J. Bennett Johnston

credited to the United States Senate Historical Office

John Bennett Johnston, Jr.(born June 10, 1932), is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist who was a U.S. Democratic Party politician and United States senator from Louisiana from 1972 until 1997.

Johnston, born in Shreveport, Louisiana, he attended the United States Military Academy. Johnston was very narrowly elected to the Louisiana State House of Representatives in 1964. He moved up to the Louisiana Senate in 1968, having secured a solid victory in the general election. Johnston ran for governor of Louisiana in 1971 and lost very narrowly to Edwin Washington Edwards in the Democratic Party runoff election.

Winning campaigns of 1972, 1978, and 1984

Johnston challenged Allen J. Ellender for Democratic renomination to the U.S. Senate in 1972. Ellender died during the campaign, and Johnston, with powerful name identification stemming from his gubernatorial bid only months earlier, won the primary easily. Johnston secured 79.4 percent of primary ballots, but 9.3 percent voted for the deceased Ellender. Johnston then defeated Republican Ben C. Toledano, a New Orleans attorney, and former Governor John McKeithen of Columbia, a fellow Democrat running as an independent in the general election. Johnston received 598,987 votes (55.2 percent) to McKeithen's 250,161 (23.1 percent), and Toledano's 206,846 (19.1 percent). Another 28,910 voters (2.6 percent) chose the American Independent Party candidate, Hall M. Lyons of Lafayette, son of Louisiana Republican pioneer Charlton Lyons. (The position was filled from July to November 1972 by Governor Edwards' first wife, Elaine Schwartzburg Edwards, who served as an interim senator.)

In 1978, Johnston defeated then Democrat, later Republican, State Representative Louis Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge in the jungle primary, 498,773 (59.4 percent) to 340,891 (40.6 percent). In 1984, he secured 838,181 votes (85.7 percent) to Repubican Robert Max Ross's 86,546 (8.9 percent). (A second minor candidate polled 5.4 percent.) Ross had also been a minor primary opponent to David C. Treen in the first ever Republican gubernatorial primary in 1971.

Johnston v. Duke

Johnston's closest re-election race was in 1990 against former Ku Klux Klansman and Republican candidate David Duke, who was not endorsed by his party's leadership. One of his Senate Republican colleagues, John C. Danforth of Missouri, endorsed Johnston. Many other Republicans also broke party ranks to support Johnston that year. Johnston defeated Duke in the jungle primary, 53-44 percent. Johnston retired after his fourth term ended in 1997; he was succeeded by his preferred candidate, fellow Democrat Mary Landrieu, daughter of the Carter HUD Secretary and former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu.

A "conservative" within the Democratic Caucus

A conservative within the Democratic caucus, Johnston broke with his party on some important issues. He voted to authorize use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and also in favor of the narrow confirmation of Clarence Thomas to be Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. However, in 1987, he had voted against President Reagan's choice of former Judge Robert H. Bork to be on the high court.

Johnston was one of the few Senate Democrats to vote against the Budget Act of 1993, which was strongly supported by President Clinton and many prominent members of the Democratic Party. Johnston was a firm advocate of the Flag Desecration Amendment while opposing abortion and most gun control measures. However, Johnston vote repeatedly against the Balanced Budget Amendment and giving the President the line-item veto, both of which were measures strongly favored by fiscal conservatives in both parties. On foreign policy issues, he frequently voted with more liberal Democrats, like terminating restrictions on travel to Cuba, and support for the U.N. and foreign aid measures.

Losing out for majority leader to George Mitchell

In 1989, Johnston sought the position of majority leader but lost to George Mitchell of Maine. From 1972 to 1987, Johnston's Louisiana colleague was Russell B. Long. The two agreed on many issues and formed a close working relationship to deliver federal spending to Louisiana. On Long's death, Johnston delivered a moving eulogy at the funeral. Johnston continued the same kind of partnership with Long's successor, former Senator John Breaux (1987-2005).

Since leaving the Senate, Johnston has been a Washington-based lobbyist. He was a maximum contributor in 2004 to the presidential campaign of his former colleague Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. His son-in-law, former Democratic Representative Timothy J. Roemer of Indiana, was a member of the 9-11 Commission.

In 1997, Johnston was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. He is a member of the Baptist Church; his wife, the former Mary Gunn, is Catholic.

Billy Hathorn, "The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980," Master's thesis (1980), Northwestern State University at Natchitoches

http://www.cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html