Bob Livingston donates papers to Tulane

Robert L. Livingston, a longtime Louisiana congressman and graduate of Tulane University, has donated his Congressional papers to the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane.

Livingston, who earned a bachelor of arts and juris doctorate degree from Tulane and is a graduate of the Loyola University Institute of Politics, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1977. He was re-elected to 11 successive two-year terms.

“We're honored to preserve Mr. Livingston's papers and make them available to researchers,” says Leon Miller, head of the Louisiana Research Collection. “Mr. Livingston served in Congress during some of the most challenging and fascinating periods of American history, and his papers will inspire students and scholars for generations to come.”

It will take about a year to organize the collection and make it fully open to the public, Miller says.

Livingston served as a member of the Appropriations Committee through most of his time in Congress and was a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for six years. From 1995 through 1998, he served as the chair of the Appropriations Committee, shepherding 13 appropriations bills through the legislative process.

In 1997, Livingston chaired the bipartisan ethics reform task force, where he was responsible for reshaping the House ethics rules. He was chosen by his peers to serve as speaker-designate for the 106th Congress. Following his departure from Congress in 1999, Livingston established The Livingston Group, a lobbying firm.

The Louisiana Research Collection, located in room 202 of Jones Hall on the Tulane uptown campus, is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive research center in New Orleans and the second largest in Louisiana. One of its specialties is preserving Louisiana's distinctive political heritage, including the papers of 13 members of Congress, eight governors, three New Orleans mayors and many political and civic organizations.