Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr. | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th district |
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In office December 19, 1961 – January 3, 1979 |
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Preceded by | Thomas Overton Brooks |
Succeeded by | Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr. |
Louisiana State Board of Education | |
In office January 1961 – December 1961 |
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Bossier Parish School Board | |
In office 1954–1960 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Plain Dealing, Louisiana |
September 7, 1918
Died | October 7, 2007 Shreveport, Louisiana |
(aged 89)
Resting place | Plain Dealing Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Mary Ruth Carter Waggonner (married 1942-2007, his death) |
Relations | Willie Waggonner (brother) |
Children |
Carol Jean Waggonner Johnston |
Parents | Joseph David, Sr., and Elizzibeth Johnston Waggonner |
Alma mater |
Plain Dealing High School |
Occupation | Businessman |
Religion | United Methodist Church |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Navy |
Years of service | World War II; Korean War |
Carol Jean Waggonner Johnston
Plain Dealing High School
Joseph David Waggonner, Jr. (September 7, 1918 – October 7, 2007), better known as Joe D. Waggonner, was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Bossier Parish, Louisiana, who represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district from December 1961 until January 1979. A confidant of Republican U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, he hosted in 1974 Nixon's first public appearance after his resignation amid the Watergate scandal.
Waggonner was born in Plain Dealing to Joe David Waggonner, Sr. (June 11, 1873 – March 9, 1950), and the former Elizzibeth Johnston (November 23, 1882 – December 24, 1957). He graduated from Plain Dealing High School and in 1941 from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma. On December 14, 1942, he married the former Mary Ruth Carter (born February 1921) and a Democrat. The couple resided in their later years in Benton, the seat of government of Bossier Parish, and then in the more populous Bossier City.
During World War II and the Korean War, Waggonner served in the U.S. Navy, having attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He remained thereafter in the U.S. Naval Reserve.