The late Alabama Senator Howell Heflin was known for many things.

The former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court was one of the last of a generation of conservative Democrats, opposing abortion and gun control.

During the Iran Contra investigation, he drew national attention for saying Oliver North's secretary Fawn Hall smuggled secret documents out of the White House in her underwear, charges she vehemently denied.

He sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, famously asking law professor Anita Hill if her sexual harassment allegations against Thomas were because she was a "scorned woman."

Heflin's role in the Thomas' hearings resulted in him being spoofed on "Saturday Night Live," where he was played by Chris Farley, complete with exaggerated Southern accent.

Then there's the time Heflin pulled a pair of women's underwear out of his pocket.

Heflin was first elected to the Senate in 1979, serving until 1997. Three years before he left the Senate, Heflin was dining with some reporters in the Senate cafeteria when he reached in his pocket for a handkerchief. Instead of a handkerchief, however, Howell pulled out a pair of his wife's underwear.

He later sent out a press release to explain the gaffe.

STATEMENT OF SEN. HOWELL HEFLIN

HANDKERCHIEF

JULY 19, 1994

I mistakenly picked up a pair of my wife's white panties and put them in my pocket while I was rushing out the door to go to work.

Rather than take a chance on being embarrassed again, I'm going to start buying colored handkerchiefs.

Washington Post national political correspondent Karen Tumulty unearthed the press release during a 2009 office move and tweeted out an image of Heflin's statement.

Packing up things to take to new office. Another keeper: best congressional press release ever. pic.twitter.com/Jz0HDFAzNz — Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 23, 2015

Heflin, who was known for his sense of humor, later said the underwear incident was something he would never forget.

"Pulling out those panties in front of two television people, that was most embarrassing," Heflin said.

Heflin died March 29, 2005 at age 83. His wife, Elizabeth Ann Heflin, died in 2014.