William Joseph "Bill" Dodd (November 25, 1909 – November 16, 1991) held some half dozen important positions in Louisiana government in the mid-twentieth century, including the offices of state representative, lieutenant governor, state auditor, president of the State Board of Education, and state education superintendent, but he never achieved his ultimate goal: the state's powerful Napoleonic-style governorship. Twice Dodd failed to win the pivotal Democratic gubernatorial nomination: 1952 and 1959. To his critics, he was a Long "hatchet man." To his admirers, he never let his defeats sour his optimistic spirit, his patriotism, or his devotion to his adopted home state. is the 329th day of the year (330th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... A Lieutenant Governor is a government official who is the subordinate or deputy of a Governor or Governor-General. ... Audit can refer to: Telecommunication audit Financial audit Performance audit Completion of a course of study for which no assessment is completed or grade awarded; especially audit is awarded to those who have elected not to receive a letter grade for a course in which letter grades typically awarded. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Defence of the fatherland is a commonplace of patriotism: The statue in the courtyard of École polytechnique, Paris, commemorating the students involvement in defending France against the 1814 invasion of the Coalition. ...

From Liberty, Texas, to Allen Parish, Louisiana

Dodd was born in a logging camp in Liberty, Texas, near Houston to Daniel David Dodd and the former Nancy J. Pawley. The family relocated to Sabine Parish (parish seat: Many, pronounced MAN NIE) between Shreveport and Lake Charles. He graduated from Zwolle High School in Zwolle in Sabine Parish. Liberty is the county seat of Liberty CountyGR6 located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. ... Houston redirects here. ... Sabine Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Many is a town located in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. ... : Port City , River City , Rachet City : The Next Great City of the South United States Louisiana Caddo 117. ... This article is about the City of Lake Charles, La. ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... Zwolle is a town in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States. ...

After high school, Dodd played professional baseball for teams in Monroe, Louisiana, and Cody, Wyoming. In Wyoming, one of Dodd's teammates was a future Republican governor and U.S. senator, Milward L. Simpson. While he was in Cody, Dodd became a friend of the Simpson family and often babysat the two Simpson sons, Pete Simpson, a future educator, and Alan Kooi Simpson, a Republican U.S. senator from 1979-1997. For years afterwards, Dodd maintained contact with the Simpson family. Dodd, who was white, was said, in his own words, to resemble the popular black boxer Joe Louis. But Dodd was playing baseball, not boxing. This article is about the sport. ... The city of Monroe is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming and named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Codys part in the creation of the original town. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... Milward Lee Simpson (November 12, 1897 – June 10, 1993) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as governor of Wyoming. ... Alan Kooi Simpson (born September 2, 1931, in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.) is a Republican politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), best known as Joe Louis and nicknamed The Brown Bomber, a native of Lexington, Alabama, is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time. ...

After his baseball years, Dodd attended Northwestern State University (then Louisiana Normal School) in Natchitoches, where he was a member of Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1934 and taught school for a number of years at Oakdale High School in Oakdale in Allen Parish. Dodd recalled in his memoirs that he earned $140 per month as a teacher, with many duties outside the classroom. A high school student advised Dodd in 1939 that he should run for the state legislature so that he would have a greater impact on the people of the state. Northwestern State University, often called NSU or Northwestern, is a public four-year university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. ... The city of Natchitoches (pronounced , or NAK-uh-tush) is the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity or Sig Tau is a U.S. all-male college social fraternity founded on June 28, 1920 at University of Central Missouri (then known as Central Missouri State Teachers College). ... For other degrees, see Academic degree. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oakdale is a small city located in Allen Parish, Louisiana. ... Allen Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd married one of his former students, the former Verone Ford (February 18, 1918 – September 25, 2005), on August 27, 1939. The couple had two sons, William Ford Dodd (born August 17, 1947), often called "Bill, Jr.," and Leonard Bruce Dodd (born 1951) of Clinton, the seat of East Feliciana Parish. is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clinton is a town located in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. ... East Feliciana Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Another of Dodd's former students was future state Treasurer Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker, whom he taught speech and later helped to secure a college scholarship and a job in the Earl Kemp Long administration. Dodd in his memoirs described Mrs. Parker as "a born ingrate" because she often tried to undercut his political aspirations. Look up Treasurer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker (born November 8, 1920) was the Democratic state treasurer of Louisiana from 1968-1987. ... Earl Kemp Long (26 August 1895 - 5 September 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... A memoir, as a literary genre, forms a sub-class of autobiography. ...

Dodd's political career, spurred by a student's advice, hence began with his election in 1940 to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Allen Parish. He unseated four-term incumbent Democrat David Cole, who had been an ally of the disgraced Richard W. Leche administration. In 1932, Cole, who had a fiery temper, clashed on the House floor with a colleague and both men came away with scrapes and bruises. (Richard D. White, Jr., Kingfish, Random House, 2006, pp. 154-155) The Louisiana State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... Richard W. Leche was the governor of Louisiana from 1936 till 1939. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd recalled that the families of his students worked hard to get him elected to the legislature, and he never forgot their support. Dodd served in the House under the anti-Long Governors Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles and James Houston "Jimmie" Davis, originally of Jackson Parish. Jones defeated Earl Long in 1940, and Davis topped the Long factional choice of former U.S. Representative Lewis L. Morgan of Covington, the seat of St. Tammany Parish, in the 1944 primary runoff. Sam Houston Jones was the governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. ... 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). ... Jackson Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... Lewis Lovering Morgan was a Louisiana politician. ... The city of Covington is the parish seat of St. ... St. ...

Although he was exempt from conscription, Dodd volunteered for the U.S. Army during World War II and served as a lieutenant in Europe. He was reelected to his second term in the legislature while he was still in the military. When he returned home in 1945, he began his legal studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He received his LL.B. degree less than two years later and was admitted to the Louisiana bar. The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see LSU. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ... Capitol Building Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, a state of the United States of America. ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries. ...

Lieutenant Governor Dodd, 1948–1952

In 1948, he was elected lieutenant governor under Earl Long, who won the second of his three gubernatorial terms. While he was lieutenant governor, a part-time position, which permitted him to practice law as well, Dodd directed Louisiana Civil Defense, and he represented the state before the Tidelands settlement commission. Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Lieutenant Governor is a government official who is the subordinate or deputy of a Governor or Governor-General. ... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ... The old United States civil defense logo. ...

Dodd and then Louisiana Attorney General Bolivar Edwards Kemp, Jr., who served from 1948–1952, maintained that Louisiana seriously erred when it rejected a compromise tidelands offer from the Truman administration. Had Governor Long agreed to the deal, the state would have gained billions of additional dollars in state revenues over the coming decades, Dodd said. Long rejected the compromise on advice from Judge Leander Perez of Plaquemines Parish, who maintained that Louisiana could win a much better settlement before the U.S. Supreme Court. As it turned out, Dodd's assessment was correct, and the Supreme Court rebuffed Louisiana's attempt to get a greater share of the offshore revenues. Dodd maintained that Louisiana government would have been the best funded in the nation had Long accepted Truman's offer. In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions. ... For the victim of Mt. ... Leander Henry Perez, Sr. ... Plaquemines Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Edgar Poe, former president of the National Press Corps in Washington, D.C., wrote Dodd in 1982 that "Louisiana would be a tax free state had the compromoise proposed been accepted. As you know, offshore Louisiana is the most intense oil and gas development area in the world. As a result, the federal government is collecting hundreds of millions of dollars every year from lease sales of its share of the oil and gas sales." Dodd called Poe "among the finest persons and most reliable reporters who ever stroked a typewriter." For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

As lieutenant governor, Dodd became "acting governor" whenever Earl Long went outside the state's boundaries. Dodd found that Long was reluctant to leave Louisiana for very long because Long disliked the procedure by which the lieutenant governor could perform certain governatorial duties when the governor was out of state.

Once Dodd was invited to Wyoming to hunt with his friends the Simpsons. Long became so jealous of Dodd's invitation to visit the first family of Wyoming that he told Dodd that he was going to Hot Springs, Arkansas, at the time Dodd was to be in Wyoming. According to Dodd, Earl Long "let on as if he did not know of our already scheduled Wyoming trip. But he did know of it, and he knew that if he left the state, I would have to stay and act as governor while he was away . . . Of course, I cancelled the hunt. Then on the weekend, when Earl was supposed to leave for Hot Springs, he went to his hog farm in Winnfield and didn't even tell me he had cancelled his Arkansas trip." Sign from the city limits. ...

Earl Long had a severe heart attack late in 1951, and Dodd even wondered if he might yet succeed to the state's top office, but Long slowly recovered. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), more commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ...

From 1952–1956, Dodd was a member of the powerful Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd's first gubernatorial campaign, 1951–1952

The Longite Dodd occasionally quarreled with the Longs. While he was lieutenant governor, and his office was across the corridor from the governor's, Earl Long often ignored Dodd. He preferred to communicate in writing, rather than face-to-face meetings. Long flatly objected to Dodd's candidacy for governor. Long occasionally derided the lieutenant governor in private correspondence in which he denounced Dodd as "Big Bad Bill Dodd" and "the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Louisiana politics." The Dodd-Long relationship appeared to have been eerily similar to that which surfaced years later with President William Jefferson Blythe "Bill" Clinton and his political consultant, Dick Morris. William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Dick Morris (born November 28, 1948 in New York City) is an American political author, newspaper columnist, and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant. ...

Dodd selected the future "Cajun" humorist and chef, Justin E. Wilson (April 24, 1914 – September 5, 2001), as his gubernatorial campaign manager and moved full speed ahead in a bid to succeed Long. Wilson was no stranger to Louisiana politics. His father, Harry D. Wilson, had been agriculture commissioner, and his brother-in-law, Bolivar Kemp, was the sitting attorney general who had worked with Dodd on the tidelands issue. Justin Wilson (24 April 1914 - 5 September 2001) was a Southern American chef and humorist known for his brand of Cajun cuisine-inspired cooking and humor. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

Dodd's main primary opponents included Judge Robert F. Kennon of Minden in Webster Parish, Congressman Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr., of New Orleans, Judge Carlos Spaht of Baton Rouge, and Lucille May Grace, register of the state land office and the first woman ever to seek the Louisiana governorship. Dodd finished fifth in the primary, with 90,925 votes (11.9 percent). Miss Grace, who accused her rival Boggs of either "being a communist or having had communist sympathies," finished dead last in tenth place. Robert Floyd Kennon (August 12, 1902 - January 11, 1988) was the Democratic governor of the state of Louisiana, United States between 1952-1956. ... The small city of Minden is the parish seat of Webster Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Webster Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. ... Lucille May Grace a. ...

The two finalists were Judge Spaht, who had most of the Long dynastic support that year, and Judge Kennon, around whom the anti-Long forces coalesced in the runoff primary, which Kennon won handily. Dodd could take comfort that he still ran ahead of the colorful State Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc of Abbeville in Vermilion Parish, who polled 62,906 votes (8.3 percent). The wealthy LeBlanc is best remembered for peddling the alcohol-laden patent medicine called Hadacol. In the runoff primary, Dodd endorsed Kennon in part to get back at Earl Long. Dudley Joseph Cousin Dud LeBlanc (August 16, 1894 -- October 22, 1971) was a popular Democratic and Cajun member of the Louisiana State Senate whose entrepreneurial talents netted him a fortune through the alcohol-laden patent medicine known as Hadacol. ... The small city of Abbeville is the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, in the US state of Louisiana, 150 miles (241 km) southwest of New Orleans. ... Vermilion Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... E.W. Kembles Deaths Laboratory in Colliers Magazine in 1906 Patent medicine is the somewhat misleading term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were, for the most part, actually medicines with trademarks, not patented medicines. ... Hadacol was a patent medicine marketed as a vitamin supplement. ...

Dodd recalled that Earl Long did not want Dodd to run for governor in the 1951 primary because Long was reconciled to an "anti-Long" victory, whether Kennon or Boggs. Long therefore expected Spaht to lose to Kennon. He also expected John McKeithen to lose to Charles E. "Cap" Barham of Ruston, the original lieutenant governor choice of Boggs, who was "adopted" by Kennon in the Democratic runoff. Still, Long worked hard for McKeithen but held back his most stringent efforts on Spaht's behalf. Dodd said that Earl Long wanted to lead the Long faction both in the governorship and out of the governorship. In other words, he did not want anyone else in the Long faction to be governor. That top job was "reserved" for Earl Long. The same was often said of Governor Edwin Washington Edwards during his stormy four-term tenure in the state's highest constitutional office. John Julian McKeithen (May 28, 1918 -- June 4, 1999), a Democrat from the tiny town of Columbia in Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, was the first governor of his state to serve two consecutive terms. ... Charles Emmett Cap Barham (September 26, 1905 -- February 23, 1972), was the Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 1952 - 1956, who is credited with having established the office independent from that of the governor. ... The city of Ruston is the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Edwin Washington Edwards (born 7 August 1927) is a United States politician who served as governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972 - 1980, 1984 - 1988, and 1992 - 1996), more terms than any other Louisiana governor. ...

Did Justin Wilson help to elect Kennon?

Dodd said that his 1951–1952 campaign manager, Justin Wilson, helped him to draw crowds. "He is a good speaker as well as the best storyteller in Louisiana. But Justin and I soon saw that old Earl had outfoxed us, and we just played out the game to eliminate and harass those who had double-crossed us.

Dodd defeats Allison Kolb for auditor, 1956

Earl Long wanted Dodd not to run for any office in 1952 but wait until the 1955-1956 cycle to run for another constitutional office while Earl Long ran and easily secured a third term as governor. And that ultimately happened: Earl Long returned to the governorship, and Dodd was reconciled on the Long ticket to the elected office of state auditor. He unseated the incumbent Democrat and later Republican Allison Kolb to win the auditor's position. Later, the name "auditor" was changed to "comptroller", and the position was taken by Roy R. Theriot of Abbeville, the seat of Vermilion Parish. Allison Ray Kolb (November 1, 1915 -- December 23, 1973) was the Democratic auditor of Louisiana from 1952-1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor William J. Bill Dodd in the 1956 party primary. ... Roy R. Theriot, Sr. ... The small city of Abbeville is the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, in the US state of Louisiana, 150 miles (241 km) southwest of New Orleans. ... Vermilion Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

For more on the auditor's race, see the Wikipedia article on Allison Kolb. Allison Ray Kolb (November 1, 1915 -- December 23, 1973) was the Democratic auditor of Louisiana from 1952-1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor William J. Bill Dodd in the 1956 party primary. ...

"William Dodd and William White," 1959

As the outgoing auditor, Dodd launched his second bid for governor in 1959 on an intraparty "ticket" with William J. "Bill" White (1910-1990), a candidate for lieutenant governor. White would serve through 1985 as the mayor of Gretna, the seat of Jefferson Parish. Dodd also recruited attorney Paul C. Tate, Sr., of Mamou in Evangeline Parish for insurance commissioner, Toby O'Rillion for state comptroller, and Jack M. Dyer of Baton Rouge for the new elected office of custodian of voting machines. White lost out to conservative former state House Speaker Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franklin in St. Mary Parish. Tate was a loser to Rufus D. Hayes. O'Rillion lost to Roy R. Theriot, the mayor of Abbeville, the seat of Vermilion Parish, and Dyer was defeated by the appointed incumbent, Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr., of Coushatta, the seat of Red River Parish. Dyer thereafter served a term in the legislature from East Baton Rouge Parish. Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... The city of Gretna is the parish seat of Jefferson Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... Jefferson Parish is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Mamou is a town located in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. ... Evangeline Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Franklin is a small city located in St. ... St. ... Roy R. Theriot, Sr. ... The small city of Abbeville is the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, in the US state of Louisiana, 150 miles (241 km) southwest of New Orleans. ... Vermilion Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr. ... Coushatta is a town in Red River Parish, Louisiana, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,299. ... Red River Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... East Baton Rouge Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Dodd's unofficial campaign manager that year was Sidney Bowman, a former LSU great and an Olympic athlete, who sought with apparently little success to recruit supporters of former Governor Kennon, who was not a gubernatorial candidate in 1959, to Dodd's ticket.

The entire Dodd-White slate fared poorly. Dodd finished fourth with 85,436 votes (10.1 percent). Dodd even ran some 5,000 votes behind his showing eight years earlier.

Dodd got much of his funding for the race from his close friend, the high-powered businessman Louis J. Roussell of New Orleans. He raised some $500,000. Roussell supported many candidates over the years, including Republicans, when the GOP began to make a stronger showing in Louisiana elections.

Segregationist but self-styled "classical liberal" William M. Rainach of Claiborne Parish took third place, but the governorship that year went to a popular singer, former Governor Jimmie Davis, also a proclaimed segregationist. The 1959 election was the first in Louisiana in which race had been the major factor in the voting. Racial segregation is a kind of formalized or institutionalized discrimination on the basis of race, characterized by the races separation from each other. ... William M. Willie Rainach (July 13, 1913 -- January 1978) was a state legislator from the town of Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisianas Massive Resistance to desegregation during the late 1950s. ... Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

Dodd said that Rainach hurt him "with the scared white segregationists". Dodd said that if he had not raised so much money for the race, he would have withdrawn when Davis announced his candidacy "for I could see that he would beat me out in the first primary. But I couldn't get out without being branded a quitter..."

Dodd continued:

While Dodd ran for governor, Earl Long sought the lieutenant governorship – he had also run for lieutenant governor unsuccessfully in 1944 – on an intraparty "ticket" with former Governor James Albert Noe, Sr. It was common for men like Dodd, Noe, Perez, and LeBlanc to have a period of alliance with the Longs followed by times of alienation. de Lesseps Story Morrison (1912 January 18–1964 May 22) was a U.S. political figure. ... James A. Noe, Sr. ...

Superintendent of Education (1964–1972)

In 1960, Dodd was elected to the Sixth Congressional District seat on Louisiana State Board of Education. He unseated Merle Welsh, the owner of Welsh Funeral Home in Baton Rouge, in the Democratic primary. In his memoirs, Dodd said, "I knew I could win and said nothing about Mr. Welsh. When someone asked me who was running against me, I would only say, 'an old southern planter.' I got a few laughs, and I got Mr. Welsh's goat." In November 1960, Dodd defeated Mrs. Mary Helen Stracener of Baton Rouge, the only Republican that he ever faced in a contested general election. He received 86.1 percent of the ballot to her 13.9 percent. After his election to the state board, Dodd was named the president by his fellow members. Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ...

His gubernatorial prospects dashed, Dodd ran in the Democratic primary in 1963 for state superintendent of education, when long-term incumbent Shelby M. Jackson, a native of the Monterey community near Ferriday in Concordia Parish, entered the gubernatorial primary that year under a segregationist banner. Dodd won the primary for superintendent and had no Republican opposition in the general election held on March 3, 1964. Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shelby M. Jackson (November 20, 1903-- January 1972) was a four-term Democratic superintendent of public education in Louisiana who served from 1948-1964. ... Ferriday is a town located in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. ... Concordia Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ...

Dodd began planning for the superintendent's race in 1960. He and his close advisors quietly encouraged Shelby Jackson to run for governor to open up the superintendency. The Dodd people sent letters to Jackson with one-dollar bills enclosed to demonstrate "grass roots" support for the superintendent were he to run for governor.

Moreover, Dodd had endorsed Morrison over Davis in the 1960 runoff on the premise that Morrison would run for governor again in 1963 and might in gratitude for Dodd's past support agree at least not to oppose Dodd for superintendent. In fact, Morrison supported Dodd for superintendent in 1963-1964. Similarly, Dodd expected to pick up support from Kennon voters because he had endorsed Kennon over Spaht in 1952. He also recruited Senator Russell Long to his cause. Later, Dodd and Davis became close friends as survivors of the rough world of Louisiana politics, and Davis wrote the introduction to Peapatch Politics, Dodd's memoirs.

Dodd was renominated for superintendent in 1967, when he overwhelmed Ned O'Neal Touchstone (1926–1988), the editor of The Councilor, a "Radical Right" newspaper supporting the Louisiana Citizens’ Council in its fight against the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Touchstone owned and operated a Shreveport bookstore specializing in right-wing materials. He also conducted other mail order business ventures. Ned ONeal Touchstone (September 27, 1926 -- July 26, 1988) was a leader of the Radical Right in Louisiana politics during the 1960s. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Historically, various popular movements struggling for social justice and democratic rights since the Second World War were known as civil rights movement, most famously the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which struggled for equal rights for African-Americans. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...

Touchstone tried to revive the Rainach-Jackson segregationist tradition to win the education position. He urged whites to unite as a voting bloc to counter the tendency of blacks to vote only for liberal Democratic candidates. Touchstone denounced the "liberalism," as he saw it, in both major parties, including the institutional Louisiana Democratic Party, of which Dodd had once sat on the central committee. After he defeated Touchstone for renomination, Dodd had no further opponent because the Republicans once again did not field a candidate for superintendent in the 1968 general election. Look up black in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd was superintendent during the full implementation of desegregation in Louisiana public schools, a process that lasted nearly a decade before its completion in August 1970. The desegregation, however, was ordered by the federal courts; it did not originate with the superintendent's office. Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Enter Louis J. Michot

Then came 1971, and Dodd was sidelined by Lafayette businessman Louis J. Michot, who had run for governor and finished far behind in the 1963 Democratic primary. Dodd finished second to the more conservative Michot in the primary and withdrew from the runoff. Michot alleged that Dodd had created a bloated bureaucracy that needed to be trimmed and streamlined to increase the effectiveness of the department. : Hub City : The Heart of Cajun Country United States Louisiana Lafayette 47. ... Louis J. Michot reading The Cajun Night Before Christmas, 1975 Louis Joseph Michot, Jr. ...

Michot, unlike Dodd in 1964 and 1968, faced a determined Republican challenge when a professor of education at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Robert L. Frye, entered the race. Michot still easily prevailed, with 662,597 votes (63.5 percent) to Frye's 380,896 (36.5 percent). Frye carried East Baton Rouge Parish and five north Louisiana parishes, including the Long stronghold of Winn Parish. Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university that is located in the city of Hammond, Louisiana. ... Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. ... East Baton Rouge Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Winn Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ...

"Peapatch Politics," Dodd-style

Having left elective office, Dodd felt freer to speak his mind on politics, and he did so. He criticizes himself as well as friends and foes in his memoirs. He explains on numerous occasions how the Longs and the anti-Longs created the rudiments of a two-party system centered on support or opposition to the Long dynasty. Dodd says that Earl Long was content for an anti-Long man to hold the governorship when Long was ineligible himself to run. Having mostly anti-Long candidates to oppose in the next election was much easier for Earl Long than it would have been to have one of his own men running. Therefore, Earl Long sabotaged both of Dodd's gubernatorial bids, then called Dodd back into his inner circle when he needed his advice and support, including Long's last campaign for the U.S. House in the Eighth Congressional District in 1960. The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd mellowed in his later years: no longer a hatchetman, he was a Louisiana "statesman." In 1988, he sent a moving letter to the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, which mourned the death of one of his old intraparty rivals and sometimes ally as well, former Governor Kennon, winner of the 1951-1952 gubernatorial elections. Dodd had once dismissed Kennon as "naive," but he had endorsed Kennon in the 1952 runoff at a time when he was alienated from Earl Long. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... The Advocate is the primary newspaper of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dodd had also demonstrated ways to heal political differences, much as Senator Russell Long had tried to bridge pro-Long and anti-Long sentiment in his lengthy career. Perhaps it was his love for his state that made it easy for him to eulogize Kennon even though he had once characterized his former rival as "naive." The letter was similar to a eulogy delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., by Mississippi Democratic Congressman Lucius Lamar on the death of Radical Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. Look up eulogy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (September 17, 1825–January 23, 1893) was born near Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia. ... For other persons named Charles Sumner, see Charles Sumner (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

(Dodd's letter can be accessed at the end of Wikipedia's article on Robert F. Kennon.) Robert Floyd Kennon (August 12, 1902 - January 11, 1988) was the Democratic governor of the state of Louisiana, United States between 1952-1956. ...

His Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics is a political memoir from the 1940s to the 1970s. Dodd in time seemed to reach the conclusion that Louisiana did not benefit nearly so much from Longism and the constant corrupt practices as many of the Longites had always assumed. For the rest of his life, he regretted the consequences that stemmed from the rejection of the tidelands compromise that President Truman had offered in 1948. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Dodd's son, William Ford Dodd, who resided in Houma in Terrebonne Parish at the time of his father's death, ran for lieutenant governor in the 1987 jungle primary but finished third with 17 percent of the vote. William Ford Dodd was born during his father's first campaign for lieutenant governor. Paul Hardy, a Democrat converted to Republican, won the position when Dodd, a Democrat, sought to follow his father's path – exactly forty years later – into the office. The city of Houma (pronounced ) is the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... Terrebonne Parish is a parish located in the state of Louisiana. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... In the jungle primary, all candidates run in the same initial election regardless of party label. ... Paul Jude Hardy (born October 18, 1942) was the first Republican and thus far the only Republican to be elected as lieutenant governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction. ...

Death on election day

Dodd died of cancer in Baton Rouge General Medical Center. Death came at 6 a.m. on the day of the Edwin Edwards-David Duke gubernatorial showdown. Had he been able to comprehend fully, Dodd would have surely known the outcome of that battle, but it was ironic that this "political man" would die on the day of one of the most contentious elections in Louisiana history. David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, a candidate in presidential primaries for both the Democratic and Republican parties, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. ...

Memorial services were held at his home church, the Southside Baptist Church in Baton Rouge on November 18, 1991, with Dr. John Robson officiating. In addition to his wife Verone, William, Jr., and Bruce, Dodd was survived by three grandchildren, William Seth Dodd and Katherine Sims Dodd, then of Houma, and Elizabeth Ann Dodd, then of Baton Rouge. Bill Dodd and Verone Dodd, who died 14 years later, are buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory in Baton Rouge. Baptist churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded as an evangelical, protestant denomination. ...

Dodd's papers are in the Eugene P. Watson Memorial Library at Northwestern State University, where he also headed the alumni association for a number of years. He was a Shriner. Eugene Payne Watson (June 29, 1911 - February 29, 1964) was the head librarian and professor of library science at Northwestern State University in his native Natchitoches, Louisiana, from 1940 until his death. ... A member of the Syrian Corvettes group of Shriners participates in a Memorial Day parade The Shriners, or Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, are an Order appendant to Freemasonry. ...

Dodd was a frequent speaker at civic and political events. He often addressed commencement exercises, and his homespun humor charmed the graduates, not all of whom were sure what was ahead for them, but he convinced most that things would work out in the long run. He once joked that "the "A" students make professors, the "B" students make teachers, and the "C" students make the money."

Dodd was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield in 2002. He died two years before the museum opened. The small city of Winnfield is the parish seat of Winn Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

Related Wikipedia articles

Dodd is also prominently mentioned in articles on the following: Robert F. Kennon, deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., Wade O. Martin, Jr., Lucille May Grace, Allison Kolb, Louis J. Michot, Shelby M. Jackson, George S. Long, Speedy O. Long, Russell B. Long, Gillis William Long, Earl Kemp Long, Dave L. Pearce, Jack P.F. Gremillion, James Houston "Jimmie" Davis, Francis Grevemberg, Otto Passman, Mary Evelyn Parker, Blanche Long, Dudley J. LeBlanc, Ernest S. Clements, Ned Touchstone, Douglas Fowler, Lorris M. Wimberly, W.L. Rambo, and Justin Wilson. Robert Floyd Kennon (August 12, 1902 - January 11, 1988) was the Democratic governor of the state of Louisiana, United States between 1952-1956. ... de Lesseps Story Morrison (1912 January 18–1964 May 22) was a U.S. political figure. ... Wade Omer Martin, Jr. ... Lucille May Grace a. ... Allison Ray Kolb (November 1, 1915 -- December 23, 1973) was the Democratic auditor of Louisiana from 1952-1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor William J. Bill Dodd in the 1956 party primary. ... Louis J. Michot reading The Cajun Night Before Christmas, 1975 Louis Joseph Michot, Jr. ... Shelby M. Jackson (November 20, 1903-- January 1972) was a four-term Democratic superintendent of public education in Louisiana who served from 1948-1964. ... George Shannon Doc Long (September 11, 1883--March 22, 1958) was a member of the powerful Long political dynasty in Louisiana and a Democratic U.S. representative from the defunct Eighth Congressional District from 1953-1958. ... Speedy Oteria Long was a Democratic congressman from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973 and a prominent member of the popular Long political dynasty. ... Russell Billiu Long Russell Billiu Long (November 3, 1918 – May 9, 2003) was an American politician who served in the United States Senate as a Democrat from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. ... Gillis William Long (May 4, 1923 – January 20, 1985) was among numerous members of the powerful Long political dynasty who held public office in Louisiana during the twentieth century. ... Earl Kemp Long (26 August 1895 - 5 September 1960) was an American politician and three-time Governor of Louisiana. ... David L. Dave Pearce (September 8, 1904 -- May 28, 1984) was a Louisiana Democrat who served as his states commissioner of agriculture from 1952-1956 and again from 1960-1976. ... Jack Paul Faustin Gremillion, Sr. ... 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). ... Colonel Francis Carroll Grevemberg (born 1914) was the superintendent of the Louisiana state police from 1952-1955, who is best remembered for his fight against organized crime. ... Otto Ernest Passman (June 27, 1900 -- August 13, 1988) was a conservative Democratic congressman from Monroe, Louisiana, who served from 1947-1977. ... Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker (born November 8, 1920) was the Democratic state treasurer of Louisiana from 1968-1987. ... Blanche Beulah Revere Long (December 17, 1902 -- May 11, 1998) was the first lady of Louisiana from 1939-1940, 1948-1952, and 1956-1960. ... Dudley Joseph Cousin Dud LeBlanc (August 16, 1894 -- October 22, 1971) was a popular Democratic and Cajun member of the Louisiana State Senate whose entrepreneurial talents netted him a fortune through the alcohol-laden patent medicine known as Hadacol. ... Ernest S. Clements (April 17, 1898 -- May 1987) was a seemingly unlikely member of the Long political faction in Louisiana in a career which spanned 38 years from the 1930s to the 1970s. ... Ned ONeal Touchstone (September 27, 1926 -- July 26, 1988) was a leader of the Radical Right in Louisiana politics during the 1960s. ... Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr. ... Lorris May Wimberly, Sr. ... Willard Lloyd Rambo (March 22, 1917 - November 28, 1984) was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature, having represented districts in the north central portion of the state during the 1950s and the 1960s. ... Justin Wilson (24 April 1914 - 5 September 2001) was a Southern American chef and humorist known for his brand of Cajun cuisine-inspired cooking and humor. ...

References

• Billy Hathorn, "The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980," Master's thesis (1980) at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches
• William J. "Bill" Dodd, Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics, Baton Rouge: Claitors Publishing, 1991
• Who's Who in America, Vol. 34 (1966-1967)
• Shreveport Journal, March 6, 1970
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6386451
• http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/cghrc_core/dodd_b.htm
• http://www.cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html
• http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/OTHERSRV/isar/Institut/cca/touchstone_cca.htm
• http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi