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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Edwin Edward Willis | image=Edwin Willis of LA.jpg | office=U.S. Representative for Louisiana]]'s 3rd congressional district | term_start=Jan..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Edwin Edward Willis
| image=Edwin Willis of LA.jpg
| office=[[U.S. Representative]] for Louisiana]]'s 3rd congressional district
| term_start=January 3, 1949
| term_end=January 3, 1969
| preceded=James R. Domengeaux
| succeeded=Patrick Thomson Caffery
| office2=Louisiana State Senator for Lafayette Parish
| term_start2=1948
| term_end2=1948
| preceded2=Two-member district:<br>
Edward P. Burguieres<br>
Cornelius P. Voorhies
| succeeded2=Bernard Trappey
| occupation=[[Attorney]]; [[Farmer|Planter]]; [[Business]]man
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| birth_date=October 2, 1904
| birth_place=Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
| death_date=October 24, 1972 (aged 68)
| death_place=St. Martinville, Louisiana
| resting_place=St. Michael's Cemetery in St. Martinville
|spouse=Estelle Bulliard Willis
|children=Bobby Willis<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Olanda and Julia Hardy Willis
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=St. Martinville High School<br>
Loyola University [[New Orleans]] College of Law
}}
'''Edwin Edward Willis''' (October 2, 1904 – October 24, 1972) was an [[Americans|American]] [[attorney]] and [[politician]] from his native state of [[Louisiana]] who was affiliated with the [[Earl Long|Long]] political faction. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state Senate in 1948 and thereafter represented Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1949 to 1969. Willis served as the last chairman of the since disbanded [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], which sought to expose [[Communism|communist]] infiltration of the U.S. government.
Willis was born in Arnaudville in St. Landry Parish, the eleventh of twelve children of Olanda Willis and the former Julia Hardy. He graduated from St. Martinville High School in St. Martin Parish. In 1926, Willis obtained credentials from the [[law]] school of Loyola University ([[New Orleans]]. He began his law practice in New Orleans and also owned and operated a [[plantation]] in St. Martin Parish near [[Lafayette]].
He was elected to the Louisiana state Senate in 1948 but served only a few months because he later in the same year won election to Congress to succeed James R. Domengeaux, who left the House to run unsuccessfully for the [[United States Senate]] against fellow Democrat [[Russell Long]].
In November 1948, Willis faced [[Republican Party|Republican]] opposition from a wealthy New Iberia businessman. Jean (pronounced JOHN) Paulin Duhe (1885-1961), who was the president of the New Iberia National Bank, head of the Duhe-Bourgeois Sugar Company, president of the Edmundson-Duhe [[rice]] mill, third vice-president of the American Sugar Cane League, and the president of the St. Martin-Iberia-St. Mary Flood Control Association. Willis defeated Duhe, 26,587 votes (66.6 percent) to 13,337 ballots (33.4 percent). Duhe's margin was similar to that of a previous Republican candidate in the 3rd district, [[David W. Pipes, Jr.]], who contested the position in 1940, when he was defeated by James Domengeaux.
Willis held the congressional seat for ten terms. Through his chairmanship of the House Un-American Activities Committee, he supported anti-communist [[Cold War]] laws, such as the [[McCarran-Walter Internal Security Act]] of 1950. Willis was in effect the last chairman of the HUAC, which was reconstituted as the U.S. House Committee on Internal Security in 1969. During the 1960s, Willis viewed both the [[civil rights]] movement and opposition to the [[Vietnam War]] as reflections of communist influences. He signed the 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]] in opposition to [[Segregation|desegregation]]. He voted with all eight members at the time from Louisiana against the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965. He also spoke out against the radicalism of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].
In Congress, Willis sought to secure subsidies for [[sugar]] planters. He successfully sponsored legislation to obtain federal funds for the protective levee in the Morganza Spillway in Pointe Coupee Parish. With his colleagues, he fought for federal royalty payments to the State of Louisiana from [[tideland]] [[oil]] revenues.
In 1966, though he had suffered a series of strokes, Willis still defeated Lafayette oilman [[Hall M. Lyons|Hall McCord Lyons]], one of the two sons of then Republican state chairman and former [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee [[Charlton Lyons|Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.]], of [[Shreveport]]. Willis received 46,533 votes (59.7 percent) to Lyons' 31,444 (40.3 percent). Lyons, who ran on a staunchly [[conservative]] platform, carried Iberia Parish with 51.4 percent of the vote and received 46 percent in [[Lafayette|Lafayette Parish]]. Hall Lyons later left the Republican Party and was the [[American Independent Party]] nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1972. In retrospect, 1966 was a warning to Willis about his electoral future.
Willis supported [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Hubert Humphrey]] in the 1964 and 1968 campaigns. He compiled a generally [[liberal]] voting record in Congress according to Louisiana standards. In 1968, he was denied renomination by a conservative Democrat, Patrick Thomson "Pat" Caffery, Sr. (1932-2013). Willis' health problems may have contributed to his defeat. Caffery won the [[general election]] and held the seat until January 1973, when he was succeeded by Republican leader [[David C. Treen]] of [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish. Caffery did not seek a third term in 1972.
Willis married the former Estelle Bulliard on December 9, 1929. They had a son, Bobby Willis.
Edwin Willis died in St. Martinville and is interred there with his wife in St. Michael's Cemetery, which is owned by the St. Martin de Tours [[Catholic Church]].
(Coincidence of names: Edwin Edward Willis died the same year that a Louisiana legend became governor: [[Edwin Edwards]]. They were unrelated, but each had supported the other politically over the years.)
==References==
*"Edwin E. Willis," ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography,'' Vol. 2 (1988), p. 853.
* {{CongBio|W000559}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Edwin}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Southern Manifesto]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]
| name=Edwin Edward Willis
| image=Edwin Willis of LA.jpg
| office=[[U.S. Representative]] for Louisiana]]'s 3rd congressional district
| term_start=January 3, 1949
| term_end=January 3, 1969
| preceded=James R. Domengeaux
| succeeded=Patrick Thomson Caffery
| office2=Louisiana State Senator for Lafayette Parish
| term_start2=1948
| term_end2=1948
| preceded2=Two-member district:<br>
Edward P. Burguieres<br>
Cornelius P. Voorhies
| succeeded2=Bernard Trappey
| occupation=[[Attorney]]; [[Farmer|Planter]]; [[Business]]man
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| birth_date=October 2, 1904
| birth_place=Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
| death_date=October 24, 1972 (aged 68)
| death_place=St. Martinville, Louisiana
| resting_place=St. Michael's Cemetery in St. Martinville
|spouse=Estelle Bulliard Willis
|children=Bobby Willis<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Olanda and Julia Hardy Willis
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
|alma_mater=St. Martinville High School<br>
Loyola University [[New Orleans]] College of Law
}}
'''Edwin Edward Willis''' (October 2, 1904 – October 24, 1972) was an [[Americans|American]] [[attorney]] and [[politician]] from his native state of [[Louisiana]] who was affiliated with the [[Earl Long|Long]] political faction. A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state Senate in 1948 and thereafter represented Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1949 to 1969. Willis served as the last chairman of the since disbanded [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], which sought to expose [[Communism|communist]] infiltration of the U.S. government.
Willis was born in Arnaudville in St. Landry Parish, the eleventh of twelve children of Olanda Willis and the former Julia Hardy. He graduated from St. Martinville High School in St. Martin Parish. In 1926, Willis obtained credentials from the [[law]] school of Loyola University ([[New Orleans]]. He began his law practice in New Orleans and also owned and operated a [[plantation]] in St. Martin Parish near [[Lafayette]].
He was elected to the Louisiana state Senate in 1948 but served only a few months because he later in the same year won election to Congress to succeed James R. Domengeaux, who left the House to run unsuccessfully for the [[United States Senate]] against fellow Democrat [[Russell Long]].
In November 1948, Willis faced [[Republican Party|Republican]] opposition from a wealthy New Iberia businessman. Jean (pronounced JOHN) Paulin Duhe (1885-1961), who was the president of the New Iberia National Bank, head of the Duhe-Bourgeois Sugar Company, president of the Edmundson-Duhe [[rice]] mill, third vice-president of the American Sugar Cane League, and the president of the St. Martin-Iberia-St. Mary Flood Control Association. Willis defeated Duhe, 26,587 votes (66.6 percent) to 13,337 ballots (33.4 percent). Duhe's margin was similar to that of a previous Republican candidate in the 3rd district, [[David W. Pipes, Jr.]], who contested the position in 1940, when he was defeated by James Domengeaux.
Willis held the congressional seat for ten terms. Through his chairmanship of the House Un-American Activities Committee, he supported anti-communist [[Cold War]] laws, such as the [[McCarran-Walter Internal Security Act]] of 1950. Willis was in effect the last chairman of the HUAC, which was reconstituted as the U.S. House Committee on Internal Security in 1969. During the 1960s, Willis viewed both the [[civil rights]] movement and opposition to the [[Vietnam War]] as reflections of communist influences. He signed the 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]] in opposition to [[Segregation|desegregation]]. He voted with all eight members at the time from Louisiana against the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965. He also spoke out against the radicalism of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].
In Congress, Willis sought to secure subsidies for [[sugar]] planters. He successfully sponsored legislation to obtain federal funds for the protective levee in the Morganza Spillway in Pointe Coupee Parish. With his colleagues, he fought for federal royalty payments to the State of Louisiana from [[tideland]] [[oil]] revenues.
In 1966, though he had suffered a series of strokes, Willis still defeated Lafayette oilman [[Hall M. Lyons|Hall McCord Lyons]], one of the two sons of then Republican state chairman and former [[Governor|gubernatorial]] nominee [[Charlton Lyons|Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.]], of [[Shreveport]]. Willis received 46,533 votes (59.7 percent) to Lyons' 31,444 (40.3 percent). Lyons, who ran on a staunchly [[conservative]] platform, carried Iberia Parish with 51.4 percent of the vote and received 46 percent in [[Lafayette|Lafayette Parish]]. Hall Lyons later left the Republican Party and was the [[American Independent Party]] nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1972. In retrospect, 1966 was a warning to Willis about his electoral future.
Willis supported [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Hubert Humphrey]] in the 1964 and 1968 campaigns. He compiled a generally [[liberal]] voting record in Congress according to Louisiana standards. In 1968, he was denied renomination by a conservative Democrat, Patrick Thomson "Pat" Caffery, Sr. (1932-2013). Willis' health problems may have contributed to his defeat. Caffery won the [[general election]] and held the seat until January 1973, when he was succeeded by Republican leader [[David C. Treen]] of [[suburb]]an Jefferson Parish. Caffery did not seek a third term in 1972.
Willis married the former Estelle Bulliard on December 9, 1929. They had a son, Bobby Willis.
Edwin Willis died in St. Martinville and is interred there with his wife in St. Michael's Cemetery, which is owned by the St. Martin de Tours [[Catholic Church]].
(Coincidence of names: Edwin Edward Willis died the same year that a Louisiana legend became governor: [[Edwin Edwards]]. They were unrelated, but each had supported the other politically over the years.)
==References==
*"Edwin E. Willis," ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography,'' Vol. 2 (1988), p. 853.
* {{CongBio|W000559}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Edwin}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Farmers]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Southern Manifesto]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic Politicians]]