Bob Eckhardt Explained

Bob Eckhardt
Birth Name:Robert Christian Eckhardt
Birth Date:16 July 1913
Birth Place:Austin, Texas, U.S.
Death Place:Austin, Texas, U.S.
State1:Texas
District1:8th
Term Start1:January 3, 1967
Term End1:January 3, 1981
Preceded1:Lera Millard Thomas
Succeeded1:Jack Fields
State House2:Texas
District2:22-2
Term Start2:1958
Term End2:1966
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:University of Texas at Austin (BA, JD)
Spouse:Orissa Stevenson, Nadine Ellen Cannon, Celia Morris
Children:Orissa Eckhardt, Rosalind Eckhardt, Sarah Eckhardt
Relatives:Richard M. Kleberg (second cousin)
Rudolph Kleberg (great-uncle)
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Army
Serviceyears:1943-1944

Robert Christian Eckhardt (July 16, 1913 – November 13, 2001) was a Democratic United States Representative representing the 8th District of Texas from 1967 to 1981, and lawyer that practiced labor law.

Early life and family

Eckhardt was born in Austin on July 16, 1913. He was the grand-nephew of Democratic Congressman Rudolph Kleberg, nephew of Republican Congressman Harry Wurzbach, and a cousin of Richard Mifflin Kleberg, Sr., heir to the famous King Ranch in South Texas. Eckhardt graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1935 and received his law degree from the University of Texas Law School in 1939. He served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1944. Eckhardt was appointed Southwestern Director of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, 1944–1945.[1]

Political career

He moved to Houston and was elected a member of the Texas House of Representatives, serving from 1958 to 1966, where he compiled a fairly liberal voting record. One of Eckhardt's most enduring accomplishments in the Texas House was writing the Texas Open Beaches Act, passed in 1959.[2]

In 1966, he was elected as a Democrat in Congress representing Texas's 8th congressional district, which included most of northern Houston. Eckhardt was the sponsor of the War Powers Act and the Toxic Substances Act.[3] He was reelected six times without serious difficulty. In 1980, however, he was narrowly defeated by Jack Fields, losing by only 4,900 votes. He was also a co-founder of the Texas Observer magazine.[4]

Eckhardt died on November 13, 2001, in Austin. He was interred in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.

Books authored

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Guttery, Ben R. Representing Texas. 2008. BookSurge Publishing. 978-1-4196-7884-4. 58, 59.
  2. Web site: What are Open Beaches? . June 6, 2009 . May 15, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090515125124/http://www.texasopenbeaches.org/open.htm . dead .
  3. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/eberhart-eddleman.html#R9M0IVST5 Political Graveyard
  4. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00263/cah-00263.html Robert C. Eckhardt Papers, 1931–1992, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin