John B. Fournet

John Baptiste Fournet (born July 27, 1895 in St. Martinville , St. Martin Parish , Louisiana , †  June 3, 1984 in Jackson , Mississippi ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1932 and 1935 he was lieutenant governor of the state of Louisiana.

Career

John Fournet came from a wealthy family who ran sugar plantations. He attended the public schools in his home country. In 1915 he graduated from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches . In the meantime he taught as a teacher. During the First World War he was in a military training camp in Louisiana and then in Georgia . But he did not come to war. After a subsequent law degree at Louisiana State University and his admission to the bar in 1920, he began to work in this profession in St. Martinville. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . He was a friend of the influential Huey Long , who promoted his career. Between 1928 and 1932 he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and President of that House .

In 1932, Fournet was elected lieutenant governor of Louisiana alongside Oscar K. Allen . He held this office between 1932 and 1935. He was Deputy Governor and Chairman of the State Senate . His friend Long, who was then a US Senator , encouraged him to apply for the post of judge on the Louisiana Supreme Court . After this application was successful, Fournet resigned as lieutenant governor. He was with Huey Long when he was shot later in 1935. Fournet was an associate judge in the Louisiana Supreme Court between 1935 and 1949, and he served as the chief justice chairman of that court from 1949 to 1970 . He died in Jackson on June 3, 1984.

Web links

• John B. Fournet in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Death report with a short biography in the Sarasota Herald Tribune