The Central Valley has had its fair share of powerful congressional representatives, from Bernie Sisk to Bill Thomas. But few have had a bigger impact than Tony Coelho. His story, today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots.
Tony Coelho was born in 1942 and grew up on a dairy farm in Los Banos. During high school, an accident left him with a head injury that caused him severe headaches and blackouts.
He originally wanted to be a lawyer, but that changed in November 1963. After President Kennedy was assassinated, Coelho declared he would become a Catholic priest, devoting his life to public service. That dream vanished when a doctor diagnosed him with epilepsy. Canon law forbade epileptics from the priesthood. Coelho also lost his driver’s license, and job opportunities vanished.
Dejected and depressed, he was befriended by comedian Bob Hope, who connected him with powerful Los Banos Democratic Congressman Bernie Sisk. Coelho would become a top staffer for Sisk, and ran for and won the congressional seat in 1978 when Sisk retired.
In Washington, Coelho rose through the ranks, earning a reputation for his success fundraising for the party. In 1987 he became House Majority Whip and was on track to become Speaker of the House.
But in 1989, a scandal emerged. Coelho had ties to questionable figures in the Savings and Loan industry, which was mired in crisis at the time. Then news broke that Coelho had purchased $100,000 in junk bonds that weren’t on his financial disclosure forms. Facing investigations, Coelho resigned.
That could have been the end of his story. But before he stepped down, Coelho introduced a bill to extend federal civil rights protections to those with disabilities. President George H.W. Bush signed Coelho’s Americans With Disabilities Act into law in 1990, changing the lives of millions.
