Felix Edward Hebert For the U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, see Felix Hebert Felix Edward Hébert (October 12, 1901 - December 29, 1979), more commonly referred to at the time as F. Edward Hebert, was a Louisiana politician. Hébert was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a teenager, while a student at Jesuit High School, he wrote prep school sports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
He went to Tulane University and became the first sports editor of the Tulane Hullabaloo; he graduated in 1924.
He then pursued a career in publicity (for Loyola University) and journalism for the Times-Picayune and the New Orleans States (the latter, a paper purchased by the Times-Picayune while Hébert was working there). As a front page columnist and political editor, he covered the candidacy and election of Huey Long as one of U.S. Senators from Louisiana. His coverage of the Louisiana Scandals about the corrupt influence of the network of followers of the Long family, led to the convictions of Governor Richard W. Leche and LSU president James Monroe Smith.
Hébert's coverage of the events led to his election in 1940 as a Democrat to the 77th U.S. Congress. He served in the House of Representatives until the end of the 94th Congress, choosing not to run for re-election in 1976. That longevity set a record for the longest period of service in House of Representatives in the history of the state of Louisiana.
Hébert was the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services from 1971 to 1975. 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 as "boys and girls," and they also considered him too amenable to the Pentagon.
Preceded by: Joachim O. Fernandez United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana 1941 - 1977 Succeeded by: Richard Alvin Tonry
