Thomas Fisher Railsback (January 22, 1932 – January 20, 2020) was an American politician and lawyer who served eight terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983 for . A member of the Republican Party, he sat on the House Judiciary Committee, which in 1974, voted to refer articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon to the full House.
Early life
Railsback was born on January 22, 1932, in Moline, Illinois, to municipal lawyer Fred Railsback and Elizabeth (Johnson) Railsback. He attended public schools in Moline, received a B.A. from Grinnell College in 1954, and received a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago in 1957. He served in the United States Army from 1957 to 1959. A longtime member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, he participated in the 1973–74 impeachment process against President Richard Nixon. Railsback and his Democratic colleague Walter Flowers led what Railsback called a "fragile bipartisan coalition" which crafted two articles of impeachment against Nixon, charging him with: obstruction of justice in attempting to impede the investigation of the Watergate break-in and abuse of power by misusing the authority of the office of the presidency on multiple occasions, dating back to the first year of his administration (1969). He, along with five other Republicans (out of the 17 on the committee), voted with all 21 Democrats in advancing these articles to the House floor. In an emotional July 24, 1974 speech on the House floor, he said that his obligations to uphold the Constitution superseded his personal loyalties to Nixon, a friend who Railsback praised as having many significant achievements. Despite the vitriol voiced against him by pro-Nixon commentators and constituents, he went on to be re-elected four more times.
While in the House, Railsback had a key role in the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. In 1979, he and Wisconsin Democrat David Obey co-sponsored legislation to reduce the influence of political action committees in election spending. He opposed Ronald Reagan's effort to abolish and eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which provided legal aid to poor Americans.
In 1980, Railsback was one of three U.S. House members, along with future Vice President Dan Quayle of Indiana and Tom Evans of Delaware, involved in the controversial Florida golfing trip with lobbyist Paula Parkinson. Parkinson told Larry King in 1988 that she had a "brief" and "fun" affair with Railsback.
Over eight terms in office, In 1982, however, Illinois had lost two districts in reapportionment after the 1980 census, and through redistricting, Railsback's district (now renumbered as the 17th District) changed in composition to become significantly more conservative. He was defeated for renomination in the 1982 Republican primary by a considerably more conservative Republican, State Senator Kenneth G. McMillan.
Railsback was a mentor to Raymond H. LaHood, before becoming a U.S. Representative himself, and later U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the Obama administration.