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F. Edward Hébert
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district
In office January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Joachim O. Fernández
Succeeded by	Richard A. Tonry
Chair of the House Armed Services Committee
In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1975
Preceded by	Philip J. Philbin
Succeeded by	Charles Melvin Price
Personal details
Born	Felix Edward Hébert (1901-10-12)October 12, 1901 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	December 29, 1979(1979-12-29) (aged 78) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Resting place	Lake Lawn Park Mausoleum, New Orleans, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Gladys Bofill ​(m. 1934)​
Relations	John M. Duhé Jr. (Son-in-law)
Children	Dawn Marie Hébert
Alma mater	Tulane University
Profession	Journalist

Felix Edward Hébert (/eɪˈbɛər/ ay-BEAR; October 12, 1901 – December 29, 1979) was an American journalist and politician from Louisiana. He represented the New Orleans–based 1st congressional district as a Democrat for 18 consecutive terms, from 1941 until his retirement in 1977. He remains Louisiana's longest-serving U.S. representative.

Early life and education

Hébert was born in New Orleans to Felix Joseph Hébert, a streetcar conductor, and the former Lea Naquin, a teacher. As a boy he loved sports, but after a shooting accident left him blind in his left eye at the age of nine, he could not play. However, at Jesuit High School he compensated by becoming manager of all the athletic teams. He reported on prep-school sports for The Times-Picayune, becoming the paper's assistant sports editor before he was out of high school, and at Tulane University he was the first sports editor of the Hullabaloo.

Journalism career

Hébert graduated from Tulane in 1924. He pursued a career in public relations for Loyola University in New Orleans and journalism for the Times-Picayune and the New Orleans States, a paper purchased by The Times-Picayune while Hébert worked there. As a front-page columnist and political editor, he covered the candidacy and election of Governor Huey Long, who was eventually elected to the United States Senate. "In 1939, after being promoted to city editor, Mr. Hebert broke the story of political corruption that became known as the "Louisiana scandals," leading to the jailing of many Long associates and triggering Mr. Hebert's political career, reportedly at the urging of former Gov. James A. Noe, who had broken with the Long machine and reportedly supplied the tip that led to the expose.'— which put a spotlight on corruption among followers of the Long political family — contributed to the eventual convictions of Governor Richard W. Leche and James Monroe Smith, president of Louisiana State University. The Times-Picayune won the Sigma Delta Chi plaque for "courage in journalism", largely as a result of Hébert's work.

"As a member of the Armed Services Committee. He joined the states' rights Dixiecrat revolt in 1948, the only member of the Louisiana delegation to the Democratic National Convention to do so, kindling a feud with President Truman." In later life, Hébert said he never considered himself a politician. He described himself as "an old reporter on a long sabbatical". In 1969 he said, "I had no political ambition whatsoever. I never intended to enter public office; I had never been in public office. In this time, it looked to me like a pretty good chance to be a better reporter if I came to Washington. They got me on sabbatical leave for two years because I knew I would never be re-elected."

Political career

Hébert's work also led to his election in 1940 to the 77th United States Congress. Hébert served in the United States House of Representatives until the end of the 94th United States Congress, having chosen not to seek a nineteenth term in 1976. That longevity set a Louisiana record for the service in the United States House of Representatives. Hébert was temporarily succeeded by the Democrat Richard Alvin Tonry, who in turn was quickly replaced by Bob Livingston, the first Republican to represent the district since the Reconstruction Era. The seat has remained in Republican hands ever since, passing from Livingston to David Vitter to Bobby Jindal to Steve Scalise.

House Committee on Armed Services, 1948–1975

He joined the United States House Committee on Armed Services and was named chairman of the committee's Special Investigations subcommittee.

Chairmanship, 1971–1975

Hébert was the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services from 1971 to 1975. When Chairman L. Mendel Rivers died, on December 29, 1970, lame duck committee member Philip J. Philbin took his place; Philbin's term ran out three and a half days later, and Hébert took the post.

Hébert brought millions of dollars in military investment to his district in Louisiana.

Hébert required Pat Schroeder and Ron Dellums, a female and Black Representative respectively, to share a seat in the committee room; Schroeder recalled him saying, "The two of you are only worth half the normal member." He refused to approve her appointment to a U.S. delegation heading to an overseas conference, reportedly remarking, "I wouldn't send you to represent this committee at a dogfight." The State Department eventually waived the rule requiring the chairman's approval of all nominations, and Mrs. Schroeder made the trip.

He was removed from the chairmanship in a revolt of the increasingly young and liberal House Democratic Caucus against the seniority system. Many of the younger Democrats were not pleased when he addressed the new members from the Watergate Class of 1974 as "boys and girls". Governor Edwin Edwards, New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu and the Louisiana House delegation chided the caucus for ousting Hebert as his years of political experience had generated thousands of jobs and brought millions of dollars into the state.

Personal life and family

On August 1, 1934, Hébert married Gladys Bofill. The couple had one daughter, Dawn Marie, who married a future judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, John Malcolm Duhé Jr., of Iberia Parish. Dawn Hébert was the first woman president of the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce.

Illness and death

In 1975 he slipped on a piece of ice at a cocktail party and broke his arm. In 1979 he began to suffer congestive heart failure, and he died on December 29 in New Orleans at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital. A requiem mass was said for him at St. Louis Cathedral by Archbishop Philip Hannan. Hébert is entombed beside his wife in Lake Lawn Park Mausoleum in New Orleans.

Legacy

Hébert is responsible for founding the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. That university's medical school, the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, is named for him.

On January 28, 2012, Hébert was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

F. Edward Hébert Hall, Building 7 at Hébert's alma mater, Tulane University, houses Tulane's Center for Academic Equity, its Africana Studies Department and its History Department. In 2017 Tulane's Undergraduate Student Government resolved to request the board of administrators to allow Hébert Hall to be renamed. A student senator said, "What does it say about what side of history Tulane is on when its History Department is housed in a building named after a segregationist?" The students suggested "Guillory and Elloie Hall" for its new name, after Barbara Marie Guillory and Pearlie Hardin Elloie, the first two students of color to attend Tulane. Tulane's Building Naming Task Force, which was made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni, recommended removing the Hébert name as the designation of the hall if legally possible and the Board of Tulane unanimously voted to authorize Tulane leadership to negotiate with the Hébert family as representatives of the F. Edward Hébert Foundation. However, according to University President Michael A. Fitts, "Tulane was unable to reach an agreement to modify the legal requirement that Hébert's name remain on the building." Beginning in the 2022-23 academic year, Hébert Hall will prominently feature contextual facts regarding the history of its naming.

• Biography
• United States
• Politics
• Journalism

See also

• List of members of the House Un-American Activities Committee

References

1. Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant; Matthews, Douglas (January 1, 1975). The Almanac of American Politics, 1976. E. P. Dutton and Co. p. 330. ISBN 978-0876901885.
2. Air Force Magazine. July 1966. p. 95. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
3. Hébert, Felix Edward; Burguières, Virginea R. (1970). Creed of a congressman: F. Edward Hébert of Louisiana. The USL History Series, University of Southwestern Louisiana. p. 4. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
4. ^ McSweeny, Dorothy Pierce (July 15, 1969). "Transcript, F. Edward Hebert Oral History Interview I, 7/15/69" (PDF). lbjlibrary.net. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
5. ^ Miller, Daniel (December 30, 1979). "F. EDWARD HEBERT, EX-LAWMAKER, DIES". New York Times: 14.
6. ^ Weil, Martin (December 30, 1979). "Former Rep. F. Edward Hébert Dies". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
7. "Ex-Rep. Philip J. Philbin Dead; Served Massachusetts 28 Years". The New York Times. June 15, 1972. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
8. ^ "Hebert's tenure aided home town". The New York Times. January 26, 1975. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
9. Hasson, Judi (March 13, 2023). "Patricia Schroeder, congresswoman who wielded barbed wit, dies at 82". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023.
10. Branton, Vicky (March 24, 2015). "Making History". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
11. Hunter, Marjorie (October 22, 1975). "4 Ousted House Chairmen Just Watch Parade". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
12. Avoyelles Today, January 4, 2012
13. "La. Political Hall inducts former Pineville mayor, 5 others," Alexandria Daily Town Talk, January 29, 2012. Also inducted were Fred Baden, former mayor of Pineville, and Adras LaBorde, former managing editor of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk.
14. Underwood, Adrienne (November 29, 2017). "USG confronts racism, resolves to rename Hebert Hall". Tulane Hullabaloo. Retrieved January 24, 2018.

External links

• Oral History Interview with F. Edward Hebert, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
• Who's Who in America, 1956-1957, p. 1141.

• United States Congress. "F. Edward Hébert (id: H000437)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

v t e Chairs of the United States House Committee on Armed Services
Military Affairs Committee (1822–1947)	Eustis Hamilton Vance Hamilton Drayton R. Johnson McKay C. Johnson Thompson Dawson Stanly Haralson Botts Burt Bissell Benton Quitman Faulkner B. Stanton Blair Buffington Schenck Garfield Logan Coburn Banning Sparks Henderson Rosecrans Bragg Townshend Cutcheon Outhwaite Hull Hay Dent Kahn McKenzie Morin James Quin McSwain Hill May
Naval Affairs Committee (1822–1947)	Fuller Crowninshield Storrs Hoffman Anderson White Jarvis Ingham Thomas Wise Parmenter Holmes King F. Stanton Bocock Benson Bocock Morse Sedgwick Rice Pike Scofield Whitthorne Harris Cox Herbert Boutelle Herbert Cummings Geissenhainer Boutelle Foss Padgett Butler Britten Vinson
Armed Services Committee* (from 1947)	Andrews Vinson Short Vinson Rivers Philbin Hébert Price Aspin Dellums Spence Stump Hunter Skelton McKeon Thornberry Smith Rogers
Alternately named National Security in 104th and 105th Congresses.

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana
1st district	E. Livingston White H. Johnson White Slidell La Sére St. Martin Dunbar Eustis Bouligny Sypher Lawrence Gibson Hunt St. Martin Wilkinson Meyer Estopinal O'Connor Fernández Hébert Tonry B. Livingston Vitter Jindal Scalise
2nd district	Gurley Thomas Ripley Chinn Dawson la Branche Thibodeaux Conrad Bullard J. A. Landry Hunt Taylor Mann Sheldon Ellis Hahn Wallace Lagan Coleman Lagan Davey Buck Davey Gilmore Dupré Spearing Maloney H. Boggs Maloney H. Boggs L. Boggs Jefferson Cao Richmond Carter
3rd district	Brent Overton Bullard Garland J. Moore Dawson Harmanson Penn Perkins Davidson Newsham Darrall Acklen Darrall Kellogg Gay Price Broussard Martin Montet Mouton Domengeaux Willis Caffery Treen Tauzin Melançon J. M. Landry Boustany Higgins
4th district	Bossier Morse J. Moore Jones Sandidge Landrum Vidal Newsham McCleery Boarman Smith Levy Elam Blanchard Ogden Breazeale Watkins Sandlin Brooks Waggonner Leach Roemer McCrery Fields McCrery Fleming M. Johnson
5th district	Blackburn Morey Spencer Leonard Young King Newton Boatner Baird Ransdell Elder Wilson Mills McKenzie Passman Huckaby McCrery Cooksey Alexander McAllister Abraham Letlow
6th district	Nash E. Robertson Lewis Irion E. Robertson S. Robertson Favrot Wickliffe Morgan Sanders Sr. Favrot Kemp Sanders Jr. Griffith Sanders Jr. Morrison Rarick H. Moore Baker Cazayoux Cassidy Graves Fields (elect)
7th district	Pujo Lazaro De Rouen Plauché Larcade Thompson Edwards Breaux Hayes John Boustany
8th district	Aswell Overton Dear Allen G. S. "Doc" Long McSween G. W. Long S. Long G. W. Long C. Long Holloway
At-large	Robertson Butler Johnston Sheridan
Territory	Clark Poydras

• 1901 births
• 1979 deaths
• American columnists
• Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni
• Journalists from Louisiana
• Politicians from New Orleans
• Tulane University alumni
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
• Dixiecrats
• Recipients of the Order of the Sword (United States)
• Writers from New Orleans
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• Catholics from Louisiana
• 20th-century American journalists
• American male journalists
• 20th-century American male writers
• Signatories of the Southern Manifesto
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives