Gillis William Long

Gillis William Long

Gillis William Long (born May 4, 1923 in Winnfield , Louisiana , †  January 20, 1985 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician . Between 1963 and 1965 and again from 1973 to 1985 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Gillis Long was a member of the Long family, very influential in Louisiana, the most prominent members of which were Huey Long , Rose McConnell Long , Russell B. Long , George S. Long , Speedy O. Long, and Earl Long . These were members of Congress and / or Louisiana Governors . He attended public schools in Winnfield and Alexandria . Until 1949 he studied at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge . After a subsequent law degree at the same university and his admission as a lawyer in 1951, he began to work in this profession.

During the Second World War he was initially a simple soldier in the infantry and then rose to become a captain. He received the Purple Heart award for his military achievements . He was part of the security team at the war crimes trials in Nuremberg . Between 1951 and 1952 he was a legal advisor to the Senate Committee on Small Business . He then advised the Congress Committee , which dealt with campaign funds.

Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party . In the 1962 congressional elections he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the eighth constituency of Louisiana, where he succeeded Harold B. McSween on January 3, 1963 . Since he missed re-nomination by his party in 1964, he was initially only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until January 3, 1965. As early as 1963 he had applied for the democratic nomination for the gubernatorial elections in vain. In 1965 and 1966 he was a department head in the Office of Economic Opportunity , a federal agency set up in the wake of the war on poverty that US President Lyndon B. Johnson had prophesied . He then worked as a lawyer again from 1970 to 1972. In 1972 he became chairman of the board of the Louisiana Deep Draft Harbor and Terminal Authority . He was also involved in the banking industry.

In the 1972 elections , Gillis Long was re-elected to the US House of Representatives in the eighth district of Louisiana. There he replaced his cousin Speedy Long on January 3, 1973, who had ousted him in 1964. After six re-elections Long could remain in Congress until his death on January 20, 1985. During this time, among other things, the end of the Vietnam War and the Watergate affair fell .

Gillis was married to Catherine Small Long , who was also active in the Democratic Party , from 1947 until his death . She won the by-election necessary after his death and thus became his successor in the US House of Representatives. His marriage to her had two children.

Web links

• Gillis William Long in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Gillis William Long in the database of Find a Grave (English)