Maury Maverick

Fontaine Maury Maverick Sr. (October 23, 1895 – June 7, 1954) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas, representing the 20th district from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1939.[1] He is best remembered for his independence from the party and for coining the term "gobbledygook" for obscure and euphemistic bureaucratic language.[2][3]

Maury Maverick
159th Mayor of San Antonio
In office
1939–1941
Preceded byC. K. Quin
Succeeded byC. K. Quin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 20th district
In office
January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1939
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byPaul J. Kilday
Personal details
Born(1895-10-23)October 23, 1895
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
DiedJune 7, 1954(1954-06-07) (aged 58)
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materUniversity of Texas, Austin
OccupationAttorney
Military service
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1917−1919
Rank First Lieutenant
Unit Infantry Branch

Background

Maverick was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Albert and Jane Lewis (Maury) Maverick. His paternal grandparents were Samuel Maverick, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the source of the word maverick, and Mary Ann Adams Maverick. He studied at Texas Military Institute, the Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Texas. Maverick's ancestor is Samuel Maverick (colonist), who is one of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts, one of the largest original land owners, and the first to bring slaves to Massachusetts.

Career

Early years

Maverick was admitted to the bar in 1916 and practiced law in San Antonio. He was a first lieutenant in the infantry in World War I and earned the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. He served with the 28th Infantry Regiment, part of the 1st Division, and was involved in the Meuse–Argonne offensive.[4]

In the 1920s, he was involved in the lumber and mortgage businesses.

Government service

From 1929 to 1931, he was the elected tax collector for Bexar County.

He was elected to the Seventy-fourth Congress in 1934,[5] with support from the Hispanic population of his district, and re-elected in 1936 to the Seventy-fifth.[6] During his 1934 campaign, Maverick enlisted Lyndon Johnson, a then little-known congressional secretary, to work for him during the Democratic primary.[7] 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.

Maverick was the sole Texas Democrat to vote for the Anti-Lynching Bill of 1937.[8]

Following the split between FDR and Vice president John Nance Garner over supreme court reorganization, Congressman Maverick in an extremely weakened position. FDR privately had Garner organize conservative business' leader fund Maverick campaign. Following the split Maverick was unable to fund his reelection and left was defeated in the primary for a third term in 1938. This was primally done at the direction of Garner reactionary allies in the district. He returned to Texas where he was elected Mayor of San Antonio, again with support from minority voters, serving from 1939 to 1941, when he was labeled a Communist and defeated. Future president Johnson was running for senate and secretly made a pack with Maverick enemies. Johnson would help defeat Maverick if Maverick enemies would back Johnson for senate. During World War II, he worked for the Office of Price Administration and the Office of Personnel Management, and served on the War Production Board and the Smaller War Plants Corporation.

While serving at the Smaller War Plants Corporation he sent a message to his staff telling them[3]

Memoranda short be as short as clearness will allow...Put the subject matter--the point--and even the conclusion in the opening paragraph and the whole story on one page...Stay off the gobbledygook language. It only fowls people up...

Later years

After the war, he practiced law in San Antonio.

Personal and death

Maverick was a cousin of congressmen Abram Poindexter Maury and John W. Fishburne of Virginia and nephew of congressman James Luther Slayden of Texas, who married Ellen (Maury) at a Maury home called Piedmont in Charlottesville, Virginia, now part of the University of Virginia. They are related to Matthew Fontaine Maury, Dabney Herndon Maury, and the early and prominent Fontaine, Dabney, Brooke, Minor, Mercer, Herndon, Slaughter, and Slayden families of Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas.

He married Terrell Louise Dobbs and had a daughter and a son, San Antonio newspaper editorialist Maury Maverick, Jr. (who died in 2003 at the age of 82).

Maverick died on June 7, 1954. His widow later married the distinguished Texas author and historian Walter Prescott Webb.

Notes
  1. The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Matthewson to Maxson
  2. Maverick and Gobbledygook (minicast), A Way with Words, accessed 2017-01-28.
  3. United Press. "Gobbledygook? Lay Off It, Maverick Says". Pittsburgh Press, March 31, 1944, p. 2. Retrieved on May 30, 2013.
  4. "TSHA | Maverick, Fontaine Maury".
  5. TX District 20 Race - Nov 06, 1934. Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. TX District 20 Race - Nov 03, 1936. Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  7. Caro, Robert A. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power. Vintage Books, 1981. p. 276
  8. TO PASS H. R. 1507, AN ANTI-LYNCHING BILL.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved October 7, 2021.

References
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