DeLesseps Story Morrison - Declining Political Fortunes

Declining Political Fortunes

By his final term as mayor, Morrison's luster had faded somewhat. Some of his ideas, such as the unsuccessful 1959 proposal for a monorail, were met with widespread opposition. He moved surprisingly slowly to construct a passenger terminal for New Orleans' international airport; for its first thirteen years of operation New Orleanians departed from a glorified barn while its regional economic rivals invested in constructing modern facilities. Morrison also failed in his efforts to keep the Pelicans baseball team in New Orleans, and in general the energy that had characterized his early years in office was thoroughly dissipated. Former political allies like City Councilman and future Lieutenant Governor James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr., began to express their independence and positioned themselves for a future without Morrison.

His reputation was further tarnished in the aftermath of the school integration crisis, and his political future was uncertain. He was the first of many New Orleans mayors to attempt to amend his 1954 city charter to allow a third consecutive term as mayor, but the failure of this effort left him without a certain political future.

Seeking a political base from which to stage another run for governor, he approached the John F. Kennedy administration and was appointed Ambassador to the Organization of American States on July 17, 1961. In a further sign of his declining political fortunes, his chosen candidate for mayor in the New Orleans election of 1962 – State Senator Adrian G. Duplantier – lost the Democratic runoff to Victor Schiro.