Ralph Moody Hall (May 3, 1923 – March 7, 2019) was an American politician who served as the United States representative for Texas's 4th congressional district from 1981 to 2015.

Michigan Congressman John Dingell[1] and he were the last two World War II veterans serving in Congress.

[5] Hall was born in Fate, Texas, and was a lifelong resident of Rockwall County, northeast of Dallas.

He joined the U.S. Navy on December 10, 1942, serving as an aircraft carrier pilot from 1942 to 1945 during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant.

[6] When he was young, Hall pumped gas for a man and woman whom he later identified as the infamous gangsters Bonnie and Clyde.

[8] As a state senator, he chaired a variety of committees:[8] In 1972, he ran for lieutenant governor of Texas and lost the Democratic primary, getting only 15% of the vote.

In 1980, incumbent Democratic U.S. congressman Ray Roberts of Texas's 4th congressional district decided to retire.

He got heavy White House backing, from then-President George W. Bush in the three-way GOP primary that year, defeating two opponents.

In the general election, Hall again faced Democratic nominee Glenn Melancon and was re-elected with 69% of the vote.

Because he did not obtain a majority of the ballots cast, Hall was forced to enter the May 27, 2014 runoff election with the runner-up, former U.S. Attorney John Lee Ratcliffe of Heath, who received 18,891 votes (28.8%).

With the loss, Hall became the only sitting Republican U.S. representative from Texas to unsuccessfully seek renomination to his or her seat out of 257 attempts since statehood.

Despite this district's increasingly Republican tilt, Hall won 10 more terms as a Democrat with an average of 60% of the vote.

By the turn of the century, he was the only elected Democratic official above the county level in what had become one of the most conservative districts in Texas.

Hall was the only White Democratic congressman not targeted by the remap, but his district was shifted slightly to the north.

In January 2004, on the final day for candidates to file to get their names on the ballot for the March 9, 2004, primary, Hall switched parties and became a Republican.

He said that Republicans refused to put money for his district into a spending bill, and when he asked why, "the only reason I was given was that I was a Democrat."

In 2006, he said of the Northern Marianas, "They were good allies, and I believed their government should handle their affairs and not have us impose labor laws on them.

Hilton said he was led to believe by officials of Preston Gates that the CNMI would pay the expenses and be reimbursed by the private sector.

[27][28] In November 1997, he entered into the Congressional Record a statement saying that upon reviewing those remarks, he had "felt that Congressman Abercrombie had relied on an erroneous and misleading article published by the Reader's Digest some months ago."

The article, according to Hall, said that the teenager "was forced to perform lewd sex acts with customers before a video camera."

He quoted a report by the acting attorney general of the CNMI in response: "in fact...she wanted to do nude dancing...to support her family.

"[29] The remarks by Abercrombie did not cite that source, and the Reader's Digest June 1997 story by Henry Hurt, "Shame on American Soil", does not refer to a child named Katrina.

His comments in the Congressional Record in 1997 do not mention a minimum wage[30] and the CNMI receives no foreign aid.

[31] On December 1, 2011, Hall gave an interview to National Journal in which he expressed disbelief in anthropogenic climate change.

[33] The Lacey Act protects plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for various violations, including transferring invasive species across state borders.

[33] Hall married the former Mary Ellen Murphy on November 14, 1944, while he was serving in the United States Navy in Pensacola, Florida.