John Wright-Patman was born to John N. and Emma (Spurling) Patman on August 6, 1893. He Graduated from Hughes Springs High School in 1912, then enrolled in the Cumberland University Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee. He received his law degree in 1916 and was admitted to the Texas Bar the same year.

Wright-Patman served in the United States Army during the 1st World War . He enlisted as a Private, but later became a machine-gun officer.

Wright-Patman married Merle Connor in February 1919, and the couple had four sons, one of whom died young, Merle died in 1967, and Wright-Patman married Pauline Tucker in 1968. Wright-Patman died on March 7, 1976 at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland. One of his three sons, William N. Patman, was a Texas State Senator from 1961-80 and the Congressional Representative from the Fourteenth District of Texas from 1981-85

A member of the Democratic Party , Wright-Patman was elected the the House of Representatives in Texas in 1921. He left three years later when he was appointed District Attorney to the Fifth Judicial District of Texas ( 1924-29).

Patman was elected to Congress in March 1929. He was a strong critic of the economic policies of President Herbert Hoover and in 1932 introduced the Veteran's Bonus Bill which mandated the immediate cash payment of the endowment promised to the men who fought in the war .

In May 1932, 10,000 of these ex-soldiers marched on Washington in attempt to persuade Congress to pass the Wright-Patman Bill. When they arrived in the capital, the Bonus Marchers camped at Anacostia Flats, an area that had formerly been used as an army recruiting center. They built temporary homes on the site and threatened to stay there until they received payment of the money granted to them by Congress.

When Congress defeated the Bonus Bill in June, the veterans were ordered to leave Washington.   When they refused to do so, they were driven forcibly from their camps on July 28th by troops under the command of General  Douglas MacArthur . MacArthur controversially used tanks, four troops of cavalry with drawn sabers, and infantry with fixed bayonets, on the ex-servicemen . He justified his attack on former members of the United States Army by claiming that the country was on the verge of a communist revolution.

Wright-Patman was a great supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal. He was also instrumental in the passage of the Federal Anti-Price Discrimination Act and the Federal Credit Union Act of 1934. Wright-Patman tried again to get the Veteran's Bonus Bill passed by Congress after Roosevelt came to power.  This time he gained the support of the important political figures, such as Huey P. Long and Father Charles Coughin. In 1936 the Veteran' Bonus Bill was eventually passed over the veto of President Roosevelt. The enactment of this law culminated 17 year of agitation by the veterans for the payment of this bonus.

After the 2nd World War,  Wright-Patman played an important role in the passing of the Full Employment Act (1946), The British Loan Act (1946), The Housing act (1946)  and The Defense Production Act (1950) . He was also chairman of the Select Committee on Small Businesses (1955-63) and the Committee on Banking and Currency(1963-75)

Wright-Patman Lake was 1st named "Lake Texarkana".  Inl December 15, 1973, President Nixon signed HR 945, officially designating the project, "Wright-Patman Dam and Lake," in honor of Congressman Wright-Patman of the First Congressional District of Texas.