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 from 1961 to 1999. He is the longest serving Hispanic in Congress and a founding member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Early life
González was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Mexican-born parents Genoveva (née Barbosa) and Leonides Gonzalez (from Mapimí, Durango), who had immigrated during the Mexican Revolution. After he received an associate's degree from San Antonio College, he earned his undergraduate credentials from the University of Texas at Austin. Later, he received a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law, also in San Antonio. Upon graduation, he became a probation officer, and was quickly promoted to the chief office of Bexar County, Texas. In 1945, he quit after a judge refused to allow him to add an African-American probation officer to his staff. In 1950, he was scoutmaster of Troop 90 in San Antonio, of which his son 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 (the real contest for governor in what was then a solidly Democratic state) to Price Daniel. In May 1961, González ran in the special election for the Senate seat that Lyndon B. Johnson vacated to become U.S. Vice President. He finished in sixth place in part because he split the liberal and Hispanic vote with Maury Maverick, Jr., of San Antonio.
House of Representatives
In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rep. Paul J. Kilday of Texas's 20th congressional district 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, 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 centers and supermarkets 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 called González a "communist" and a "pinko" 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, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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.