- Ruffin Pleasant
from 1902-1908.
Early years and education
Pleasant was born in the community of Shiloh in
Union Parish in north Louisiana to Benjamin Franklin Pleasant and the former Martha Washington Duty. His parents' names hence evoked the spirit of patriotism that Pleasant extolled in his public life. He was educated at the former Ruston College in Ruston, the seat ofLincoln Parish , from 1885-1886. He then attended Mount Lebanon College, the forerunner ofBaptist -affiliatedLouisiana College from 1887-1889. He graduated fromLouisiana State University inBaton Rouge in 1894. Thereafter, he studied law at bothHarvard College inCambridge, Massachusetts , andYale College inNew Haven, Connecticut . He was admitted to the bar in 1899.Pleasant served in the
Spanish-American War in 1898 as a lieutenant-colonel of the First Louisiana Regiment of Infantry. After the war, he launched his law practice in Shreveport, a large city by Louisiana standards which is the seat ofCaddo Parish in the northwestern corner of the state. OnValentine's Day 1906, Pleasant married the former Anne Ector, the daughter of Matthew Duncan Ector and the former Sarah "Sallie" Parish Chew.Moving up the political ladder
Pleasant was first city attorney in Shreveport, then state attorney general, and finally governor. In the 1916
general election , Pleasant, as the Democratic nominee, faced theProgressive Party 'sJohn M. Parker . Pleasant prevailed with 80,807 votes (62.5 percent) to Parker's 37.2 percent. Parker, a friend ofTheodore Roosevelt 's thereafter returned to the Democratic Party and won the 1920gubernatorial election with Pleasant's support. At the time Louisiana governors could serve only one four-year term and could not seek a second term until four years had lapsed since the end of their previous term.As governor, Pleasant encouraged volunteers and contributions for the war effort. Louisiana's support for the war was considered to have been among the strongest in the nation. After leaving the governorship, Pleasant resumed his law practice in Shreveport. Pleasant broke with Parker over tax policy and supported Huey Pierce Long, Jr. Not long afterward, he broke with Long too and became a leading spokesman for the anti-Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
Pleasant was elected as a member of the Louisiana Constiutional Convention of 1921. That particular constitution produced by the delegates was superseded in 1974 by a newer governing document.
Pleasant was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1916, which renominated
Woodrow Wilson for president andThomas Marshall ofIndiana for vice president. He was also a delegate to the Democratic convention in 1924, which took 103 ballots to nominateJohn W. Davis ofWest Virginia as the party'scompromise presidential nominee.The later years
Anne Ector Pleasant died in 1934 after accidentally drinking a poisonous
antiseptic in a dark bathroom in their Shreveport home. She was the founder and headmistress of Pleasant Hall, a coedprivate school in Shreveport. She had sued thenU.S. Senator Huey Long for having caused her to be arrested on false charges and for having demeaned her as a "drunken cursing woman" when she sought to examine state public records in the Capitol in Baton Rouge.Pleasant died in Shreveport four years later. He was
Presbyterian . The couple is interred in Forest Park Cemetery off St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport.External links
* [http://la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Pleasant,%20Ruffin%20Golson/Pleasant,%20Ruffin%20Golson.shtml Cemetery Memorial] by La-Cemeteries
References
"Ruffin Golson Pleasant", "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography", Vol. 2 (1988), pp. 654-655
Miriam G. Reeves, "The Governors of Louisiana" (1962)
Roy Glashan, "American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1975" (1975)
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/la/union/familyj-q/pleasant-rg.html US GenWeb - Union Parish, Louisiana - Biography]
* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/393/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]
* [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=149d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,754447,00.html Time Magazine - Obits - Sept. 24, 1934]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/plauche-plumley.html Political Graveyard]
* [http://www.spanamwar.com/Louisianagraves.html Spanish American War Veterans Buried in Louisiana]
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