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Over the course of Thompson's 26 years in the House he had been a champion of civil and labor rights and was among the architects of the landmark Landrum-Griffin Act, a bill of rights for rank-and-file union members that promoted transparency and democracy in the way unions operate.

The Rackets Committee culminated in the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act, which tempered mob influence and made it far more difficult to organize unions.

He could be a fierce partisan, and was widely disliked by organized labor for his role in creating and passing the Landrum-Griffin Act, which requires unions to hold secret elections for local union offices.

Mr. Griffin sponsored the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act, which he said was aimed at curtailing labor racketeering.

Known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, the legislation was enacted at a time of mounting national concern about corruption, autocratic rule and organized-crime connections in the labor movement.