John M. Parker

John Milliken Parker (March 16, 1863ndash May 20, 1939) was an American Democratic politician from Louisiana, who served as the state's governor from 1920–1924. He was a friend and admirer of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt.

Parker was born in Washington, a village in St. Landry Parish, in south central Louisiana. He was educated at the Chamberlain Hunt Academy, Belle View Academy, and Eastman's Business School in New Orleans. A prominent businessman, he was the the president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange and the Board of Trade.

Parker the Progressive

Parker first ran for governor in 1916 as the nominee of Roosevelt's 1912 Progressive Party and polled 37.2 percent of the vote against the Democratic choice, Ruffin Golson Pleasant of Shreveport. Later in 1916, the national Progressive Party chose Parker as its candidate for vice president, but Roosevelt returned to the GOP fold and endorsed Charles Evans Hughes for president. The Democrats Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Marshall were nevertheless reelected to the presidency and vice presidency. Four years later, Parker returned to the Democratic fold, considered an essential move to win a Louisiana election at the time, and was elected governor with former opponent Pleasant's support. Louisiana governors were then term-limited after a single four-year term but could seek second terms after sitting out four years.

Parker's record as governor

As governor, Parker was known for his interest in building gravel roads in rural areas. There were few paved highways at the time in Louisiana.

Parker advocated increased oil and gas severance taxes to finance public education. Huey Pierce Long, Jr., criticized Parker's tax plan as "too little" for the state's needs. Parker also opposed the New Orleans political machine.

Like Roosevelt, Parker was a staunch conservationist of natural resources and the environment. And he was skeptical of large business combinations that tended to become monopolies.

Parker led the move to draw up the Louisiana Constitution of 1921. He also pushed for the relocation of Louisiana State University from the downtown to the southern part of Baton Rouge. His old rival Huey Long later tried to mold LSU into the Long mystique.

Parker failed to increase educational funding to the level desired and to expand state civil service protection. He often found that his fiscal conservatism was in conflict with his progressive spirit.

In 1922, Governor Parker sent the Federal Bureau of Investigation a message begging for help in fighting the Ku Klux Klan, which had grown so powerful in Louisiana that it not only controlled the northern half of the state but had kidnapped, tortured, and killed two people who opposed it and seemly likely to continue its rampage. [ [http://www.fbi.gov/page2/march04/kkk031104.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation - Press Room - Headline Archives ] at www.fbi.gov]

Post-gubernatorial years

After his gubernatorial term ended, Parker devoted himself to his experimental farm at Bayou Sara near St. Francisville, the seat of West Feliciana Parish near Baton Rouge. He became a leading figure in the Anti-Long Constitutional League. Two other former governors, Jared Y. Sanders, Sr., and Ruffin Pleasant also spoke out against the Long political organization.

Parker died in Pass Christian, Mississippi, east of New Orleans. He is entombed in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.

The 12,000-seat John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum on the LSU campus is named in Parker's honor.

World War I

Roosevelt selected Parker as one of eighteen officers (others included: Seth Bullock, Frederick Russell Burnham, and James Rudolph Garfield) to raise a volunteer infantry division, Roosevelt's World War I volunteers, for service in France in 1917. The U.S. Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise up to four divisions similar to the "Rough Riders" of 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and to the British Army 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers; however, as Commander-in-chief, President Woodrow Wilson refused to make use of the volunteers and the unit disbanded.cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Theodore |authorlink=Theodore Roosevelt |coauthors= |title=The Foes of Our Own Household |publisher=George H. Doran company|date=1917 |location=New York|pages=347 |url= |doi= |id=LCCN 17025965]

ources

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/parker5.html Political Graveyard]
* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/394/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]

External links

* [http://www.la-cemeteries.com/Governors/Parker,%20John%20Milliken/Parker,%20John%20Milliken.shtml Cemetery Memorial] by La-Cemeteries
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