Louisiana Governors

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Louisiana Governors Long and Anti Long Governors
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Huey Pierce Long, Jr.

• 40th Louisiana Governor
• Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893 
  September 10, 1935)
• Nicknamed The Kingfish
• American politician from the U.S. state of
  Louisiana.
• A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist
  policies.
• He served as Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to
  1932 and as a U.S. senator from 1932 to 1935.
  Though a backer of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the
  1932 presidential election, Long split with
  Roosevelt in June 1933 and allegedly planned to
  mount his own presidential bid.
• Long created the Share Our Wealth program in
  1934, with the motto "Every Man a King,"
  proposing new wealth redistribution.
• He was an ardent critic of the Federal Reserve
  System.
• Charismatic and immensely popular for his social
  reform programs and willingness to take forceful
  action.
• At the height of his popularity, the colorful and
  flamboyant Long was shot on September 8, 1935, at
  the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge he
  died two days later at the age of 42.

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Alvin Olin King

• Alvin Olin King (June 21, 1890  January 21,
  1958)
• Louisiana politician allied with the popular Long
  faction of the state Democratic Party.
• Democrat
• Served as Governor from January 25, 1932 until
  May 10, 1932
• King was born in Leoti in Wichita County in
  western Kansas.
• He attended Tulane University Law School in New
  Orleans and began the practice of law.
• King was elected to the Louisiana State Senate
  from Calcasieu Parish in the southwestern part of
  the state and rose to president pro tempore of
  that body.
• When Huey Pierce Long, Jr., vacated the
  governorship for a seat in the United States
  Senate, King replaced him as governor for the
  five months remaining in Long's elected term.
• After leaving office, King reverted to his legal
  profession.
• Before his death in Lake Charles, King had become
  president of the Louisiana Bar Association. he
  was a Methodist.

4
Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr.

• Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr. (August 8, 1882 - January
  28, 1936), also known as O. K. Allen
• Democratic governor of Louisiana from 1932 to
  1936.
• He was a key lieutenant in the political machine
  of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., that dominated the
  state during the first half of the 1930s.
• Allen succeeded Alvin Olin King, who served
  briefly in the state's highest office after Long
  left the governorship to take a seat in the
  United States Senate.

5
James Albert Noe Sr.

• 43rd Louisiana Governor
• James Albert Noe Sr. (December 21, 1890  October
  18, 1976) of Monroe
• Served for nearly five months as a Democratic
  Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K.
  Allen on January 28, 1936.
• Served from January 28, 1936 until May 12, 1936.
• During Noe's brief tenure, he appointed Huey
  Long's widow, Rose McConnell Long, to finish
  Long's seat in the U.S. Senate.
• Worked toward getting federal money for state
  highways and establishing a state welfare office.
  
• Prominent New Orleans businessman, succeeded his
  father in running the family-owned radio and
  television stations.
• Noe died in Houston, from complications from a
  heart condition and is buried alongside his wife
  in Monroe.

6
Richard Webster Leche

• Richard Webster Leche (May 15, 1898 - February
  22, 1965) was the Democratic governor of
  Louisiana from 1936 until 1939.
• Leche was the first governor of Louisiana
  sentenced to prison.
• Served from May 12, 1936 until June 26, 1939
• After Huey Long was assassinated in September
  1935, the Long organization was left without a
  leader and without a candidate for the 1936
  gubernatorial election.
• Despite his relative obscurity, Leche was able to
  beat anti-Long candidate Cleveland Dear with the
  aid of the still-powerful Long political machine.
• While he continued Long's program of
  road-building, free textbooks, and expansion of
  hospital and educational facilities, Leche and
  his administration were far less committed to
  wealth redistribution and social programs than
  Long had been.
• In a reconciliation with the administration of
  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Leche
  promised to cease using Long's Share Our Wealth
  rhetoric and to support New Deal programs. In
  return, Roosevelt dropped investigation of the
  Long machine on tax evasion charges, and restored
  federal patronage to Louisiana. Once the
  corruption became too blatant, though, Leche and
  several of his cronies were indicted in what were
  termed the "Louisiana Scandals." Beset by scandal
  and accusations, Leche resigned the governorship
  on June 26, 1939 he was succeeded by his
  Lieutenant Governor Earl K. Long.
• Richard Leche's legal problems began when Chester
  Martin, a highway engineer who had his pay
  skimmed by Leche's newspaper, mimeographed
  receipts of the payments and a written summary of
  his allegations. He left them on the desks of
  every state legislature member the morning before
  the legislature came into session.

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Earl Kemp Long (1st Term)

• Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895  September 5,
  1960)
• Younger brother of Huey P. Long
• Politician and three-time Democratic governor of
  Louisiana, who termed himself the "last of the
  red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his
  stump-speaking skills.
• He served from 1939-1940, 1948-1952, and
  1956-1960.
• He was also lieutenant governor, having served
  from 1936-1939, but he failed in three other bids
  to be elected lieutenant governor.

8
Sam H. Jones

• Sam Houston Jones (July 15, 1897 February 7,
  1978)
• Was the reform Democratic governor of Louisiana
  from 1940 to 1944.
• Defeated the legendary Earl Kemp Long in the 1940
  Democratic primary. Long turned the tables on
  Jones and soundly defeated him in the 1948 party
  primary.

9
Jimmy Davis (1st Term)

• James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 -
  November 5, 2000), better known as Jimmie Davis.
• Was a noted singer of both sacred and popular
  songs.
• Served two nonconsecutive terms as a Democratic
  governor of Louisiana (1944-1948 and 1960-1964).

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Earl Kemp Long (1st Term)

• Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895  September 5,
  1960)
• Younger brother of Huey P. Long
• Politician and three-time Democratic governor of
  Louisiana, who termed himself the "last of the
  red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his
  stump-speaking skills.
• He served from 1939-1940, 1948-1952, and
  1956-1960.
• He was also lieutenant governor, having served
  from 1936-1939, but he failed in three other bids
  to be elected lieutenant governor.

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Robert Kennon, Sr.

• Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon
  (August 12, 1902 - January 11, 1988), was a
  "good-government" reform
• Democratic governor of the U.S. state of
  Louisiana
• Served from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second
  nonconsecutive term in the 1963 Democratic
  primary.
• After the Brown v. Board of Education decision of
  May 17, 1954, Governor Kennon ordered the
  continued enforcement of laws relating to
  segregation.
• He vowed that the state would provide a public
  school system "which will include segregation in
  fact."
• Desegregation, however, began under Kennon's
  successors, Earl Kemp Long and James Houston
  "Jimmie" Davis, but it was a long process, not
  completed in Louisiana until August 1970.

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Earl Kemp Long (3rd Term)

• Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895  September 5,
  1960)
• Younger brother of Huey P. Long
• Politician and three-time Democratic governor of
  Louisiana, who termed himself the "last of the
  red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his
  stump-speaking skills.
• He served from 1939-1940, 1948-1952, and
  1956-1960.
• He was also lieutenant governor, having served
  from 1936-1939, but he failed in three other bids
  to be elected lieutenant governor.

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Jimmy Davis (2nd Term)

• James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 -
  November 5, 2000), better known as Jimmie Davis.
• Was a noted singer of both sacred and popular
  songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as a
  Democratic governor of Louisiana (1944-1948 and
  1960-1964).

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John Julian McKeithen

• John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918  June 4,
  1999) was the 53rd Governor of Louisiana,
• Served from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the
  town of Columbia.
• He was the first governor of his state to serve
  two consecutive terms.
• As governor, he pushed for the construction of
  the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

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The End

• Background photo of the State Capitol in Baton
  Rouge by Jude Dubois

• Photos and text from Wikipedia