- Bennett Johnston Jr.
Infobox_Senator
name=John Bennett Johnston, Jr.
imagesize=150px
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Louisiana
term_start=November 13 ,1972
term_end=January 3 ,1997
predecessor=Elaine Edwards
successor=Mary Landrieu
office2=Louisiana State Senator from Caddo Parish (at-large)
term_start2=1968
term_end2=1972
office3=Louisiana State Representative from Caddo Parish (at-large)
term_start3= 1964
term_end3=1968
birth_date= birth date and age|1932|06|10
birth_place=Shreveport, Louisiana
death_date=
spouse=Mary Gunn Johnston
children=Sons John Bennett Johnston and N. Hunter Johnston and Daughters Sally Johnston Roemer and Mary Lyon Johnston
party=Democratic
religion=Baptist
occupation=Attorney ;lobbyist John Bennett Johnston, Jr. (born
June 10 ,1932 ), is aWashington, D.C. -basedlobbyist who was a U.S. Democratic Partypolitician and United States senator fromLouisiana from 1972 until 1997.Early life
Johnston was born in Shreveport and graduated from
C.E. Byrd High School . He attended theUnited States Military Academy inWest Point, New York . He served in theUnited States Army , Judge Advocate General Corps,Germany , 1956–1959. Johnston was narrowly elected in an at-large campaign to theLouisiana House of Representatives in 1964, along with two Republicans,Morley A. Hudson andTaylor W. O'Hearn , and two other Democrats fromCaddo Parish ,Algie D. Brown (1910–2004) andFrank Fulco (1908-1999). Hudson and O'Hearn were the first Republicans to serve in the legislature since Reconstruction.Johnston was elected at-large to the Louisiana State Senate on
February 6 ,1968 . One of the candidates that he defeated was the Republican Thomas Eaton Stagg, Jr., later aU.S. District Court judge in Shreveport. Johnston ran forGovernor of Louisiana in 1971 and lost narrowly toEdwin Washington Edwards in the Democraticrunoff election .Winning campaigns of 1972, 1978, and 1984
Johnston challenged
Allen J. Ellender for Democratic renomination to the U.S. Senate in 1972. Ellender died during the campaign, and Johnston, with powerful name identification stemming from hisgubernatorial bid only months earlier, won the primary easily. Johnston secured 79.4 percent of primary ballots, but 9.3 percent voted for the deceased Ellender. Johnston then defeated RepublicanBen C. Toledano , aNew Orleans attorney, and former GovernorJohn McKeithen of Columbia, a fellow Democrat running as an independent in thegeneral election . Johnston received 598,987 votes (55.2 percent) to McKeithen's 250,161 (23.1 percent), and Toledano's 206,846 (19.1 percent). Another 28,910 voters (2.6 percent) chose theAmerican Independent Party candidate,Hall M. Lyons , then of Lafayette, son of Louisiana Republican pioneerCharlton Lyons . (The position was filled from July to November 1972 by Governor Edwards' first wife, Elaine Schwartzburg Edwards, who served as an interim senator.)In office, Senator Johnston cultivated good relationships with the Louisiana media, for he realized that their collective portrayal of him would impact his electoral future. The state's newspaper gave Johnston wide coverage. The "Alexandria Daily Town Talk"'s managing editor,
Adras LaBorde , for instance gave wide coverage to both Johnston and colleagueRussell B. Long .In 1978, Johnston defeated then Democrat, later Republican, State Representative Louis
Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge in thejungle primary , 498,773 (59.4 percent) to 340,891 (40.6 percent).In 1984, Johnston faced weak oppositon from Robert Max Ross (born 1933), a small businessman from Mangham in
Richland Parish in northeast Louisiana. Several other minor candidates also filed against Johnston in the jungle primary but none made a showing. Some Republicans had encouraged former GovernorDavid C. Treen to make the race. He filed and then withdrew in the wake of his lopsided loss the previous year for governor. Ross therefore ran as the best-known of the Republican candidates against Johnston. The tally was 838,181 votes (85.7 percent) for Johnston and 86,546 votes (8.9 percent) for Ross.Johnston v. Duke
Johnston's closest re-election race was in 1990 against former Ku Klux Klansman and Republican candidate
David Duke , who was not endorsed by his party's leadership. One of his Senate Republican colleagues,John C. Danforth ofMissouri , endorsed Johnston. Many other Republicans also broke party ranks to support Johnston that year. Johnston defeated Duke in thejungle primary , 53-44 percent. Johnston retired after his fourth term ended in 1997; he was succeeded by his preferred candidate, fellow DemocratMary Landrieu , daughter of the Carter HUD Secretary and former New Orleans MayorMoon Landrieu .A conservative within the Democratic Caucus
A conservative within the Democratic caucus, Johnston broke with his party on some important issues. He voted to authorize use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and also in favor of the narrow confirmation of
Clarence Thomas to be Justice on theU.S. Supreme Court . However, in 1987, he had voted against President Reagan's choice of former JudgeRobert H. Bork to be on the high court.Johnston was one of the few Senate Democrats to vote against the Budget Act of 1993, which was strongly supported by President
Bill Clinton and many prominent members of the Democratic Party. Johnston was a firm advocate of theFlag Desecration Amendment while opposing abortion and most gun control measures. However, Johnston repeatedly voted against theBalanced Budget Amendment and giving the President the line-item veto, both of which were measures strongly favored by fiscal conservatives in both parties. On foreign policy issues, he frequently voted with more liberal Democrats, like terminating restrictions on travel to Cuba, and support for the U.N. and foreign aid measures.Johnston was the only member of either house of Congress to vote against a 1995 resolution to allow
Taiwan 's presidentLee Teng-hui to visit the United States. [http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=1&vote=00157]Losing out for majority leader to George Mitchell
In 1989, Johnston sought the position of majority leader but lost to
George J. Mitchell of Maine. From 1972 to 1987, Johnston's Louisiana colleague was Russell Long. The two agreed on many issues and formed a close working relationship to deliver federal spending to Louisiana. On Long's death, Johnston delivered a moving eulogy at the funeral. Johnston continued the same kind of partnership with Long's successor, former Senator John B. Breaux, who served from 1987 to 2005.Since leaving the Senate, Johnston has been a Washington-based lobbyist. He was a maximum contributor in 2004 to the presidential campaign of his former colleague Senator
John Kerry ofMassachusetts . His son-in-law, former Democratic RepresentativeTimothy J. Roemer ofIndiana , was a member of the9/11 Commission .In 1997, Johnston was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in
Winnfield . He is a member of theBaptist Church ; his wife, the former Mary Gunn, isCatholic .References
http://www.cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html
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