Thomas Fisher Railsback

Tom Railsback, an eight-term Illinois congressman who forged what he called a “fragile bipartisan coalition” between his fellow Republicans and the Democratic majority on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 to draft articles of impeachment against President Richard M. Nixon, died on Monday January 20 2020 in Mesa, Ariz. He was 87. A Representative from Illinois; born in Moline, Rock Island County, Ill., January 22, 1932; attended the public schools of Moline, Ill.; B.A., Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, 1954; J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Ill., 1957; United States Army, 1957-1959; admitted to the bar in 1957; lawyer, private practice; member of the Illinois state house of representatives, 1962-1966; elected as a Republican to the Ninetieth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1967-January 3, 1983); was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1982; died on January 20, 2020, in Mesa, Ariz. Tom Railsback received a bachelor’s degree from Grinnell College in Iowa in 1954, graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1957 and served in the Army from 1957 to 1959. After leaving Congress, Mr. Railsback became a lobbyist, including as executive vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America and Washington coordinator for the Federal Judges Association. His marriage to Patricia Sloan in 1955 ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, Joyelyn (Silver) Railsback; four daughters from his first marriage, Kathy, Maggie and Lisa Railsback and Julie Hilden; and 19 grandchildren.