Bennett Johnston

John Bennett Johnston, Jr.

John Bennett Johnston, Jr. (born June 10, 1932 in Shreveport , Caddo Parish , Louisiana ) is a former American politician . Between 1972 and 1997 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US Senate .

Career

John Johnston attended public schools in his home country. He then studied at Washington and Lee University . He also graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point . After studying law at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and being admitted to the bar in 1956, he began working in his new profession in Shreveport. However, he soon interrupted this activity to serve in the United States Army . Between 1956 and 1959 he was stationed in Germany , where he was part of the legal department of the army. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . Between 1964 and 1968 he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and from 1968 to 1972 he was a member of the State Senate there. In 1971 he failed in his party's gubernatorial election .

In the 1972 election, John Johnston was elected as his party's candidate for the US Senate. This mandate was previously occupied by Elaine S. Edwards, the first wife of Governor Edwin Edwards , after the death of his predecessor Allen J. Ellender , who died during the election campaign in which he was running again . She did not run in the November elections and resigned one week after election day. Therefore, the Governor immediately appointed Johnston as the new US Senator who ended the last months of the old term between November 14, 1972 and January 3, 1973. His first full six-year term began on January 3, 1973. After three re-elections, he could remain in Congress until January 3, 1997. There he temporarily headed the Committee for Energy and Natural Resources. He was considered to be rather conservative. Occasionally he voted against his party friends in favor of the Republicans . In 1996 he renounced another candidacy.

After ending his political career, he founded the law firm Johnston & Associates LLC . He also worked in the consulting industry. In April 2013, he hit the headlines when he was accused of receiving $ 175,000 and stock shares annually for serving on a company's board of directors, but only attended a meeting once.

Johnston is the father-in-law of former Congressman Timothy J. Roemer .

Web links

• Bennett Johnston in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)