Jimmie Davis
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James Houston Davis, better known as Jimmie Davis, (September 11, 1899(?) - November 5, 2000) was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as a United States) Democratic governor of Louisiana in the mid-twentieth century.
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Early life
Davis was born to a sharecropping couple in the now ghost town of Beech Springs, near Quitman, Louisiana, in Jackson Parish, either in 1899 or 1900. The family was so poor that young Jimmie did not have a bed in which to sleep until he was nine years old.
Musical career
Davis became a commercially successful singer of "cowboy music" before he entered politics. He is associated with several popular songs, most notably "You Are My Sunshine," which was designated an official state song of Louisiana in 1977. Reportedly, the song was copyrighted under Davis's name after he purchased it from its composers. In 1999, "You Are My Sunshine" was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and the Recording Industry Association of America named it one of the Songs of the Century.
Davis taught history (and, unofficially, yodeling) for a year at the women's Dodd College of Shreveport.
Davis became the popular "singing governor" who often performed music during his campaign stops. While governor, he had a No. 1 hit single in 1945 with "There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder." A long-time member of the Baptist faith, he also recorded a number of southern gospel music albums and in 1967 served as president of the Gospel Music Association. He was a close friend of the North Dakota-born band leader Lawrence Welk who frequently reminded viewers of his television program of his association with Governor Davis.
A number of his songs were used as part of motion picture soundtracks, and Davis himself appeared in half a dozen films.
Political career
Davis was elected as the city's Democratic public safety commissioner. (At the time, Shreveport had a commission form of government. In the 1970s, the city switched to the mayor-council format.) Davis was elected in 1942 to the Louisiana Public Service Commission but left the rate-making body, which meets in Baton Rouge, two years later to become governor.
First elected governor in 1944
Davis was elected governor as a Democrat in 1944. He defeated Lewis L. Morgan of Covington who had been backed by former Governor Earl Long and New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri. Davis received 251,228 (53.6 percent) to Morgan's 217,915 (46.5 percent). Long was seeking the lieutenant governorship on the Morgan "ticket." Democrats in Louisiana often formed non-binding "tickets" for governor and lieutenant governor and sometimes lower constitutional offices as well. But voters could "split tickets" by voting, for example, for a Long candidate for governor and an anti-Long candidate for lieutenant governor or vice versa. He was defeated after one term, steping down in 1948.
Second term (1960-1964)
In 1959-1960, Davis, with a pledge to fight for segregation in public education, sought a second term as governor. He won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination over a crowded field that included staunchly segregationist State Senator William M. Rainach of Summerfield, former Lieutenant Governor William Joseph "Bill" Dodd of Baton Rouge, former Governor James A. Noe, Sr., of Monroe, and New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison. Davis ran second to "Chep" Morrison, considered a liberal by Louisiana standards, in the primary and then defeated him in the party runoff held in January 1960. Davis polled 213,551 (25.3 percent) to Morrison's 278,956 (33.1 percent). Rainach ran third with 143,095 (17 percent). Noe was fourth with 97,654 (11.6 percent), and Dodd followed with 85,436 (10.1 percent). Davis won the northern and central parts of the state plus Baton Rouge, while Morrison dominated the southern portion of the state, particularly the French cultural parishes. In the runoff, Davis prevailed, 487,681 (54.1 percent) to Morrison's 414,110 (45.5 percent). It was estimated that Davis drew virtually all of the Rainach support from the first primary.
On Apri 19, 1960, Davis defeated Republican Francis Grevemberg, a Lafayette native, by a margin of nearly 82-17 percent. Grevemberg had been head of the state police under Governor Robert F. Kennon and had fought organized crime. He called for the origin of a two-party system for Louisiana. Grevemberg was outraged at newspaper editorials against him. "My main purpose for entering this race was toward a two-party system ... I hope I have convinced a sizeable number of people we do need two parties." Grevemberg was particularly hostile toward the New Orleans newspaper the Times-Picayune, which called him a "turncoat" after he left the Democratic party, adding: "I risked my life and those of my family in attempts to rid this state of racketeers." The GOP was still four years away from offering voters a competitive choice in a Louisiana gubernatorial election.
Fourth place in 1971
In 1971, Davis entered another crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary field, but he finished in an unimpressive fourth place with 138,756 ballots (only 11.8 percent), for time had passed him by. In a runoff election held in December 1971, Congressman Edwin Washington Edwards of Crowley in Acadiana defeated then State Senator Bennett Johnston, of Shreveport for the party nomination. That vote was very close: Edwards, 584,262 (50.2 percent) to Johnston's 579,774 (49.8 percent). Edwards then beat Republican David C. Treen in the March 1972 general election. Davis's days as a politician were clearly behind him at that point. In 1999, with only months left to live, he spoke out for the reelection of Republican Governor (Murphy J.) Mike Foster, another former Louisiana Democrat who faced a challenge that year from black Democratic Congressman Bill Jefferson of New Orleans. Jefferson had once been an assistant to Bennett Johnston.
Political legacy
He established a State Retirement System and funding of more than $100 million in public improvements while leaving the state with a $38 million surplus after his first term [1].
During his second term, davis built the Sunshine Bridge, the new Governor's Mansion and the Toledo Bend Reservoir - all criticized at the time, but later recognized as beneficial to the state. Davis coordinated the pay periods of state employees, who had sometimes received their checks a week late, a particular hardship to those with low incomes.
During his time as governor, Jimmie Davis attempted to enforce policies of racial segregation, but federal law slowly brought about desegregation. Davis apologized for his actions later in life. One time during his tenure, he rode his horse up the steps of the state Capitol to protest integration.
Honors
Jimmie Davis was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971 and into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1993, Davis was among the first inductees of the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.
Personal life
Davis' first wife, the former Alverna Adams, from a prominent Shreveport family, was first lady while he was governor. She died in 1967. He thereafter married Anna Carter Gordon, who had been a member of the Chuck Wagon Gang of gospel singers. She survived Davis.
He died at the probable age of 101 and is buried in the Davis Family Cemetery in Quitman in Jackson Parish.
See also
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References
- http://elvispelvis.com/jimmiedavis.htm
- Billy Hathorn, "The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980," Northwestern State University Master's thesis (1980)