Robert Lee Henry

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Robert Lee Henry

Robert Lee Henry (born May 12, 1864 in Linden , Cass County , Texas , †  July 9, 1931 in Houston , Texas) was an American politician . Between 1897 and 1917 he represented the state of Texas in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Robert Henry was a direct descendant of Patrick Henry (1736–1799), who played a significant role during the American Revolution . He attended his homeland public schools and moved to Bowie County in 1878 . In 1895 he settled in McLennan County . Henry studied at Southwestern University in Georgetown until 1885 . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1886, he began to work in this profession for a short time in Texarkana . In the meantime, he studied at the University of Texas at Austin until 1887 . At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party .

Henry served as Mayor of Texarkana in 1890 and 1891. Between 1891 and 1893 he worked for the Attorney General of Texas; from 1893 to 1896 he was Deputy Attorney General of his state. He then practiced as a private lawyer in Waco . In the congressional election of 1896 , Henry was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , in the seventh constituency of Texas , where he succeeded George C. Pendleton on March 4, 1897 . After nine re-elections, he was able to complete ten legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1917 . Since 1903 he represented the eleventh district of his state as the successor to Rudolph Kleberg . From 1911 to 1917 Henry was chairman of the Committee on Rules . During his time as Congressman, the Spanish-American War of 1898 fell . In 1913 the 16th and 17th amendments were ratified.

In 1916 Henry decided not to run again. Instead, he unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination for the US Senate elections . Then he worked again as a lawyer in Waco. In 1922 and 1928, he again applied unsuccessfully for the democratic nomination for the Senate elections. In 1923 he moved his residence and law firm to Houston. He died on July 9, 1931 from a gunshot wound he inflicted on himself. The reasons for this suicide were financial difficulties and poor health, according to an article in the New York Times.

Web links

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