Guy Adrian Vander Jagt ( ; August 26, 1931 – June 22, 2007) was a Republican politician from Michigan. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Vander Jagt was described by President Nixon as "the best public speaker in America," a sentiment echoed by the producer of the Homebuilder's Convention: "I've been doing this for 26 years and have worked with Colin Powell, Margaret Thatcher and George Bush and many other greats and Vander Jagt was by far the best speaker we ever had." Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying "some call me the great communicator but if there was one thing I dreaded during my eight years in Washington it was having to follow Guy Vander Jagt to the podium." Early life and education Vander Jagt was born in Cadillac, Michigan, to Marie and Harry Vander Jagt, a Dutch immigrant. Harry was a rancher, and as a youth, Guy worked on the family's farm near Cadillac. His talent for public speaking emerged as he began preaching at the Tustin Presbyterian Church while a student at Cadillac High School. He graduated from Hope College in Holland in 1953. While a student at Hope College, he was the state debate champion of Michigan for three years and won the National Oratorical Championship during his senior year. He was also the student body president during his senior year and worked as a radio disc jockey at WHTC. Vander Jagt went on to attend Yale Divinity School, graduating in 1955 with a B.D. In 1956, he received a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to study for a year at the University of Bonn, Germany. When he returned to West Michigan, Vander Jagt served as an interim pastor of the Cadillac Congregational Church for a short time, before working at the WWTV TV station as a newscaster and news director. He reportedly memorized the text of each broadcast. Vander Jagt next returned to school to study law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but soon transferred to the University of Michigan Law School, where he received his J.D. in 1960. He began practicing law in Grand Rapids. State Senate In 1964, he was elected to the Michigan State Senate. Following the death of U.S. Senator Patrick V. McNamara in April 1966, Vander Jagt, along with fellow Republicans Robert P. Griffin and Leroy Augenstein, was a