While instilling fear in colleagues, he rewards loyalty
WASHINGTON -- In the bitterly partisan Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike talk about Representative Tom DeLay with the awe and fear usually accorded to authoritarian leaders or kings: Defy him, and you fight your legislative and campaign battles alone.
But those loyal to the majority leader were well taken care of; they were given everything from plum committee assignments to help in re-election campaigns.
Until he stepped down temporarily yesterday to fight a criminal indictment, DeLay, 58, was nominally the second-in-command in the GOP leadership, behind the House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois. But DeLay was widely acknowledged as the man who ran the chamber from day to day and managed to keep together an astonishingly well-disciplined majority to ram through a conservative agenda on the Hill.
''There isn't a more effective leader at getting members to vote his way. They hold votes open all night . . . and he's just very effective at getting the Republicans in line," said Representative Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Lowell.
Irascible and devoted to both his conservative ideology and his Christian faith, DeLay was a tireless negotiator, twisting arms of colleagues and working to entrench Republicans in elected office and in lobby shops.
With reporters and colleagues, DeLay is no-nonsense and unapologetic; he grasps a coffee mug with a ''no whining" symbol on the side as he parries questions about his ethics troubles over the past years.
A businessman who has a a degree in biology from the University of Houston, DeLay ''is a man of impeccable ideological strength -- he believes in what he does," said Robert M. Stein, who is the dean of the school of social science at Rice University in Houston.
DeLay's missions, ranging from encouraging foster parenting to trying to keep Terri Schiavo alive in her Florida hospice against Schiavo's husband's wishes, tended to be directed at a philosophical agenda, rather than at personal gain, Stein said.
While not personally close to President Bush, DeLay was instrumental in getting through critical pieces of the president's agenda, including tax cuts and antiabortion legislation. He was a friend to oil companies, part of his Texas constituency, and he helped to win passage of the energy bill this year.
Those who crossed DeLay were punished, sending a strong message to would-be defectors.
Representative Christopher Shays, a moderate Connecticut Republican who co-authored sweeping legislation to change campaign-finance laws, was denied a committee chairmanship that he normally would have gotten because of his seniority.
Former Representative Nick Smith, a Michigan Republican, resisted pleas by DeLay to deliver a vote for the Medicare prescription drug bill in 2003. DeLay, according to a House committee inquiry, improperly offered to endorse Smith's son's candidacy for Congress if Smith gave his vote for Bush's Medicare bill. Smith voted no; his son lost the primary.
But DeLay was kind to those who helped him out, and friendly to political opponents outside the legislative arena. He had buffets set up for GOP members for late votes, and his office helped congressmen secure theater tickets and dinner reservations. ''He's like a Republican concierge," said a Capitol Hill worker who is not affiliated with either party.
DeLay's party remained at his side yesterday, delivering supportive remarks at a session that Representative Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican, described as ''somber and sober."
Representative Butch Otter, an Idaho Republican who changed his vote on Medicare to help DeLay, had only kind things to say. .
''You've got someone who, when the target's painted, he keeps on point. He keeps on message," Otter said. 