Fontaine Maury Maverick (October 23, 1895-June 7, 1964) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1939. He is best remembered for his independence from the party and for coining the term "gobbledygook" after dealing with the New Deal agencies. Fontaine Maury Maverick was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Albert and Jane (Lewis) Maverick. His grandfather was cattle rancher Samuel Maverick, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the origin of the word "maverick". He studied at T.M.I.: The Episcopal School of Texas, the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Texas. He was admitted to the bar in 1916 and practiced in San Antonio. He was a first lieutenant in the infantry in World War I and won the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. In the 1920s, he was involved in the lumber and mortage businesses. From 1929 to 1931, he was the elected collector of taxes for Bexar County.
He was elected to the Seventy-fourth Congress in 1934 with support from the Hispanic population of his district, and re-elected to the Seventy-fifth. In the House, he was an ardent champion of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. He angered the conservative Democrats running the party back in Texas, including John Nance Garner, with his liberalism and his consistent support for civil rights. He was defeated in the primary for a third term in 1938. He returned to Texas where he was elected Mayor of San Antonio, again with support from minorities, serving from 1939 to 1941 when the conservatives labelled him a Communist and defeated him. During World War II, he worked for the Office of Price Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and served on the War Production Board and the Smaller War Plants Corporation. After the war, he practiced law in San Antonio.
He was a cousin of congressmen Abram Poindexter Maury and John W. Fishburne and nephew of congressman James L. Slayden.
