Spring 2024
Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle
Review of "Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle" by R. Kenton Bird and John C. Pierce » More ...
Tom Foley
Spring 2024
Ask the Authors: John Pierce and Kenton Bird, authors of Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle
John Pierce and R. Kenton Bird were fellows in the same program nearly 20 years apart.
Pierce served as an American Political Science Congressional Fellow from 1970 to 1971, working part of that time in Tom Foley’s congressional office. Bird was a fellow from 1988 to 1989. Ten years later, he wrote his WSU dissertation on Foley’s congressional career. Pierce, chair of the Department of Political Science for eight years and dean of the College of Liberal Arts for eleven years, was on the committee for his doctoral degree. They spent nearly eight years working on their 2023 biography of Foley, which was … » More …
Winter 2015
The lasting impact of Tom Foley
Thomas S. Foley was a political gentleman. The Speaker of the House lived and worked from principles that defined his political career: civility, honesty, and integrity. Even though he lost his seat in Congress, Foley’s legacy continues to encourage many others to follow his path, through his namesake institute at Washington State University.
No one on the reelection team was emotionally prepared for Foley’s defeat in 1994. A sitting Speaker had not been defeated since the Civil War era. John Pierce remembers Foley as “sad, stunned about the election results, but not vindictive.” Pierce had been a congressional fellow with Foley before beginning a 24-year … » More …
Winter 2015
Three portraits of Foley Institute alumni
The Foley path to public service through internships
“In a cynical age, I still believe that we must summon people to a vision of public service. For, in the end, this ethic determines more than anything else whether we will have citizens and leaders of honor, judgment, wisdom, and heart. These are the qualities this institute will nurture and advance, helping this nation become what it has always been destined to be, the best hope of a free people to live in an open and just society.”
—The Honorable Thomas S. Foley
Former LeLoup Intern, John Culton ’11 remembers the day … » More …