# Joe Waggonner

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American politician

Joe Waggonner Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th 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 Mary Carter ​ (m. 1942)​ 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 a [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) [U.S. Representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) for the [4th congressional district](/source/Louisiana's_4th_congressional_district) in northwest [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana) from December 1961 to January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican President [Richard Nixon](/source/Richard_Nixon).

## Background

Waggonner was born in [Plain Dealing](/source/Plain_Dealing%2C_Louisiana) to Joe David Waggonner Sr. and the former Elizzibeth Johnston. He graduated from Plain Dealing High School and in 1941 from [Louisiana Tech University](/source/Louisiana_Tech_University), where he was a member of [Kappa Sigma](/source/Kappa_Sigma). On December 14, 1942, he married Mary Ruth Carter. The couple resided in their later years in [Benton](/source/Benton%2C_Louisiana), the seat of Bossier Parish, and then in the more populous [Bossier City](/source/Bossier_City%2C_Louisiana).[1]

During [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War), Waggonner served in the [U.S. Navy](/source/United_States_Navy), having attained the rank of [lieutenant commander](/source/Lieutenant_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 Louisiana [state comptroller](/source/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 the [Louisiana Public Service Commission](/source/Louisiana_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 promoted [segregationist](/source/Segregationist) policies.[4] He had also been instrumental in the founding of the [White Citizens Council](/source/White_Citizens_Council) in the late 1950s, and served as the president of its Louisiana Fourth District Chapter.[5]

## Election to Congress

Representative Waggonner and other members of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics visit the [Marshall Space Flight Center](/source/Marshall_Space_Flight_Center) in [Huntsville, Alabama](/source/Huntsville%2C_Alabama), on March 9, 1962, to gather first-hand information of the nation's space exploration program.

Waggonner won a [special election](/source/By-election) on December 19, 1961, to succeed long-time U.S. Representative [Overton Brooks](/source/Overton_Brooks), who had died in office. Waggonner had already announced his intention to oppose Brooks for renomination in the [1962](/source/1962_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections) Democratic primary, spurred by Brooks' congressional vote to expand the [House Rules Committee](/source/House_Rules_Committee) to permit Speaker [Sam Rayburn](/source/Sam_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]

## Rhodesia

Commenting on the founding of [Rhodesia](/source/Rhodesia), 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 [Socialist](/source/Socialism), 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 to [Communism](/source/Communism).[9]

## Republican/Southern Democrat coalition

In Congress, Waggonner often supported a Republican-Southern Democratic [coalition](/source/Coalition) on various issues, later known as the "[Boll Weevils](/source/Boll_weevil_(politics))". He was [fiscally conservative](/source/Fiscal_conservatism) and opposed many federal social programs as well as civil rights legislation in 1964, 1965 and 1968. He took a "hawkish" position on the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War).[10]

He served as an informal [whip](/source/Whip_(politics)) for President [Richard Nixon](/source/Richard_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]

## Death

After his death on October 7, 2007, Louisiana Governor [Kathleen Blanco](/source/Kathleen_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 Governor [Buddy Roemer](/source/Buddy_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]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-obit_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-obit_1-1) ["Joseph Waggonner Jr"](https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=95784595). *Shreveport Times*. October 8, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *Minden Press-Herald*, November 13, 1959, p. 13.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Minorities Decided Recent Primaries"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54408521/the-monroe-news-star/). *The Monroe News-Star*. July 2, 1960.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Waggonner Fears Integration Try"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54408873/the-monroe-news-star/). *The Monroe News-Star*. February 8, 1962.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Black, Earl; Black, Merle (2009). [*The Rise of Southern Republicans*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XQeYu-GxlKwC&pg=PA165). Harvard University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780674020986](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780674020986).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** "4th District's Congressional Race Enters Home Stretch". *The Shreveport Times*. December 1, 1961.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["GOP Challenge Turned Back By Waggonner"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54410199/lake-charles-american-press/). *Lake Charles American-Press*. December 2, 1961.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Joseph D. Waggonner, Jr. elector history"](https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=16610). *Our Campaigns*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-rhodesia_9-0)** Lake, Anthony. *The "Tar Baby" Option: American Policy Toward Southern Rhodesia*, 1976. Page 119.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Woods, Jeff (2003). [*Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948–1968*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gGpMrxnZZHEC&pg=PA243). LSU Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780807129265](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780807129265).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Ambrose, Stephen (2014). [*Nixon Volume III: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990*](https://books.google.com/books?id=JPBzAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT347). Simon and Schuster. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781481424134](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781481424134).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Apple, R. W. (August 2, 1974). ["House. Impeachment Numbers Game: First You Take 248, Subtract 187..."](https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/02/archives/house-impeachment-numbers-game-first-you-take-248-subtract-187-the.html) *New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** "Hundred pay respects". *The Shreveport Times*. October 8, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** "Waggonner slips into history with dignity". *The Shreveport Times*. October 1, 2007.

## External links

- [Waggonner Center at Louisiana Tech University](http://waggonnercenter.org/index.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110728165729/http://waggonnercenter.org/index.html) July 28, 2011, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [Biography](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000018) at the *[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)*

U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by Overton Brooks Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th congressional district 1961–1979 Succeeded by Buddy Leach

v t e United States representatives from Louisiana 1st district E. Livingston White H. Johnson White Slidell La Sére St. Martin Dunbar Eustis Bouligny Sypher Lawrence Gibson Hunt St. Martin Wilkinson Meyer Estopinal O'Connor Fernández Hébert Tonry B. Livingston Vitter Jindal Scalise 2nd district Gurley Thomas Ripley Chinn Dawson la Branche Thibodeaux Conrad Bullard J. A. Landry Hunt Taylor Mann Sheldon Ellis Hahn Wallace Lagan Coleman Lagan Davey Buck Davey Gilmore Dupré Spearing Maloney H. Boggs Maloney H. Boggs L. Boggs Jefferson Cao Richmond Carter 3rd district Brent Overton Bullard Garland J. Moore Dawson Harmanson Penn Perkins Davidson Newsham Darrall Acklen Darrall Kellogg Gay Price Broussard Martin Montet Mouton Domengeaux Willis Caffery Treen Tauzin Melançon J. M. Landry Boustany Higgins 4th district Bossier Morse J. Moore Jones Sandidge Landrum Vidal Newsham McCleery Boarman Smith Levy Elam Blanchard Ogden Breazeale Watkins Sandlin Brooks Waggonner Leach Roemer McCrery Fields McCrery Fleming M. Johnson 5th district Blackburn Morey Spencer Leonard Young King Newton Boatner Baird Ransdell Elder Wilson Mills McKenzie Passman Huckaby McCrery Cooksey Alexander McAllister Abraham Letlow 6th district Nash E. Robertson Lewis Irion E. Robertson S. Robertson Favrot Wickliffe Morgan Sanders Sr. Favrot Kemp Sanders Jr. Griffith Sanders Jr. Morrison Rarick H. Moore Baker Cazayoux Cassidy Graves Fields 7th district Pujo Lazaro De Rouen Plauché Larcade Thompson Edwards Breaux Hayes John Boustany 8th district Aswell Overton Dear Allen G. S. "Doc" Long McSween G. W. Long S. Long G. W. Long C. Long Holloway At-large Robertson Butler Johnston Sheridan Territory Clark Poydras

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joe Waggonner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Waggonner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Waggonner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.