Edward William Pou
34th Dean of the United States House of Representatives
In office March 3, 1933 – April 1, 1934
Preceded by	Gilbert N. Haugen
Succeeded by	Adolph J. Sabath
Chairman of theHouse Rules Committee
In office March 4, 1931 – April 1, 1934
Speaker	John Nance Garner Henry Thomas Rainey
Preceded by	Bertrand Snell
Succeeded by	William B. Bankhead
In office March 4, 1917 – March 4, 1919
Speaker	Champ Clark
Preceded by	Robert L. Henry
Succeeded by	Philip P. Campbell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's4th district
In office March 4, 1901 – April 1, 1934
Preceded by	John W. Atwater
Succeeded by	Harold D. Cooley
Personal details
Born	(1863-09-09)September 9, 1863 Tuskegee, Alabama
Died	April 1, 1934(1934-04-01) (aged 70) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Edward William Pou (/ˈpjuː/; September 9, 1863 – April 1, 1934) was an American politician, serving in theUnited States Congress as a representative from 1901 until his death inWashington, D.C., on April 1, 1934. From March 1933 to April 1934, he was the longest-serving current member of Congress and was theDean of the United States House of Representatives.

Born inTuskegee, Alabama, on September 9, 1863, he moved toNorth Carolina with his parents in 1867, where he attended theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and studied law. His fraternity wasAlpha Tau Omega. After practicing law inSmithfield, North Carolina for a number of years, he served as a DemocraticU.S. Representative from North Carolina's 4th district, 1901–1934, and served as chairman of the Committee on Claims (abolished in 1946) and then of theHouse Rules Committee. He died in Washington, April 1, 1934, while still in office.

Pou is notable for his support ofLouis F. Post,United States Secretary of Labor and head of theBureau of Immigration, who had, in the era of thePalmer Raids, reversed many of the decisions of theAttorney General and his aideJ. Edgar Hoover as to deportations. On April 15, 1920, Kansas CongressmanHomer Hoch accused Post of having abused his power and called for hisimpeachment. TheHouse Committee on Rules planned to ask the President to remove Post instead of impeaching him, so Post requested and was granted a chance to testify. He successfully defended his actions on May 7–8, attacking Attorney General Palmer and others. In a dramatic exchange, Congressman Pou, a Democratic supporter of the anti-radical campaign, praised Post's actions, saying, "I believe you have followed your sense of duty absolutely," and walked out of the room, leaving it in stunned silence. The Rules Committee took no further action.

Asked how to say his name, he toldTheLiterary Digest "Though my name is spelledPou, it is pronounced as though it were spelledpew orpugh." (Charles Earle Funk,What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)

• United States Congress."Edward W. Pou (id: P000474)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• New York Times:"E.W. Pou is Dead, Veteran in House," April 2, 1934, accessed January 15, 2010

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