Joe Waggonner | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's4th district | |
| In office December 19, 1961 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Overton Brooks |
| Succeeded by | Buddy Leach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph David Waggonner Jr. (1918-09-07)September 7, 1918 Plain Dealing, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | October 7, 2007(2007-10-07) (aged 89) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Willie Waggonner (brother) |
| Education | Louisiana Tech University (BS) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | World War II Korean War |
Joseph David Waggonner Jr. (September 7, 1918 – October 7, 2007) was aDemocraticU.S. Representative for the4th congressional district in northwestLouisiana from December 1961 to January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican PresidentRichard Nixon.
Waggonner was born inPlain Dealing to Joe David Waggonner Sr. and the former Elizzibeth Johnston. He graduated from Plain Dealing High School and in 1941 fromLouisiana Tech University, where he was a member ofKappa Sigma. On December 14, 1942, he married Mary Ruth Carter. The couple resided in their later years inBenton, the seat of Bossier Parish, and then in the more populousBossier City.[1]
DuringWorld War II and theKorean War, Waggonner served in theU.S. Navy, having attained the rank oflieutenant commander. In between and after the wars, he was a petroleum product wholesaler.[1]
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 to 1957. In 1959, Waggonner ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the position of Louisianastate comptroller, losing to Roy R. Theriot.[2]
On July 23, 1960, Waggonner was elected to the Louisiana State Board of Education from the Third District of theLouisiana Public Service Commission, unseating incumbent C. Raymond Heard.[3] In 1961, Waggonner was chosen president of the Louisiana School Boards Association and the United Schools Committee of Louisiana, positions from which he promotedsegregationist policies.[4] He had also been instrumental in the founding of theWhite Citizens Council in the late 1950s, and served as the president of its Louisiana Fourth District Chapter.[5]
Waggonner won aspecial election on December 19, 1961, to succeed long-time U.S. RepresentativeOverton Brooks, who had died in office. Waggonner had already announced his intention to oppose Brooks for renomination in the1962 Democratic primary, spurred by Brooks' congressional vote to expand theHouse Rules Committee to permit SpeakerSam Rayburn to add new liberal members to the panel, which was dominated at the time by minority conservatives from both national parties.[6] In the special election, Waggonner turned back a relatively strong Republican challenge from Charlton Lyons, an Abbeville native and a Shreveport oilman. Waggonner polled 33,892 votes (54.5 percent) to Lyons' 28,250 ballots (45.5 percent).[7] Over his eight re-elections, he faced opposition only twice, easily turning back primary challenges both times.[8]
Commenting on the founding ofRhodesia, 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, theSocialist, 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 Democracy toCommunism.[9]
In Congress, Waggonner often supported a Republican-Southern Democraticcoalition on various issues, later known as the "Boll Weevils". He wasfiscally conservative and opposed many federal social programs as well as civil rights legislation in 1964, 1965 and 1968. He took a "hawkish" position on theVietnam War.[10]
He served as an informalwhip for PresidentRichard Nixon during his impeachment investigation. Waggonner initially estimated that he could rally 70 Democratic votes against impeachment,[11] but as the investigation unfolded, Nixon's support fell, and Waggonner reported that he could only rally 38 votes, at which point Nixon knew he didn't have the numbers necessary to avoid impeachment.[12]
After his death on October 7, 2007, Louisiana GovernorKathleen Blanco ordered that the flags at the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion be flown at half-staff to honor Waggonner. "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.[13]
Former GovernorBuddy Roemer, whom Waggonner opposed as his successor in the House in 1978, remarked: "He was bipartisan, or better yet, nonpartisan. 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!'"[14]
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 4th congressional district 1961–1979 | Succeeded by |
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