For Hoyer, a Life Of Quiet Victories, Redefined Purpose

But he became better known for his hard-nosed grasp of politics. He and his allies replaced the Prince George's Democratic machine with an organization called the Breakfast Club. Over coffee and Danish, they met with party factions to plot strategy, pick candidates and dole out judgeships and other posts.

Hoyer's life was a whirl of dinners, negotiations, debates in the marble-columned Senate. But in 1972, the past came knocking. His father showed up, by then a 70-year-old drifter in threadbare clothes, suffering from lung cancer.

"I felt a responsibility because he was my father," says Hoyer. "But I was certainly not enthusiastic."

Hoyer got him a small apartment in Washington, where the elderly man lived until his death in 1974.

Hoyer's own life went from success to success. In 1975, he became the youngest Senate president in Maryland history. His political organization was the most powerful in the state. He and Judy bought a three-bedroom home in a subdivision called Friendly, near Clinton, and were blessed with three daughters. In 1978, the "golden boy" of Maryland politics ran for lieutenant governor, the latest move in a career exploding like a bottle rocket, higher, higher . . .

And then he lost.

He and gubernatorial candidate Blair Lee III, the political insiders, were upset in the primary by a reform ticket led by Harry R. Hughes.

For two years, Hoyer practiced law. Then the local congresswoman, Gladys Noon Spellman (D), suffered cardiac arrest, and her seat was vacated. Hoyer reactivated his formidable political network.

"I remember the day he called me to say, 'I'm running for Congress,' " says Peter F. O'Malley, a close ally. "The joy was back in his voice."

Working the System

Hoyer won the congressional race and quickly ingratiated himself with the Democratic leadership in the House, working overtime to round up votes and fundraise. He landed on committees such as Appropriations and played the levers of power like a maestro.

Hoyer was so successful at steering funds to projects such as Metro and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center that they became known as "Steny dollars."

Not everyone was a fan. The nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste eventually gave him a 12 percent career score -- "hostile." A Hoyer spokeswoman says voters have shown time and again that they appreciate "the federal investment he secures."