John McKeithen

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John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 -- June 4, 1999), a Democrat from the tiny town of Columbia, the seat of Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, was the first governor of his state to serve two consecutive terms. His tenure ran from 1964-1972. He was also the governor who pushed for the construction of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

1 Early life
2 Entering the legislature and the PSC
3 Election as governor
4 McKeithen as governor
5 Re-election campaign, 1967
6 After governorship
7 References

[edit] Early life

McKeithen was born in the village of Grayson in Caldwell Parish. He graduated from high school there and first attended college in High Point, North Carolina. He earned a law degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

After service in World War II, McKeithen started practicing law in Columbia. He married a young teacher in Columbia, the former Marjorie "Margie" Howell Funderburk (September 30, 1919 -- March 24, 2004). She graduated from Louisiana Tech University, then called "Louisiana Polytechnic Institute." McKeithen called her "my sweetie." They had six children. She was the homemaker of their Hogan Plantation and reserved the spotlight for her popular husband, whom she affectionately called "J.J." It was said that she was particularly elated when the day came to leave the governor's mansion, turn things over to Edwin Washington Edwards and Elaine Edwards, and return to Hogan Plantation.

[edit] Entering the legislature and the PSC

McKeithen was elected as a Louisiana state representative in 1948; he was a prominent leader for Governor Earl Kemp Long on the floor of the House. In 1952, as a 33-year-old state legislator, he was an unsuccessful Democratic primary candidate for lieutenant governor on a slate supported by the Longs. The "anti-Longs," led that year by Judge Robert F. Kennon of Minden, won the governorship and other top positions. McKeithen lost the lieutenant governor's runoff to C.E. "Cap" Barham of Ruston (the seat of Lincoln Parish, who had originally run on the ticket with Congressman Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., of New Orleans. Barham then switched to the Kennon ticket in the runoff against McKeithen.

McKeithen then served on the elected Louisiana Public Service Commission from 1954 to 1964, where he was credited with maintaining the traditional nickel phone call, when most states had long gone to a dime or higher in pay phone outlets.

[edit] Election as governor

see main article: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1963-64.

McKeithen won the Democratic nomination for governor in January 1964 (an event that showed the Democrats rejection of hardline segregationists) and swept the general election held thereafter on March 3. In the first primary, McKeithen emerged in second place to the frontrunner deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., McKeithen then won the runoff, 492,905 (52.2 percent) to 451,161 (47.8 percent). He then overcame the conservative Republican Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., a Shreveport oilman, in the first seriously contested Louisiana gubernatorial general election since Reconstruction. McKeithen defeated Lyons, 469,589 (60.7 percent) to 297,753 (37.5 percent). McKeithen seemed somewhat bitter that he had to face a strong Republican candidate after struggling through two hard-fought Democratic primaries.

[edit] McKeithen as governor

When McKeithen was elected, Louisiana governors could still serve only one term. Governors had to sit out a term if they wished to seek second or third terms thereafter. McKeithen worked to end this practice; voters overwhelmingly approved his pet "Amendment 1" in the 1966 general election. Therefore, he could seek a second term in the 1967-1968 election cycle.

As governor, McKeithen got to appoint his own successor to the Public Service Commission. He chose Monroe lawyer John S. Hunt, III, a nephew of the late Huey Pierce Long, Jr and Earl Long. (Hunt's mother, Lucille Long Hunt, was a sister of the Long brothers.) Hunt won the seat for a full term in the 1966 election but was unseated in 1972 by Edward Kennon of Minden, a nephew of Robert Kennon.

McKeithen's two terms were characterized by economic expansion and jobs creation. He plugged for the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans despite initial misgivings by many about the costs and need. He also pushed through a 2-cent sales tax increase in 1970 to fund higher pay for teachers and state employees. He worked to expand construction on many public college and university campuses.

Despite having personally intervened to stem racial violence in Bogalusa in 1965, McKeithen later became a national spokesperson for the movement to oppose integration by busing school children.

[edit] Re-election campaign, 1967

He was so popular in office that voters renominated him with ease in the 1967 Democratic primary, in which he was opposed by the very conservative Indiana-born Sixth District freshman Congressman John Rarick of St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish, who did not warm to rural voters the way McKeithen could and whose strict constitutionalist views did not appeal to many in the Louisiana statewide electorate. People responded positively to McKeithen's folksy mannerisms and trademark "Won't you 'hep me?" appeal. Republicans did not field a candidate to challenge McKeithen for a second term in the general election held on February 6, 1968.

In the second term, McKeithen faced the legislative opposition of a group of mostly young reformers known as the "Young Turks." One of their leaders was Robert G. "Bob" Jones, a state representative from Lake Charles and the son of former Governor Sam Houston Jones. Jones objected to state funding of the Superdome in New Orleans and many state bond projects. The Young Turks favored a "pay-as-you-go" approach, rather than too much bonded indebtedness. Jones himself would run unsuccessfully for governor in 1975.

[edit] After governorship

After he left office in 1972, McKeithen sought the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of long-term Democratic incumbent Allen J. Ellender. The filing deadline had closed for the Democratic primary; so he ran as an independent in the general election. He lost to the Democratic nominee, former State Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr, as Richard M. Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew were easily carrying Louisiana.

Governor David C. Treen, a Republican, appointed the Democrat McKeithen to the LSU Board of Supervisors, a position that he held until his death. In his later years, McKeithen practiced law in Columbia and in Baton Rouge with his granddaughter, Marjorie. In 1993, McKeithen was among the original inductees into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.

McKeithen's son, W. Fox McKeithen (1946-2005), was a member of the Louisiana legislature (1984-1988) and secretary of state (1988-2005). Fox McKeithen switched his party allegiance from Democratic to Republican after his first election as secretary of state in 1987, much to the consternation of his staunchly Democratic father and daughter.

Preceded by: Jimmie Davis (D)	Governor of Louisiana John McKeithen (D) 1964–1972	Succeeded by: Edwin Edwards (D)

Preceded by: V.E. Claunch (D)	Louisiana State Representative from District 20 (Caldwell Parish) John Julian McKeithen (D) 1948–1952	Succeeded by: Johnnie W. Calton (D)