Paul Octave Hébert (December 12, 1818 – August 29, 1880) was an American soldier, engineer and politician who served as 14th Governor of Louisiana from 1853 to 1856. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, he later served as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army.

Paul Hébert was born on Acadia Plantation in Iberville Parish on December 1818, the son of Paul Gaston Hébert and Mary Eugenis Hamilton Hébert. In 1836, he graduated at the top of his class from Jefferson College. He then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he matriculated with William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas before graduating at the top of his class in 1840.

He was commissioned as second lieutenant of engineers and worked as an assistant professor of engineering at West Point. He then served as an engineer for the Port of New Orleans during which time he married his first wife, Marie Wills Vaughn, with whom he had five children. In 1845, Hébert resigned from the army after being appointed Chief Engineer of the State of Louisiana by Governor Alexandre Mouton. He was reappointed by Governor Isaac Johnson in 1846, but he resigned in March 1847 to fight in the Mexican–American War.

Hébert accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Regiment, and then on April 9, 1847, he was transferred to the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment. As a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment he fought at Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec and Mexico City. At Molino del Rey he was honored by General Winfield Scott and was brevetted a colonel for bravery. He was cited for gallantry at Chapultepec and Mexico City. Discharged on July 25, 1848, in New Orleans, Colonel Hébert entered politics.

He ran as a Democrat for the State Senate in 1849. He lost the election by nine votes. Following this he returned to his sugar plantation in Iberville. In 1851, Governor Joseph Marshall Walker appointed Hébert a delegate to the Industrial Exhibition in London.

The next year, a division among Iberville Parish Whigs gave him a seat at the 1852 Louisiana Constitutional Convention which adopted a new state constitution that was strongly pro-Whig. As a result, Governor Walker resigned early and an election was called. Since John Slidell, the leader of one faction of Louisiana Democrats was focusing on his campaign for the U.S. Senate, the Democrats turned to Hébert as their nominee for governor. He campaigned against some features of the new constitution, called for internal improvements, reform of the state militia, a banking system by general laws and redemption in specie of all paper money. Running against Judge Bordelon, a Whig from St. Landry Parish, Hébert garnered 17,334 votes to Bordelon's 15,781.

Hébert took the oath as Governor and guided the legislature towards improvements in water commerce and railroad construction. He also established the Louisiana Seminary of Learning at Alexandria which would later become Louisiana State University. Hébert also instituted a state library, reorganized the militia, improved Charity Hospital and organized the efforts against yellow fever of 1853.

Nationalism and the rise of the Know Nothing Party or American Party was a feature of Louisiana politics in the 1850s. Whig newspapers tried to discredit Hébert by starting rumors of his allegiance with the Know Nothings. He still appointed some Whigs to minor offices and some Know Nothings to lucrative posts. He was considered very independent in his appointments and many Democrats were disenchanted with him toward the end of his administration. Hébert was mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate, but John Slidell was not vulnerable to an intraparty challenge.