Barber Conable Jr., 81; was lawmaker, World Bank leader

He had moved to Florida earlier this year from his longtime home in Alexander, a village southwest of Rochester.

Representing a largely rural section of western New York from 1965 to 1985, Mr. Conable rose to be senior Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee while the GOP was the minority party.

From 1986 to 1991, he was president of the World Bank, the agency that lends billions of dollars to developing nations.

Among the high points of his years in Congress were forcing through the revenue sharing law in 1972 and the Trade Reform Act of 1974, which cleared the way for US negotiations on the lowering of tariff barriers.

There were bitter disappointments, none greater than the betrayal he felt during Watergate after years of loyally backing President Nixon's policies. He later refused to answer Nixon's letters or even attend his funeral.

By the time Mr. Conable departed Congress, frustration had begun to outweigh often piecemeal victories. "Everyone has his own time frame; for me, 20 years is long enough," he said, announcing in 1984 that he would not seek reelection.

The scenario was repeated during his presidency at the World Bank, although he almost doubled its capital budget and sharpened its focus on combating poverty and bolstering primary education.

His friendship with the first President Bush, dating back to their service together in Congress in the 1960s, turned sour after Bush became president in 1989. Mr. Conable announced in 1991 that he would not seek a second five-year term on the World Bank.

"He thought I should be supporting an American agenda; I thought I was there to help the poor people," Mr. Conable said in an interview. "So I got the reputation of not being a team player, and that was the one thing George wouldn't stand for."

With his own standards to meet, Mr. Conable was a rare politician -- a conservative with a socially libertarian streak, a deep thinker with a pragmatic flair. Legislating was more important to him than partisanship.

It was no surprise when both parties judged him the "most respected" member of the House his final two years in office. "There never has been a better congressman," columnist George Will wrote.

Mr. Conable was a Marine in World War II, fighting in the battle of Iwo Jima, and in the Korean War. He practiced law in Buffalo and was elected to the New York state Senate in 1962.

He leaves his wife of 51 years, Charlotte; four children, Anne, Emily, Sam and Jane; 11 grandchildren; and a brother, John.