He was born on September 9, 1863 in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. His paternal forbears emigrated from Scotland and settled in Orangeburg, South Carolina, about 1720. He was the younger son of Edward William and Anna Maria (Smith) Pou. In 1834 the family moved to Talbotton, Georgia, and some years later to Alabama. In 1867 the elder Edward settled upon lands inherited by his wife in Johnston County, North Carolina, where he achieved some prominence, serving as representative in the legislature in 1868.
Education
Young Edward attended the school of John L. Davis and spent two years at the University of North Carolina. He then read law under his father.
Career
He was admitted to the bar in 1885 and began practice in Smithfield in partnership with his brother, James H. Pou. From 1890 to 1901 he was solicitor of the 4th judicial district of North Carolina, where he gained the reputation of being a vigorous prosecutor and an able member of the bar.
He was chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Johnston County in 1886 and presidential elector in 1888. In 1896 he was defeated for Congress.
He became the law partner of Furnifold M. Simmons and was one of his chief lieutenants in the "White Supremacy" campaigns of 1898 and 1900. In the latter year he was elected to the Fifty-seventh Congress and was reelected for the sixteen succeeding terms, being "dean" of the House at the time of his death. His majorities tended to increase with each election, and his last victory was by a 35, 000 vote.
He held several minor committee assignments during his first years of service and he was a member of the ways and means committee in the Sixtieth Congress and the Sixty-first. His reputation rests largely on his work in connection with the rules committee from 1911 to 1934. In March 1916 he led the successful fight against the McLemore Resolution, which he considered a "partisan plot" to embarrass President Wilson.
Pou died in Washington of a heart attack following influenza.
Achievements
Edward William Pou was well-known as the chairman of the Committee on Claims, he helped formulate and steer through Congress much of the legislation so vital to the successful prosecution of the war. He was one of the leading spokesmen for bonus legislation in the interest of veterans of the First World War. He played a prominent role in launching the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.
Politics
He favored stricter governmental regulation of trusts, railroads, and banks. He advocated the reorganization of government departments, improvements in rural mail service, and many other reforms. He believed in state prohibition but considered national prohibition a blunder.
He said that he had never heard of a more drastic, a more far-reaching, and, in my humble judgment, a more oppressive measure than the Volstead Act.
Views
Quotations:
He defined democracy as "a government of few functions, with just as little restriction as possible upon the liberty of the citizen".
Personality
Pou talked less than most members of Congress. His speeches were seldom longer than ten minutes, but they were clear, pointed, and forceful. He had personal charm and modesty, knowledge of the rules, strict attention to duty, and the respect of his colleagues.
Connections
On October 18, 1887, he married Carrie Ihrie of Pittsboro, North Carolina. They had six children: two boys who died in infancy; Edwin Smith Pou, who was killed in France in 1918; and Annie Ihrie, Margaret Atlee, and George Ross.
