Ralph G. Wright

Ralph G. Wright (born June 10, 1935) is a retired teacher and politician who served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.

Early life

Ralph Wright was born in Arlington, Massachusetts on June 10, 1935. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and Framingham State University with a masters degree in education.^[1]

Career

Wright moved to Bennington, Vermont in 1968 and was a teacher and director of an alternative education program for troubled teens.^[2][3]

A Democrat, Wright served in local offices in Bennington during the 1960s and 1970s, including Selectman. In 1978 he won election to the Vermont House of Representatives, where he served from 1979 to 1995. From 1983 to 1985 Wright was the House Minority Leader.^[4]

In 1985 Wright was elected Speaker of the House, a victory remarkable for the fact that Republicans were in the majority.^[5][6]

Serving as Speaker for 10 years, Wright's tenure and work with Representative Paul N. Poirier, who became the House majority leader, saw Democrats become the majority party in the House during Wright's final term.^[7]

Wright was defeated for reelection to the House in the Republican sweep of 1994.^[8]

At 10 years, Ralph Wright's term remains the longest of any Vermont Speaker of the House.

Later life

After leaving the Vermont House, Wright worked briefly as a lobbyist before accepting a position as Special Assistant to the United States Secretary of Education, based in the Boston, Massachusetts regional office.^[9]

He also authored a memoir, 1996's All Politics Is Personal.^[10]

Retirement

In 2000 Wright retired and relocated to Florida. He authored another book, 2005's Inside the Statehouse: Lessons From the Speaker and was an adjunct professor at Lake-Sumter State College.^[11]

References

1. Vermont Legislative Directory biography, Ralph G. Wright, reprinted on Vermont Folklife Center Radio web site, accessed January 13, 2012
2. The Vermont Encyclopedia, by John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand and Ralph H. Orth, 2003, page 330
3. American Legislative Leaders in the Northeast, 1911-1994, by James Roger Sharp and Nancy Weatherly Sharp, 2000, page 230
4. Biography, Ralph G. Wright, Vermont State Archives, State Representative/Speaker of the House Ralph G. Wright Collection, undated, page 1
5. Kunin's New Team Takes Over in Vt., Michael Kranish and Globe Staff, Boston Globe, January 13, 1985
6. Democrats Will Nominate Candidate to Powerful Speaker Post, Bob Kinzel, Vermont Public Radio, December 3, 2008
7. Legislative Leadership in the American States, Malcolm Edwin Jewell and Marcia Lynn Whicker, 1994, page 137
8. Vermont Reelects Governor, Associated Press, published in Lewiston Sun Journal, November 9, 1994
9. Inside the Statehouse: Lessons From the Speaker, by Ralph G. Wright, 2005, pages 229 to 230
10. All Politics Is Personal, by Ralph G. Wright, 1996, title page
11. Inside the Statehouse: Lessons From the Speaker, by Ralph G. Wright, 2005, title page and author's biography on back cover