Tom Foley, the courtly former speaker of the House who lost his seat when Republicans seized control of Congress in 1994, has died of complications from a stroke. He was 84.
His wife, Heather, said the former speaker had suffered the stroke last December and was hospitalized in May with pneumonia. He returned home after a week and had been on hospice care there since then.
Foley was also the US ambassador to Japan for four years during the Clinton administration.
He served 30 years in the House, including more than five years as speaker.
Foley was ousted by a smooth young Spokane lawyer, Republican George Nethercutt, who won by 4,000 votes in the mostly rural, heavily GOP district in eastern Washington state.
Foley was replaced as speaker by his nemesis, Georgia Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich, who later called Washington state the “ground zero” of the sweep that gave Republicans their first control of the House in 40 years. Foley, it turned out, was their prize casualty.