Herbert Ray Roberts (March 28, 1913 – April 13, 1992) was an American Democratic politician who represented Texas's 4th congressional district from 1962 to 1981.

Early life and education

Roberts was born in rural

Collin County, Texas Collin County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas- Fort Worth- Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and a small portion of the city of Dallas is in the county. At the 2020 United States c ...

in 1913. He grew up in the ranching town of

Westminster, Texas Westminster () is a census-designated place (CDP) in northeastern Collin County, Texas, United States. The population was 861 as of the 2010 census, up from 390 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a city. Westminster is located at the i ...

, just outside McKinney. Roberts graduated from McKinney High School. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and North Texas State University (now the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

) before earning a bachelor's degree in

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

. Roberts earned his master's degree from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1942 to 1945. He was the final individual off the USS Hornet when it sank at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942. Later, he saw active duty in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

while as a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Early career

Roberts was on the staff of Speaker of the House

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

of Texas, working in Washington, D.C., between 1941 and 1942 before going on active duty in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he worked as a farmer and entered into agribusiness. He was a member of the Texas State Senate from 1955 to 1961, serving as the president pro tempore of the body in 1961.

U.S. House of Representatives

Roberts was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

. He was re-elected to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from January 30, 1962, to January 3, 1981. On November 22, 1963, Roberts was in the Dallas motorcade when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was riding in the same car as the Dallas Mayor Earl Cabell, and the mayor's wife. Their car was four cars behind the limousine carrying JFK. The family of Ray Roberts can confirm that the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

or any other of its investigation personnel never asked Roberts a single question about the shooting. When Mrs. Cabell testified to the Warren Commission, she stated that shortly after the shots ended Roberts first said, "That is a .30-06." (with Roberts meaning the shot(s) he could hear sounded like they were fired from a .30-06 type of rifle) and that Roberts had told her that he had also smelled the distinct odor of gun smoke (as did Mrs. Cabell and several other motorcade participants and witnesses who were all located down at street level, which was up-wind from the Texas School Book Depository, and 61' to 82' below and varying distances away from its sixth floor)Elizabeth Cabell testimony to the Warren Commission, volume 7, starting at page 485 �
The Testimony of Mrs. Earle Cabell
Retrieved 09 August 2012. Roberts was chair of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs from 1975 through 1981. He did not run for re-election in 1980.

Other

Lake Ray Roberts is named after the Congressman. His official documents from his years in office both in the Texas State Senate as well as the U.S. House of Representatives can be found in the archives at Texas A&M-Commerce, which used to be known as East Texas State University. His only brother was Roy Geldon Roberts Sr. of Plano.

References

External links

Retrieved on 2008-03-27 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ray 1913 births 1992 deaths Democratic Party Texas state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Texas A&M University alumni People from Collin County, Texas Military personnel from Texas 20th-century members of the Texas Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives