Richard Keith Armey was born on July 7, 1940, in Cando (pronounced "can do"), N.D. The middle child of seven, his mother was a bookkeeper and his father was a farmer and grain elevator owner.
When he was 18, he found himself standing on a 30-foot pole trying to fix a power line in 30-degree-below-zero weather at 3 a.m. At that moment, he decided he was going to college, the first in his family to do so. He graduated from Jamestown College in 1963, something he has called "am impossible dream."
He went on to obtain advanced degrees in economics, eventually becoming a professor at North Texas State University.
Once, while watching Congress on C-SPAN with his wife, Susan, Armey said, "Honey, these people sound like a bunch of damn fools." "Yeah, you could do that," she responded. In 1984, Armey ran for his district's House seat against a longtime Democratic incumbent. Riding Reagan's popularity to victory, he won by a narrow margin.
Initially an outsider in Washington, he slept on a cot in the House gym while his family remained in Texas. The speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill, eventually kicked him out, at which point he began sleeping on the couch or floor of his own office.
With strong beliefs in a flat-tax plan, budget cuts, and a free market society, Armey soon settled into his political life. Texans continued to re-elect him, and he rose to become the House majority leader in 1995.
Friends say you can think of Armey as "a think tank in cowboy boots." He displayed his father's saddle blanket and spurs on his congressional office wall as reminders of his roots.
In 2001, he announced he would retire at the end of 2002. Then 61, Armey said he wanted to spend more time with his family. "I'm sad to say what we all know is true. Too often service to our nation is a disservice to our families... You all know what I mean. We all have our own heartbreaking chapter and verse."
After leaving the House, Armey moved to the private sector, working as a policy adviser at a law firm and as the chairman of a grass-roots political organization.
Armey and Susan reside in Texas, where they attend Lewisville Bible Church. The couple have five children. Armey enjoys bass fishing as an excellent way to relax and spend time with his family.
It's a high-testosterone move for the first female speaker-elect. Yep, "Women have cojones, too!" could be the subtext under the headline, "Pelosi Endorses Murtha for Leader." Why? Murtha's medal-decorated military past enthuses the cockles of veterans and service persons alike. The Pennsylvania conservative Democrat's pro-gun, anti-choice voting record also helps draw centrist Republicans into the Democrats' camp, while wooing progressives with his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq.
AP - President Bush on Monday praised a bipartisan commission on Iraq for asking him good questions but said "I'm not going to prejudge" the report the panel soon will issue. He pledged to search with victorious Democrats in Congress for a consensus on how best to proceed.
AP - President Bush, responding to concerns Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought to the White House, called on Monday for worldwide isolation of Iran until it "gives up its nuclear ambitions."
AP - Lawmakers and congressmen-to-be came to Washington Monday as triumphant Democrats and vanquished Republicans focused more on the upcoming change in power than on President Bush's wish list for the final few months of GOP rule.
Presidents, civil rights icons, celebrities and citizens gathered today on the National Mall, where work is starting on a $100 milllion monument honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "Dr. King showed us that a life of conscious and purpose can lift up many souls," said President Bush.
President Bush met today with members of the Iraq Study Group, which is looking into alternatives to what critics call a burgeoning civil war. "The president's open to fresh ideas here. Everybody's reviewing the situation," White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said.
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