A Political Resume
Ellender was the city attorney of Houma from 1913–1915 and then district attorney of Terrebonne Parish from 1915-1916. He was a sergeant in the Artillery Corps during World War I, serving from 1917-1918.
Ellender was a delegate to the Louisiana constitutional convention in 1921. The constitution produced by that body was retired in 1974, two years after Ellender's death. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1924–1936, serving as floor leader from 1928–1932 and Speaker from 1932–1936, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He took the seat held by Long and slated for the Democratic nominee, Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr., of Winnfield, the seat of the Longs' home parish of Winn. Allen had won the Democratic nomination by a plurality exceeding 200,000 votes, but he died shortly thereafter. His passing paved the way for Ellender's election. Lorris M. Wimberly of Arcadia in Bienville Parish, meanwhile, succeeded Ellender as House Speaker. Wimberly was the choice of Governor Richard Webster Leche and thereafter Lieutenant Governor Earl Kemp Long, who succeeded Leche to the governorship.
Ellender was President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate from 1971–1972, an honorific position that denoted he was the most senior Democrat. He served as the powerful chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1951 to 1953 and 1955 to 1971, through which capacity he was a strong defender of sugar cane interests. He chaired the even more powerful Senate Appropriations Committee from 1971 until his death.
Ellender was an opponent of Republican Senator Joe McCarthy.
Ellender was also, along with his Southern Democratic colleagues, a strong opponent of federal civil rights legislation. However he supported some state legislation sought by civil rights groups, such as repeal of the state poll tax by the Louisiana legislature. He was the leading sponsor of the federal free lunch program, which was enacted in 1945 and still is in effect; it was a welfare program that helped poor students, black and white alike.
Read more about this topic: Allen J. Ellender
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