 1971 – June 18, 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Ohio House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 99th district January 1, 1979 – December 31, 1980 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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