Zero hour came at 3:59 p.m. on the second day of the debate. A buzz of nervous conversation swept through the galleries, over the floor, died. The House was still with the dead silence of excitement, for the Representatives did not know what outcome to expect: the vote might overturn the Administration's foreign policy.
Sam Rayburn of Texas left the microphone in the well of the House where he had been speaking, picked his way hurriedly back up to the marble dais and the gavel of his authority. The Speaker's face was strained,...
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