JACKSON, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Mississippi may not necessarily be synonymous with Washington, but some have had sizable power and influence in the federal government.
Though Mississippi has yet to be represented directly in the Supreme Court or the White House, there have been scores of them in Congress or even on the Presidential Cabinet. Below are three Mississippians whose influence lingered long after they left office.
Sonny Montgomery (1920-2006)
Birthplace: Meridian
U.S. House of Representatives: 1967-1997
Montgomery joined the U.S. Army after graduating from Mississippi State College (now Mississippi State University) in 1943. Montgomery also served during the Korean War. After his work as a state senator for 10 years, he transitioned to work at the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 more.
During his 13-year tenure as chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Montgomery established a peacetime GI education bill that now bears his name. It is credited with saving America’s all-volunteer military force by providing education benefits for active duty, National Guard and Reserve members. He was part of the Mississippi National Guard for 35 years, retiring with the rank of major general.
In 2000, the House of Representatives named the meeting room in the U.S. Capitol in Montgomery’s honor. In a November 2005 ceremony at the White House, President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Montgomery remained in Washington and operated a lobbying firm after retiring from Congress in 1997. His company, The Montgomery Group, worked on defense, veterans and healthcare issues. He retired in 2004 and returned to his hometown of Meridian.
Lott came to Capitol Hill in 1968 to work as an administrative assistant for Representative William Colmer . When Colmer retired in 1972, Lott succeeded him and served eight terms in the House. He served eight years as Republican Whip, the number two Republican in the chamber. Elected to the Senate in 1988, Lott became the Senate Republican Whip in 1993, the only person to hold this position in both houses of Congress.
Lott is credited with modernizing the whip office, creating a model still in operation today. Senate Republicans chose him as floor leader in 1996 and he served as majority leader for five years. He helped guide the Senate through the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999 and the response to the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Controversial decisions and comments regarding race have negatively impacted his legacy. Lott got his start in politics when he worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Mississippi Democrat John Bell Williams, an unapologetic segregationist. Representative Colmer, who he served as an assistant for, was a well-known Dixiecrat.
The Bush Administration distanced itself from Lott following comments that seemed to endorse segregation. As a result, he quickly lost his job as majority leader in 2002. After leaving Congress in 2007, he pursued a career as a Washington lobbyist.
Mike Espy (1953-)
Birthplace: Yazoo City
U.S. House of Representatives: 1987-1993
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture: 1993-1994
Espy worked with Central Mississippi Legal Services from 1978 to 1980, quickly climbing the career ladder to become chief of the Mississippi Legal Services and assistant secretary of state, among other roles.
After winning his congressional seat in 1986, Espy helped create the Lower Mississippi Delta Commission, which spent two years on antipoverty efforts in Mississippi and the surrounding region. Espy even convinced the army to purchase catfish and wielded his influence to secure block grants for two processing plants for his district. President Bill Clinton appointed Espy as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in 1993.
A bribery scandal prematurely ended his role in the agency and his poitical career. In August 1997, a federal grand jury indicted him on thirty counts of illegally accepting gifts from large food producers in exchange for political influence. Espy was acquitted after jurors found that, although Espy had received gifts, he had not provided favors in return.
In 1999, Espy returned to Washington as a senior adviser for the U.S. Department of Energy on a no-pay, part-time basis. He remains involved in Washington politics and is still one of Mississippi’s most influential and dynamic politicians, having established consulting and legal firms. Attempts in 2018 and 2020 to return to Congress failed, with the scandal still in many voters’ minds.
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