The Outspoken Speaker

By Amy Wilentz

| It was not an auspicious beginning for the new Speaker of the House of Representatives. No sooner had Jim Wright of Texas been voted into the top job in Congress last week than he called for a delay in reducing the top rate called for in the new tax-reform bill. Congressional Republicans and the Administration jumped all over him, and fellow Democrats recoiled in dismay, hearing echoes of Walter Mondale's disastrous appeal for a tax increase during the 1984 campaign. Though Wright's proposal would apply only to couples with taxable incomes exceeding $150,000, a tax hike of any kind seemed an impolitic opening gambit.

Wright's swift leap into a controversial issue was nothing if not characteristic. Capitol Hill observers learned long ago that the 16-term Congressman and former House majority leader never backs away from a fight. Nor did the new Speaker, a former Golden Gloves boxer and a decorated World War II bomber pilot, retreat under fire on the tax issue. "I have not called for a tax increase," he said. "I have suggested postponing any further tax decreases for the very wealthiest taxpayers." Says Christopher Matthews, a former aide to Wright's predecessor Tip O'Neill: "Wright is going to be feisty, and I'll bet you'll see him get off to a real fast start."

With President Reagan weakened by Iranscam and Congress in Democratic hands, Wright is expected to seize the initiative and launch an ambitious legislative agenda. Unlike O'Neill, who was content to let his committee chairmen dictate their schedules, Wright will probably use his post to articulate and develop the party's legislative direction. He told TIME that he intends to seek quick re-enactment of the Clean Water Bill, which the President vetoed last month, push through a highway-spending bill and draft comprehensive trade legislation.

Wright, who turns 64 this month, will have formidable help among the House leadership. Succeeding him as majority leader is former Majority Whip Tom Foley, 57, of Washington. Replacing Foley as whip will be Tony Coelho, 44, of California.

Cartoonists will undoubtedly have fun with Wright's distinctively bushy eyebrows and sharp features, but not nearly as much as they had with Tip's nose and sheer bulk. The two leaders' personal styles are as different as their physical attributes. While the bluff O'Neill could growl out a rough response to Republican policy, Wright has a well-earned reputation as the House's foremost debater, and Reagan is already feeling the sting of his remarks. "Harry Truman said the buck stops here," he said in a speech last week, "but Ronald Reagan says put it on a credit card and pass it on to our grandchildren."

Wright has no close associates in the House and prefers tending roses at his home in McLean, Va., to mixing on the cocktail circuit. Says his friend, Lobbyist Craig Raupe: "He's basically a shy man." Shy but, as with many Texas politicians, unabashedly ambitious. At 23 Wright was elected to the Texas state legislature; at 27 he became the youngest mayor in Texas. Ten years ago, Wright scored an upset in the race for House majority leader when, with some astute and quiet politicking, he beat the favorite by a single vote in an election few thought he should even enter.

One day Wright would like to put on the mantle of the great Texas Speakers: John Nance Garner and Sam Rayburn. His legislative gusto and keen political acumen may help him achieve that end. But while his reputation is likely to grow on Cap itol Hill, he may find it difficult to achieve the public stature of O'Neill, who in the Reagan years became the nation's most visible Democrat. With Democrats again in charge of the Senate and a presidential campaign just revving up, Wright will have many a rival for that role.

With reporting by Jay Branegan/Washington