Henry B. González
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Henry Barbosa González (born Enrique Barbosa González; May 3, 1916 – November 28, 2000) was an American Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Texas, who represented
Texas's 20th congressional district Texas's 20th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes the western half of San Antonio and Bexar County in Texas. The district is heavily Latino/Hispanic (predominantly of Mexican descent), as is the surround ...
from 1961 to 1999.


Early life

González was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Mexican-born parents Genoveva (née Barbosa) and Leonides Gonzalez (from
Mapimí, Durango Mapimí () is a city and municipal seat of the Mapimí Municipality in the Mexican state of Durango. As of 2015, the town of Mapimí had a population of 5,623. The Ojuela Mine, about southeast of Mapimí, is a famous locality for mineral speci ...
), who had immigrated during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. After he received an associate's degree from
San Antonio College San Antonio College (SAC) is a public community college in San Antonio, Texas. It is part of the Alamo Colleges District and the oldest public two-year college in Texas. The college has an average semester enrollment of 22,028 credit students an ...
, he earned his undergraduate credentials from the University of Texas at Austin. Later, he received a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from
St. Mary's University School of Law St. Mary's University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas. Academics The School of Law has an enrollment of about 770 students, pursu ...
, also in San Antonio. Upon graduation, he became a probation officer, and was quickly promoted to the chief office of
Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...
. In 1945, he quit after a judge refused to allow him to add an African-American probation officer to his staff.Henry Gonzalez
'' House of Representatives History''. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
In 1950, he was scoutmaster of Troop 90 in San Antonio, of which his
son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...
was a member.


Career in local and state politics

González served on the San Antonio City Council from 1953 to 1956. As a city councilmember, González helped desegregate swimming pools and other public accommodations in San Antonio. In 1956, he defeated Republican candidate Jesse Oppenheimer for a seat in the Texas Senate. In 1960, he defeated another Republican, Ika "Ike" Simpson Kampmann, Jr. (1918-2006), to hold his state Senate seat. He remained in the Senate until 1961 and set the filibuster record in the chamber at the time by speaking for thirty-six straight hours against a set of bills on segregation. Most of the bills were abandoned (eight out of ten). He ran for governor in 1958 and finished second in the Democratic
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
(the real contest for governor in what was then a solidly Democratic state) to
Price Daniel Marion Price Daniel Sr. (October 10, 1910August 25, 1988), was an American jurist and politician who served as a Democratic U.S. Senator and the 38th governor of Texas. He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be a member of the Natio ...
. In May 1961, González ran in the special election for the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
seat that Lyndon B. Johnson vacated to become
U.S. Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice pr ...
. He finished in sixth place in part because he split the liberal and Hispanic vote with
Maury Maverick, Jr. Fontaine Maury Maverick Jr. (January 3, 1921 – January 28, 2003) was an American lawyer, politician, activist, and columnist from the U.S. state of Texas. A member of the prominent Maverick family, he was the great-grandson of Samuel Mave ...
, of San Antonio.


House of Representatives

In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rep.
Paul J. Kilday Paul Joseph Kilday (March 29, 1900 – October 12, 1968) was a U.S. Representative from Texas. Early life and education Born in Sabinal, Texas, Kilday was the sixth child of Patrick Kilday, an immigrant from Ireland who was established as a merch ...
of
Texas's 20th congressional district Texas's 20th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes the western half of San Antonio and Bexar County in Texas. The district is heavily Latino/Hispanic (predominantly of Mexican descent), as is the surround ...
to the Court of Military Appeals. González entered the special election for the San Antonio-based district in November 1961 and defeated a strong Republican candidate, attorney
John W. Goode John William Goode Jr. (March 10, 1923 – February 5, 1994) was a lawyer in San Antonio who was a figure in the 1950s and 1960s rebirth of the Republican Party in Texas. Background Goode was a son of the physician John Goode Sr. (1886 ...
, for whom former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew to San Antonio to endorse. Mexican film star Cantinflas appeared with Vice President Johnson at
shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...
s and
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s in San Antonio to support González, who would never face another contest nearly that close. He was unopposed for a full term in 1962 and was reelected seventeen times thereafter. He never faced truly serious or well-funded opposition, having been unopposed in 1970, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, and 1984. In fact, the 20th district was (and remains) so heavily Democratic that González faced Republican opposition only five times and handily prevailed whenever challenged. González became known for his staunchly liberal views. In 1963, Republican U.S. Representative
Ed Foreman Edgar Franklin Foreman Jr. (December 22, 1933 – February 2, 2022) was an American businessman and politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He had one term representing Texas's 16th congressional district from ...
called González a "
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
" and a "
pinko ''Pinko'' is a pejorative coined in 1925 in the United States to describe a person regarded as being sympathetic to communism, though not necessarily a Communist Party member. It has since come to be used to describe anyone perceived to have radica ...
" and González confronted him. González was again referred to as a "communist" in 1986 by a man at Earl Abel's restaurant, a popular San Antonio eatery. The 70-year-old representative responded by punching him in the face. González was acquitted of assault for this incident when the restaurant patron dropped the charge. Unlike many southern politicians at the time, González vocally supported civil rights proposals. He voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...
, and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...
. González was in President Kennedy's fateful motorcade through Dallas on November 22, 1963. He recalled rolling down the window as his car neared the Texas School Book Depository, then hearing three distinct shots during the assassination. González's car proceeded to Parkland Memorial Hospital where, upon seeing a blood-soaked bouquet of roses in the rear of the presidential limousine, he initially believed Jackie Kennedy had been shot. There, he saw Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Mrs. Kennedy, and President Kennedy's sheet covered body. González helped place Kennedy's casket in the hearse that transported Kennedy to
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
. Reported to be unsettled by the effect that the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. had on the nation, González pushed in 1975 for a House committee study. In 1976, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was created to investigate the deaths of President Kennedy and King, and González succeeded
Thomas N. Downing Thomas Nelms Downing (February 1, 1919 – October 23, 2001) was a lawyer, politician, and Democratic Congressman from for nine terms. Biography Downing was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia. He attended Newport News High School, and ...
as its chairman in January 1977. After a power struggle with the HSCA's
counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...
, he resigned as the committee's chairman that same year. Shortly before González chaired the HSCA, Robert P. Gemberling, head of the FBI's investigation of the Kennedy assassination for thirteen years after the release of the Warren Commission's report, said González, as well as Downing, had "preconceived conspiracy theories". According to a 1992 report, González did not rule out the possibility of shots other than the three he heard were fired from a silencer. Following the United States invasion of Grenada in 1983, González suggested the
impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
of President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, and he introduced articles of impeachment related to the Iran–Contra scandal and sent them to the
House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
in 1987. No further action was taken on said articles. González later called for the impeachment of President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
for not obtaining Congressional approval before the 1991 Gulf War. Early in the
presidency of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
, González also blocked hearings into the Whitewater controversy until finally agreeing to hold hearings in 1994. González was an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve System, and proposed an audit and introduced bills to impeach Paul Volcker and other Governors of the Federal Reserve.


Retirement

In 1997, González fell ill and was unable to return to the House for over a year. Finally, he decided not to run for a 19th full term in 1998. He died in a San Antonio hospital on November 28, 2000. He had long groomed his son,
Charlie Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...
, to succeed him. Charlie Gonzalez won easily in 1998 and served through January 2013; between them, father and son served 52 consecutive years in Congress.


Legacy

*National Taco Day is celebrated on González's Birthday, May 3, as a way to celebrate his achievements in Congress. *On October 24, 2006, it was announced that González's personal notes, correspondence and mementos would become part of the Congressional History Collection at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History. *The
Henry B. González Convention Center The Henry B. González Convention Center (formerly San Antonio Convention Center) is the City of San Antonio's convention center located in Downtown San Antonio, Downtown San Antonio, Texas, along the banks of the San Antonio River Walk, River Wa ...
in San Antonio is named for him. *There are Henry B. González elementary schools in Edgewood Independent School District, Eagle Pass Independent School District,
La Joya Independent School District La Joya Independent School District is a school district headquartered in La Joya, Texas, United States. The La Joya Independent School District, located in the western portion of Hidalgo County, Texas consist of more than stretching west of M ...
, and Dallas Independent School District. *On May 1, 2016, two days before González's 100th birthday, the ''
San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...
'' ran a series of articles reminiscing on his career and legacy.


See also

* List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress


References


External links


Official Page by the Historian of the House of RepresentativesHenry B. Gonzalez Feature at the Center for American History
includes biography, video, gallery, timeline, and lesson plans.

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:González, Henry B. 1916 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American politicians American politicians of Mexican descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Democratic Party Texas state senators Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Politicians from San Antonio St. Mary's University School of Law alumni Whitewater controversy