Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A
Republican, he was chosen as
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
's successor as
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he declined following revelations of an extramarital affair. He served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999 and as the
Chairman of the Appropriations Committee from 1995 to 1999. During his final years in Congress, Livingston was a strong supporter of
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
's impeachment. He is currently a
Washington, D.C.–based
lobbyist. Livingston's memoir, ''The Windmill Chaser: Triumphs and Less in American Politics'', was published in September 2018.
Family
Livingston was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is a descendant of the
Livingston family of
New York, whose members include
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
, a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...
; Chancellor
Robert R. Livingston, a co-author of the Declaration and author of the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
; his younger brother,
Edward
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
, Aide de Camp and later
Secretary of State to President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
, and who had earlier in his career held the same Congressional seat (La-1) as Bob Livingston. Livingston is a direct descendant of
Henry Livingston, who was probably the (then anonymous) author of the poem,
''The Night Before Christmas'',and French Admiral
François Joseph Paul de Grasse, who together with General
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
cornered and defeated British General
Cornwallis in the
Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, thereby concluding the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. De Grasse's daughter, Sylvie, married Henry Walter Livingston, ancestors of the Congressman.
Livingston was married in 1965 to the former Bonnie Robichaux (also born 1943), a native of
Raceland in
Lafourche Parish. Bonnie's grandfather, Alcide Robichaux, served in the Louisiana State Senate, and her uncle, Philip Robichaux, was Lafourche Parish coroner for decades. Livingston's father, a Roman Catholic, and his mother, an Episcopalian, were divorced when Livingston and his sister were quite young. Raised first as Roman Catholic and later as an
Episcopalian, he returned to his wife's religion,
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, in later years. The Livingstons have three biological sons, Robert, Richard and David, and an adopted daughter, SuShan a/k/a Susie. They have nine grandchildren. In July 2006, their son Richard died after being electrocuted by a live wire while trimming a tree damaged by
Hurricane Katrina in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
.
Early career
As an undergraduate at Tulane University,
he was a member of
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Graduating from
Tulane University Law School in 1968, Livingston joined the law practice of
David C. Treen, who would become Louisiana's first Republican congressman and
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
since
Reconstruction. Treen had been an active Republican in the days when the party barely existed in Louisiana, and this connection allowed Livingston to make valuable contacts in GOP circles. He was a delegate to all Republican conventions between 1976 and 2000. Between 1970 and 1976, Livingston worked for
U.S. Attorney for the
Louisiana's Eastern District Gerald J. Gallinghouse,
Orleans Parish District Attorney
Harry Connick Sr., and Louisiana State Attorney General,
William J. "Billy" Guste Jr.
US Representative

Livingston resigned his position as head of the state attorney general's
organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
unit in 1976 when he won the Republican nomination for Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, encompassing roughly half of New Orleans and many of its surrounding
suburbs. The seat, which had been trending Republican for some time at the national level, had opened up when 36-year incumbent Democrat and former
House Armed Services Committee chairman
F. Edward Hébert retired. Livingston narrowly lost to one-term state legislator
Richard Tonry of
Chalmette in
St. Bernard Parish. Livingston was denied victory when a third-party candidate, former Sixth District Congressman
John Rarick, formerly of
St. Francisville in
West Feliciana Parish, filed as an independent in the last days of the race. Rarick, who had been one of the most
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Democrats in Congress during his tenure, siphoned off roughly 9% of the votes cast, enabling Tonry to win with a plurality.
Allegations, however, surfaced of "tombstone" votes for Tonry in both the primary and
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. Tonry was forced to resign in May 1977 and run again in the
special election for his seat. However, he lost the Democratic nomination in August to
State Representative Ron Faucheux. While Faucheux may have been hindered by a split in the Democratic vote due to Sanford Krasnoff, who ran as an Independent challenger from the
left, Livingston won the seat with a majority, 51%, of the votes cast (56,121 votes to Faucheux's 40,862, and Krasnoff's 12,665), becoming the first Republican to represent a significant portion of New Orleans in Congress since Reconstruction. Faucheux later lost an attempt to unseat New Orleans
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Dutch Morial in 1982, and was named Secretary of Commerce by
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Edwin Washington Edwards in 1984.
Livingston was aided by a cadre of dedicated Republican volunteers, including the newly installed National Committeewoman
Virginia Martinez of
Kenner. In 1978, Livingston won a full term with 86 percent of the vote. He was reelected eleven times, dropping below 80 percent of the vote only once, in 1992. He was completely unopposed in 1986, 1996 and 1998. His district became even more Republican after the 1980 census, when most of the district's share of New Orleans was shifted to the 2nd District. It was replaced with some heavily Republican territory in
Jefferson Parish. After the 1990 census, Livingston's district gained conservative
Washington and
Tangipahoa parishes from the 6th district while relinquishing equally conservative
Saint Bernard and
Plaquemines to the
3rd district.
Although well known in Louisiana, Livingston was a relatively low-key congressman for his first eighteen years in Washington. However, early in his career, he landed a spot on the powerful
Appropriations Committee. This, together with his conservative stances on most issues, made him popular with his constituents, most of whom had never been previously represented by a Republican.
Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
Livingston first came to national attention in 1995, when he was named chairman of the Appropriations Committee after the
Republican takeover of the House. This instantly made him one of the most powerful members of Congress. During one committee session, he brandished an alligator skinning knife, a Bowie knife, and a
machete to demonstrate his seriousness as a budget-cutter.
During the
Monica Lewinsky scandals, Livingston was one of many Republicans who demanded President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
's resignation, and later
impeachment, for
perjury. After
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
announced that he would resign as
Speaker (in part because of Republican losses in the
1998 elections, and in part because of revelations of an extramarital affair with a congressional employee 23 years his junior
), majority leader
Dick Armey and majority whip
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...
had opted not to contest the Speaker's chair. Livingston subsequently announced that he was not only running for Speaker, but had lined up enough support to win. He was nominated as the Republican candidate for Speaker without opposition, and as the GOP had retained a narrow majority in the House, this effectively made him Speaker-elect. Although the Speaker is formally elected by the entire House, in practice the majority party's candidate is all but assured of winning that vote.
Resignation
In 1998, ''
Hustler Magazine'' publisher
Larry Flynt offered up to $1 million for anyone providing tips about unflattering sexual stories regarding members of Congress or high government officials.
Livingston learned late on the night of December 15, 1998—just days before the full House of Representatives was about to begin debating the impeachment of President Clinton—that Flynt had been in contact with at least one woman with whom he had had an extramarital affair. Two days later, December 17, 1998, in a closed-door evening conference of his House Republican colleagues, Livingston said, "I very much regret having to tell you that I've been Flynted!" The same day, Flynt released a press release saying he was investigating tips about four alleged affairs Livingston had had.
Two days later, on December 19, 1998, during the final impeachment debates in the House of Representatives, Livingston reiterated his call for Clinton to resign. Saying that he could only make this call "if I am willing to heed my own words," he announced that he would not only stand down as Republican candidate for Speaker, but would leave the House as well. He announced that he would resign his House seat "approximately six months into the 106th Congress." (Privately, Livingston told colleagues that had he sought the speakership, it would have been more difficult for the House Republicans to carry out their agenda.) In a subsequent speech, hurriedly written after consultation with the White House, Minority Leader
Dick Gephardt of
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
proclaimed "We need to stop destroying imperfect people at the altar of an unobtainable morality", and praised Livingston and encouraged members to applaud him, which they did, giving the Louisianan standing ovations. Gephardt had previously urged Livingston to reconsider his resignation, having pledged not to make an issue of the extramarital affair if he became Speaker.
Following Livingston's announcement of his resignation, House Republicans settled on Chief Deputy Whip
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...
(who, unbeknownst to the public or his colleagues, was a child molester) to succeed Gingrich as Speaker of the House—a decision Livingston would later describe, in memoirs published in 2018, as "a disaster."
Years later, Livingston recalled giving Hastert "a foot-thick binder" filled with notes intended to help him become a successful Speaker, "and if he read any part of the thing, I'd be surprised."
Livingston resigned from the House on March 1, 1999, two months into his 13th term.
Gubernatorial race
In 1985, Livingston had called for the resignation of Governor Edwin Edwards, who faced indictment and trial on charges of
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
and fraud. "He shouldn't continue to drag the image of our state down with his legal problems," Livingston said of Edwards.
In 1987, Livingston ran for governor himself and declared, "You can lay our problems at the hands of politicians." He questioned the state's poor performance regarding school drop-outs, unemployment, and credit rating. He even noted that Louisiana had a high number of cancer patients, a factor that was often attributed to environmental hazards. Livingston continued:
I'm prepared to clean house.... The rest of the nation has the impression that Louisiana doesn't want to work... that Louisiana will tolerate corruption... that Louisiana is not serious about improving its quality of life....
Despite polls that had generally showed that Livingston would face the incumbent governor,
Edwin Edwards, in a second round of balloting, Livingston finished third of the nine candidates. Because of a last-week surge to his fellow U.S. representative, Buddy Roemer of
Louisiana's 4th congressional district, Livingston fell ten points short of a runoff berth. Roemer was slated into a
runoff election officially the Louisiana
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. Two other major candidates finished behind Livingston: the Democratic (later Republican) representative
Billy Tauzin of
Louisiana's 3rd congressional district and the outgoing
Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown.
Despite his showing in the gubernatorial race, Livingston remained popular in his district and went on to win easy re-elections as he moved up the leadership ladder in the House.
Lobbyist
Since resigning from Congress, Livingston has worked as a lobbyist.
Livingston Group
Soon after retiring from public life he founded
The Livingston Group, a lobbying group in
Washington, D.C. Some of their noted accomplishments include Congressional approval of a
Morocco–United States Free Trade Agreement and Congressional normalization of relations between the US and
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
following the Libyan abdication of nuclear technology and settlement of claims by family members for people killed in
Pan Am Flight 103 and other violent incidents in the 1980s.
Clients
The Livingston Group's clients have included
Citigroup, the
United States Chamber of Commerce, and
Verizon Communications.
Another important client was the
Republic of Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, on whose behalf the Group lobbied until March 2008. Critics contend that this lobbying was a form of
genocide denial
Genocide denial is the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial is an integral part of genocide and includes the secret planning of genocide, propaganda while the genocide is going on, and destruction ...
, as
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
does not recognize the
slaughter of up to approximately a million million Armenians as a genocide, and does not want the American Government to recognize these events as genocide either.
The Livingston Group has also represented the government of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
until March 2012. Acting as
lobbyist for Egypt Livingston "helped stall a Senate bill that called on Egypt to curtail human rights abuses" in 2010. His stated role is to enhance relations between the United States and the Republic of Egypt, which he perceives as critical to a resolution of tension in the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
.
Trump–Ukraine scandal
Livingston emerged as a "behind-the-scenes player" in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump, apparently having urged a Trump administration official to oust the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. On October 30, 2019, U.S. State Department employee
Catherine Croft noted in her opening statement to the congressional committees conducting the
impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump:
During my time at the NSC, I received multiple calls from lobbyist Robert Livingston, who told me that Ambassador Yovanovitch should be fired. He characterized Ambassador Yovanovitch as an " Obama holdover" and associated with George Soros. It was not clear to me at that time-or now-at whose direction or at what expense Mr. Livingston was seeking the removal of Ambassador Yovanovitch.
Other activities
Livingston declared his support for
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in March 2016, comparing him to
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.
In 2003, Livingston was inducted into the
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in
Winnfield.
Livingston testified in the 2009 trial of
Mose Jefferson, who was convicted on four counts related to bribery. In response to a comparison made by
James Gill between Livingston and former
U.S. representative William J. Jefferson (convicted of 11 felonies), Livingston defended the
Livingston Group as having no relation to Jefferson's activities, but rather to the extent that they may have represented the same client, performed their own services in an entirely legal manner.
From 2011 to 2014, Livingston became Treasurer of the Louisiana Republican Party.
Livingston said taking the fundraising assignment for the Louisiana GOP would not in any way undermine the work of The Livingston Group.
[
Livingston is also a member of the board of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, a non-profit involved in international elections,] and he is a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
.
See also
* List of federal political sex scandals in the United States
References
Further reading
Retrieved on June 17, 2010
A Livingston Legacy Revised
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingston, Bob
1943 births
Living people
American lobbyists
American people of Dutch descent
American prosecutors
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism
Lawyers from New Orleans
Bob
Politicians from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Politicians from New Orleans
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
Schuyler family
Tulane University Law School alumni
United States Navy sailors
Catholics from Louisiana
Catholics from Colorado
Washington, D.C., Republicans
Members of Congress who became lobbyists
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives