Sixty Rayburn
Benjamin Burras Rayburn, Sr., known as B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn (August 11, 1916 – March 5, 2008), was a veteran politician from Bogalusa, an incorporated city in Washington Parish in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. He was a firm supporter of the region's public hospitals, highways, and its indigenous Southeastern Louisiana University.
He served as a populist Democrat in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature from 1948 to 1996. Rayburn's political roots were imbedded in the administrations of Governor Earl Kemp Long, but he was also friendly with later chief executives John J. McKeithen and Edwin Washington Edwards. Even his loud and raspy voice was often compared to that of Earl Long. Rayburn survived generations of social and political change in his adopted home state, including the collapse of legal segregation as well as the rise of women and Republicans to positions of authority. A raconteur, Rayburn entertained many with his lively reminiscences of the historic Long era. Rayburn was allied with organized labor and claimed to vote on a bill according to how the legislation in question would impact the "little man." Because of his longevity and power, Rayburn was known for years as the unofficial "Dean of the Louisiana Senate".
Read more about Sixty Rayburn: Early Years and Family, Legislative Elections, Rayburn and Earl Long, Defender of Charity Hospitals, Legislative Duties, Allegations Against Rayburn Refuted, Death At Ninety-one, Legacy
Famous quotes containing the word sixty:
“The Bermudas are said to have been discovered by a Spanish ship of that name which was wrecked on them.... Yet at the very first planting of them with some sixty persons, in 1612, the first governor, the same year, “built and laid the foundation of eight or nine forts.” To be ready, one would say, to entertain the first ship’s company that should be next shipwrecked on to them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)