Gonzalez Blazed Trails and Ruffled Feathers
After speaking for 21 straight hours in the Texas Senate, the freshman lawmaker from San Antonio finally yielded the floor on May 3, 1957.
The parents of Enrique Barbosa Gonzalez were among the 430,000 Mexicans that poured into Texas during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Like many of their fellow refugees fleeing the chaos and carnage of revolution in their native land, they settled in the Alamo City where the future politician was born in 1916.
Henry B. Gonzalez graduated from the University of Texas and earned a law degree from St. Mary’s in 1943. After WWII service as a naval intelligence censor, he took a job working with young offenders in his hometown.
Gonzalez’s hard work and dedication were rewarded with leap-frog promotions, and by 1946 he had risen to the position of chief juvenile probation officer. However, he resigned that same year after superiors forbade him to hire a qualified black applicant.
Bothered by the lily-white composition of the state legislature, Gonzalez approached two community leaders in 1950 about running for the House of Representatives. Both told him: “A Mexican can’t win, and it doesn’t pay anything.”
Angered by their cynical and selfish attitude, Gonzalez decided to prove them wrong by seeking the seat himself. He made up for a lack of cash -- his largest contribution was $50 from a Japanese restaurateur -- with an energetic one-man campaign that generated interest and hope in the Mexican and black neighborhoods of San Antonio.
The editorial endorsement of La Prensa, the Spanish language daily newspaper where his father once worked as managing editor, gave the underdog a big boost. He came in second in the Democratic primary, beating the son of a county commissioner, before losing a close contest in the runoff.
Gonzalez’s strong showing landed him a spot three years later on a reform ticket in the city elections. All nine candidates on the slate won, but only the lone Mexican and the incumbent mayor scored first-round knockouts. His subsequent selection as mayor protem moved Gonzalez to tears.
But it took the new councilman just two weeks to demonstrate that he was beholden to no one. When the mayor and city manager advocated tossing “communist-tinged” library books into the fire, Gonzalez declared he was not in favor of “labeling, much less burning books, particularly when the burning smells of Hitler tactics.”
Running as an independent for a second term, Gonzalez showed he could stand on his own two feet by polling nearly 2,000 more votes than four challengers combined.
Gonzalez celebrated his fortieth birthday in May 1956 by announcing his candidacy for the Texas Senate. Many felt he was biting off much more than he could possibly chew. Not only was the office currently held by a veteran politician, no Texan of Mexican descent had ever been elected to state senate.
Gonzalez stunned the Democratic establishment with a 282-vote upset in the party primary. But he had another high hurdle to clear before packing his bags for Austin.
As a rule, the Bexar County GOP did not oppose conservative Democrats in the general election, but Gonzalez was a “left-winger,” “creeping socialist” and a Mexican to boot. Nevertheless, he dashed the Republicans’ hopes of riding President Eisenhower’s coattails to victory with a 13,000vote triumph and trailed Ike by a mere 6,000.
Gonzalez was still learning his way around the senate, when he joined Abraham “Chick” Kazen in a historymaking filibuster. After the Laredo senator spoke nonstop for 15 hours and 44 minutes, the loquacious newcomer held the floor for an amazing 21 hours and two minutes. Together the long-winded twosome succeeded in talking eight of ten segregationist bills to death.
Gonzalez did not let the fact that he belonged to the same party as Price Daniel stop him from campaigning for governor in 1958. He took a three-toone licking from the incumbent but received almost a quarter of a million votes, enough to send third-place finisher W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel into permanent retirement.
Three years later, the unexpected exit of Rep. Paul Kilday opened the congressional door for Gonzalez. With endorsements from President John F. Kennedy, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, Sen. Ralph Yarborough and even Gov. Daniel, he stepped up to the national political stage.
For the next 37 years, the combative congressman spoke his mind and let the chips fall where they may. An unapologetic partisan who gladly gave Republicans fits, he did not hesitate to call members of his own party to task. As chairman of the House banking, finance and urban affairs committee in the 1980’s, he exposed the ties of four Democratic senators to a savings-and-loan scandal.
Henry B. Gonzalez surprised friends as well as foes, who always believed he would die on the job, by retiring in 1998. He proudly passed the baton onto son Charlie, winner of the election to fill his famous father’s seat, before his death two years later at age 84.
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