González, Henry B. (Henry Barbosa), 1916-2000

Henry Barbosa González (born Enrique Barbosa González; May 3, 1916 – November 28, 2000) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Texas's 20th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1961 to 1999.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, he graduated from Jefferson High School there before earning an associate's degree from San Antonio College, attending the University of Texas at Austin, and earning a bachelor of laws degree (LL.B.) from the St. Mary’s University School of Law. During World War II, he served as a navy and an army intelligence censor for radio broadcasts and cable traffic. From 1943 to 1946, González was assistant chief probation officer for Bexar County’s juvenile court. He resigned from his post as chief probation officer when a local judge forbade him to hire an African American for his staff. Later Gonzaléz worked for the San Antonio Housing Authority. 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, González shocked the Lone Star State by winning election to the Texas senate, becoming the first Mexican American elected to the Texas senate and the first Mexican-American senator in more than a century. Seeking to effect lasting change, González set his sights on higher office. He waged an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1958 and lost the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Lyndon B. Johnson when he became Vice President. In November 1961, González won a special election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 20th congressional district. Unlike many southern politicians at the time, González vocally supported civil rights proposals, supporting the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Reported to be unsettled by the effect that the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. had on the nation, González pushed in 1975 for a House committee study. In 1976, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was created to investigate the deaths of President Kennedy and King, and González succeeded Thomas N. Downing as its chairman in January 1977. Following the United States invasion of Grenada in 1983, González suggested the impeachment of President Ronald Reagan, and he introduced articles of impeachment related to the Iran–Contra scandal and sent them to the House Judiciary Committee in 1987. No further action was taken on said articles. González later called for the impeachment of President George H. W. Bush for not obtaining Congressional approval before the 1991 Gulf War. Early in the presidency of Bill Clinton, González also blocked hearings into the Whitewater controversy until finally agreeing to hold hearings in 1994. González was an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve System, and proposed an audit and introduced bills to impeach Paul Volcker and other Governors of the Federal Reserve.

In September 1997, González, who was 81 and in failing health, announced his retirement from the House. At the start of the 106th Congress (1999–2001), González’s son Charles succeeded him; they were the first Hispanic father-son pair of Representatives. He died in San Antonio on November 28, 2000, and was interred there at San Fernando Cemetery II.