Joe Waggonner
Encyclopedia
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Bossier Parish
Bossier Parish, Louisiana
Bossier Parish is named for Pierre Bossier, a 19th-century Louisiana state senator and U.S. representative from Natchitoches Parish.Bossier Parish was spared fighting on its soil during the American Civil War...
who represented the old 4th Congressional District
Louisiana's 4th congressional district
Louisiana's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district is located in the northwestern part of the state and is based in Shreveport-Bossier City. It also includes the cities of Minden, DeRidder, and Natchitoches.The district is currently...
of northwest Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
from December 1961 until January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and in 1974 hosted Nixon's first public appearance after his resignation amid the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
.
Waggonner's background
Waggonner was born in Plain DealingPlain Dealing, Louisiana
Plain Dealing is a town in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States best known as the birthplace of former U.S. Representative Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. The population was 1,071 at the 2000 census...
to Joe David Waggonner, Sr. (June 11, 1873—March 9, 1950), and the former Elizzibeth Johnston (November 23, 1882 —December 24, 1957). He graduated from Plain Dealing High School and in 1941 from Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, the seat of Lincoln Parish, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...
. On December 14, 1942, he married the former Mary Ruth Carter (born 1921). The couple resided in their later years in Benton
Benton, Louisiana
The town of Benton is the parish seat of Bossier Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. The population was 2,035 at the 2000 census. The larger Bossier City is located south of Benton...
, the seat of Bossier Parish, and then in the more populous Bossier City
Bossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, Waggonner served in the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, having attained the rank of lieutenant commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
. He remained thereafter in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
He was first elected to public office in 1954 to a seat on the Bossier Parish School Board, of which he was president from 1956-1957. In 1959, Waggonner ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the position of Louisiana state comptroller
State Comptroller
The power of the Knesset to supervise and review government policies and operations is exercised mainly through the state comptroller . The incumbent is completely independent of the government and answers to the Knesset alone.- Duties :...
, previously known as auditor. He was defeated for the nomination
Nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award.In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party...
, however, by Roy R. Theriot
Roy R. Theriot
Roy R. Theriot, Sr. , was the Democratic state comptroller of Louisiana from 1960-1973. Previously, Theriot was the mayor of Abbeville, the seat of Vermilion Parish in south Louisiana from 1954-1960....
, the mayor of Abbeville
Abbeville, Louisiana
Abbeville is a town in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census...
in Vermilion Parish in south Louisiana. In that election Waggonner ran with the endorsement of segregationist gubernatorial candidate William M. Rainach
William M. Rainach
William Monroe Rainach, Sr., known as Willie Rainach , was a state legislator from rural Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisiana's "Massive Resistance" to desegregation during the last half of the 1950s...
, a state senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from Claiborne Parish.
Shortly thereafter on July 23, 1960, Waggonner was elected to the Louisiana State Board of Education from the Third District of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
, a configuration since disbanded. He unseated the incumbent, C. Raymond Heard. Waggonner posed in the campaign as the more determined segregationist.. In 1961, Waggonner was chosen president of (1) the Louisiana School Boards Association and (2) the United Schools Committee of Louisiana. He had also been instrumental, along with then Rainach, in the founding of the White Citizens Council in the late 1950s.
Waggonner ran a wholesale petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
products distribution agency that serviced northern Bossier Parish.
Defeating Charlton Lyons
Overton Brooks
Thomas Overton Brooks was a Democratic U.S. representative from the Shreveport-based Fourth Congressional District of northwest Louisiana, having served for a quarter century beginning on January 3, 1937. Brooks was a nephew of U.S. Senator John Holmes Overton as well as a great-grandson of Walter...
, who had won his thirteenth consecutive term in 1960 by defeating the Republican Fred C. McClanahan of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. When Brooks died in office, Waggonner filed in the special election to succeed him. Already, Waggonner had announced his intention to oppose Brooks for renomination in the 1962 Democratic primary. Waggonner's decision to challenge Brooks was spurred by Brooks' congressional vote to expand the House Rules Committee to permit Speaker
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
to add new liberal members to the panel, which was dominated at the time by minority conservatives
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
from both national parties.
In the special election, Waggonner turned back a relatively strong Republican challenge from Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.
Charlton Lyons
Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
, an Abbeville native and a Shreveport oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
man who was attempting to plant a Republican beachhead in then overwhelmingly Democratic state. Waggonner polled 33,892 votes (54.5 percent) to Lyons' 28,250 ballots (45.5 percent). Plain Dealing banker John J. Doles, Jr.
John J. Doles
John Jones Doles, Sr. , was a banker in Plain Dealing in northern Bossier Parish who served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1952 to 1956, the tenure corresponding with the administration of Governor Robert F. Kennon...
(1923–2004) served as Waggonner's campaign manager. Waggonner received majorities in six of the seven parishes in the district, having lost only in Lyons' home base, Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport. In 1968, Waggonner easily turned back an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
primary challenger, Leon Tarver, later president of the Southern University
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...
system. Tarver's family operates a Shreveport funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
. His brother, Gregory Tarver
Gregory Tarver
Gregory Williams Tarver, Sr., known as Greg Tarver , is an African American businessman and Democratic politician in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a Louisiana state senator from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish from 1984...
, would later serve on the Shreveport City Council and in the Louisiana State Senate. Over the years, Waggonner had only token opponents. He did not seek a tenth term in 1978
United States House elections, 1978
The U.S. House election, 1978 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1978 which occurred in the middle of President Jimmy Carter's term, when the country was going through an energy crisis and facing rapid inflation...
.
Rhodesia
Commenting on the founding of RhodesiaRhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, Waggonner said on April 5, 1966:
Three generations ago, a group of resourceful white men went into the jungle of what is now Rhodesia and carved a civilized land by the sheer force of their brains and management ability. The lesson of history was crystal clear then as it is now: the natives were not capable of producing any semblance of what we call civilization. Now that the white man had led them out of savagery, the SocialistSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, left-wing camp is up in arms to turn the country back to them. This is, of course, a not too subtle way of building a Socialist bridge from DemocracyDemocracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
to CommunismCommunismCommunism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
Republican/Southern Democrat coalition
In Congress, Waggonner often supported a Republican-Southern Democratic coalitionCoalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
on various issues, later known as the "Boll Weevils
Boll weevil (politics)
Boll weevils was an American political term used in the mid- and late-20th century to describe conservative Southern Democrats.During and after the administration of Franklin D...
". He was fiscally conservative
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
and opposed many federal social programs as well as civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
legislation in 1964, 1965 and 1968. He took a "hawkish" position on the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Waggonner was personally and politically close to President Nixon and opposed Nixon's impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
over Watergate-related matters. While leading southern conservatives in the U.S. House, he wielded power with Nixon that was often reserved for the Speaker or a key committee chairman. He was an influential member of the House Ways and Means Committee and a key player the Republican president needed to get legislation passed in the House. Waggonner later revealed that he also had close contacts with Democratic Presidents John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, neither of whom were particularly popular in the 4th District.
Relations with Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan
On August 8, 1974, Waggonner prepared a special list of House and Senate lawmakers who were among a shrinking band of Nixon supporters. The lawmakers met that night with a "visibly distraught" Nixon, who told the group that he would resign on Friday, August 9, at noon. "'I am sorry I have let you down,'" Waggonner recalled Nixon having said.Waggonner flew to Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda, California
Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, approximately northeast of Downtown Santa Ana, and southeast of Downtown Los Angeles....
, in April 1994 to attend Nixon's funeral. Indeed, he had maintained communication with Nixon long after both had left Washington. Nixon's first outing after his resignation was a trip to Shreveport for an event the Waggonners hosted at their home, remembered Rene Gibson, a former Waggonner staffer, as reported in the Shreveport Times
The Shreveport Times
The Times is a Gannett daily newspaper based in Shreveport, Louisiana.-Description:The Times distribution area includes twelve parishes in Northwest Louisiana and three counties in east Texas...
on the occasion of Waggonner's death.
Though friendly with Nixon, he quarreled with Nixon's successor Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
when Ford, as a former president, came into the 4th District in 1978 to support a Republican candidate, James H. "Jimmy" Wilson of Vivian
Vivian, Louisiana
Vivian, is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States and is home to the Red Bud Festival. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census...
(northern Caddo Parish), a former state representative who narrowly lost the general election race to Waggonner's choice, Buddy Leach.
In the 1964 gubernatorial second primary and general election, Waggonner endorsed Democrat John McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
who, like Waggonner in 1961, was opposed by the Republican Charlton Lyons. Waggonner objected to the strengthening of the Republican Party in Louisiana. He once said that Louisiana, unlike other southern states, already had a two-party system through its "Long" and "anti-Long" factional competition. Nevertheless, in his later years, Waggonner did occasionally endorse Republicans, including the 1996
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
presidential nominee Robert J. "Bob" Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, who ironically had been Ford's vice-presidential running mate in 1976
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
.
In 1981 President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, who had campaigned for Charlton Lyons for governor of Louisiana in 1964, appointed Waggonner to the 15-member National Commission on Social Security Reform, headed by Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
.
His chosen successor, "Buddy" Leach
Several candidates ran for the seat that Waggonner vacated, including two state representatives, Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., of LeesvilleLeesville, Louisiana
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,753 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to the Fort Polk U.S. Army installation...
in Vernon Parish
Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Vernon Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Leesville and as of 2000, the population was 52,531....
and Loy F. Weaver
Loy F. Weaver
Loy Frank Weaver is a retired banker from Homer, the seat of Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana, who served as a Democrat in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1976-1984...
of Homer
Homer, Louisiana
Homer is present day parish seat of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town was named after the Greek poet Homer and was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present day brick courthouse, built in the Greek Revival style of architecture, is one of only...
in Claiborne Parish
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Homer and as of 2000, the population is 16,851.-History:The parish is named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne....
. Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
, son of Governor Edwin Edwards's commissioner of administration, entered the race, as did a lone Republican, Jimmy Wilson, a former state legislator and former mayor of Vivian
Vivian, Louisiana
Vivian, is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States and is home to the Red Bud Festival. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census...
in north Caddo Parish
Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport; as of 2000, the population was 252,161...
, who had only recently switched parties. Waggonner endorsed Leach, who ultimately defeated Wilson in the general election by a margin of 266 disputed votes. However, Leach was unable to cement his hold on the district and was unseated in the 1980
United States House elections, 1980
The U.S. House election, 1980 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1980 which coincided with the election of Ronald Reagan as President. Reagan's victory also allowed many Republican House candidates to secure election, and the Republicans gained a net of 35 seats from...
general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
after a single term by Roemer. That 1980 House election was sometimes called the "battle of the Buddys" waged between the wealthy Democrats Leach and Roemer. Waggonner's seat remained Democratic for nine years after his retirement, when a Democrat-turned-Republican, James Otis McCrery, Jr.
Jim McCrery
James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III , is an American lawyer who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1988 to 2009; he represented the 4th District of Louisiana, based in the northwestern quadrant of the state.McCrery was a ranking member on the House Ways and...
, then of Leesville but a Shreveport native, won it in another special election held on March 8, 1988. (McCrery retired in January 2009 and was succeeded by the Republican John C. Fleming
John C. Fleming
John Calvin Fleming, Jr. is a Minden, Louisiana physician, the author of the book Preventing Addiction, and the Republican U.S. representative from Louisiana's 4th congressional district...
, a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
from Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
in Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
.)
Waggonner the Methodist
Waggonner was a member of the First United Methodist ChurchUnited Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
of Plain Dealing but later attended the First United Methodist Church of Benton.
Daughter Carol Johnston told the Shreveport Times that her father was "a strong Christian. As long as he was physically able, he never went to bed without getting on his knees to say his prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
. Everything he did was the result of following what he thought was the example of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
."
Son David Waggonner (born ca. 1950) said that his father was "a real man. . . . He really liked people and cared about them." David, who was twelve when Waggonner was elected to Congress, went to Washington with his father that first summer of 1962.
Death
Waggonner had a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and suffered from heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
problems. He had been hospitalized for several weeks prior to his death at Promise Specialty Hospital in Shreveport.
Services of forty-five minutes in length were held on October 9 at the Brown Memorial Chapel of Methodist-affiliated Centenary College
Centenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...
, another institution of higher learning which Waggonner supported. Centenary President Emeritus Donald Webb officiated, with assistance from the Reverend Lynn Malone of the First United Methodist Church of Benton. Webb quipped that Waggonner had insisted thirty years earlier that Webb preach Waggonner's funeral, and Webb said he often hoped that Waggonner would outlive him and thus relieve Webb of that responsibility for which he felt "inadequate". Webb called Waggonner a "balanced man who could see both sides and bring them together." Reverend Malone said that Waggonner was the "ultimate patriot who loved his country." Waggonner himself requested the reading of that passage from Ecclesiastes about there being a time to everything.
In addition to his wife, Waggonner was survived by a daughter, Carol Jean Waggonner Johnston and her husband, Billy Tom Johnston, a builder, from Benton; a son, David Waggonner, an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
from New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, and three grandchildren. Waggonner's brother, W. E. "Willie" Waggonner (August 7, 1905—May 9, 1976), was a Democratic sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
in Bossier Parish for many years.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco ordered that the flags at the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset to honor Waggonner on the day of his funeral.
"Joe Waggonner was quite a character, representing our state during a tumultuous time in Congress. He was an economic development pioneer for Northwest Louisiana, and will be remembered for his hard work to lift up the region," Blanco said in her statement.
Former Governor Buddy Roemer, whom Waggonner opposed as his successor in the House in 1978, remarked: "He was bipartisan, or better yet, nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
. He kept putting his district, his state, his country first, not his party. The first thing they said was 'Democrats vote this way, Republicans vote this way,' and Joe Waggonner said 'Nonsense!'"
Local and regional dignitaries who attended Waggonner's funeral included former State Senator Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee
Virginia Shehee
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee is a Shreveport businesswoman and civic leader and the first female state senator from District 38. She won her seat in the 1975 general election by 23 votes over incumbent Cecil K. Carter, Jr. and served a single term until 1980. She was defeated in 1979 by fellow...
, a funeral home and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
company owner from Shreveport who worked with Waggonner on a number of issues. Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
s Lo Walker
Lo Walker
Lorenz James Walker, also known as Lo Walker , is the Republican mayor of Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana.At seventy-five, the self-described "workaholic" Walker, ran unopposed for a second four-year term in the April 4, 2009, municipal elections in Bossier City, the largest city in Bossier...
of Bossier City and Cedric Glover
Cedric Glover
Cedric Bradford Glover is the Democratic mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana -- the first African American to hold the position.Outgoing Mayor Keith Hightower was term-limited in 2006, after having won election in both 1998 and 2002...
of Shreveport attended, as did former Caddo Parish Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Don Hathaway and former U.S. Representative Jerry Huckaby
Jerry Huckaby
Thomas Jerald Huckaby, usually known as Jerry Huckaby , is a retired businessman who served as a Democratic U.S. representative from the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana between 1977 and 1993...
, whose freshman year in the U.S. House coincided with Waggonner's last term. The Shreveport Times noted that funeral guests included then Republican State Representatives Billy Montgomery
Billy Montgomery
Billy Wayne Montgomery, often known as Coach Montgomery , is a former educator who represented the Bossier City-based District 9 in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1988-2008...
and Jane H. Smith
Jane H. Smith
Jane Holland Smith is a former educator and a departing Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana.-Background:...
of Bossier Parish and U.S. Representative Jim McCrery.
Waggonner's legacy
Waggonner's papers are at his alma materAlma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, Louisiana Tech. Shreveport Times columnist Wiley W. Hilburn
Wiley W. Hilburn
Wiley Wilson Hilburn, Jr. , is a prominent journalist in Ruston, Louisiana, whose communications career began in the late 1950s when he was a student at Louisiana Tech University. In 1968, at the age of thirty, Hilburn returned to his alma mater to chair the Journalism Department and serve as...
, also then chairman of the Louisiana Tech journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
department, described Waggonner as the strongest advocate ever for Louisiana Tech. "Particularly athletics. He came to every game — football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
, and baseball
College baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...
. He was a tremendous commencement speaker and spoke often at Tech graduations," Hilburn added.
In 1977, Waggonner was named a charter recipient of the Tower Medallion for distinguished Louisiana Tech alumni. He was also Alumnus of the Year in 1992. There are two Joe D. Waggonner Scholarships at Louisiana Tech—one in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
and the other in Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. Louisiana Tech is establishing the Waggonner Center for Bipartisan and Public Policy.
Waggonner skillfully used this influence to secure funding for Interstate 49
Interstate 49
Interstate 49 is currently an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, Louisiana, at Interstate 10 while its northern terminus is in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Interstate 20.-Route...
and the Inner and Outer Loop, as well as funding for the Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...
Waterway. There would presumably be no navigable Red River or Shreveport-Bossier City port without his pioneering work. Furthermore, he was instrumental in persuading General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
to build a plant in Shreveport.
Representative Waggonner worked to support Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-southeast of Bossier City, Louisiana.The host unit at Barksdale is the 2d Bomb Wing , the oldest Bomb Wing in the Air Force. It is assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command's Eighth Air Force...
in Bossier City. Not only was Barksdale spared the ax while other bases closed, but Waggonner's work set the stage for the cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
provisional command there, according to former Bossier City Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Don Jones, a Waggonner family friend.
The previous federal courthouse in Shreveport was named for Waggonner, but that facility has since been abandoned and replaced. Louisiana College
Louisiana College
Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms...
of Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
will place its forthcoming Judge Paul N. Pressler School of Law in the former Waggonner building. Waggonner is instead honored through the Joe D. Waggonner Lock and Dam on the Red River.
Waggonner was active in the Great Bossier Economic Foundation, the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
, and the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
. In 1998 he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
, along with his former congressional colleague Speedy O. Long
Speedy O. Long
Speedy Oteria Long was a Jena lawyer who was a Democratic U.S. Representative from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973. Prior to his tenure in the since disbanded Eighth Congressional District, Speedy Long had been a member of the Louisiana state Senate...
of Jena
Jena, Louisiana
Jena is a town in and the parish seat of La Salle Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,971 at the 2000 census.In September 2006, Jena became the focus of national news stories in the United States for a racial controversy involving its school system and a group of students known...
, who died on October 5, 2006, almost exactly one year prior to Waggonner's passing.
In the spring of 1976, Waggonner was arrested in Washington on a charge of soliciting a police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
decoy for purposes of prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. He was released without formal charges because of a provision of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
which forbids the arrest of a congressman on a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
charge while Congress is in session. Despite the incident, voters overwhelmingly renominated Waggonner in the August 14, 1976, primary, which turned out to have been his last election victory. In that same primary, Jerry Huckaby
Jerry Huckaby
Thomas Jerald Huckaby, usually known as Jerry Huckaby , is a retired businessman who served as a Democratic U.S. representative from the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana between 1977 and 1993...
of Ringgold
Ringgold, Louisiana
Ringgold is a town in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,660 at the 2000 census. Ringgold is named for United States Army Major Samuel Ringgold, the hero of the battle of Palo Alto near Brownsville, Texas, in the Mexican-American War. Ringgold, the son of a U.S...
in Bienville Parish had unseated Waggonner's colleague Otto Passman
Otto Passman
Otto Ernest Passman was a conservative Democratic congressman from Monroe in northeastern Louisiana, who served from 1947 to 1977. He is primarily remembered for his detailed knowledge and mostly opposition to foreign aid...
. Huckaby went on to defeat Frank Spooner to win the seat.
(See:
http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/news/nws137.htm
http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/dc/dceditorials06.htm
http://georgearchibald.typepad.com/george_archibald/2006/10/09/index.html)
See also
- David W. Childs, "Congressman Joe D. Waggonner," North Louisiana HistoryNorth Louisiana HistoryNorth Louisiana History is an academic journal published twice annually in Shreveport, Louisiana by the North Louisiana Historical Association .-History:...
Vol. 13, No. 4 (Fall 1982), pp. 118-130