About Louisiana

Louisiana in the Senate




Courtesy of the Senate Historical Office

Senate Service

Total Number of Senators from Louisiana 48 of 1,851 as of January 2010.
Shortest Service 30 of the 47 have served less than the full six-year term.
Longest Service
(24 years or more)
Russell B. Long served for thirty-eight years; Allen J. Ellender served in the Senate for thirty-five years; J. Bennett Johnson served twenty-four years.

Louisiana Senators Who Served in Leadership Positions

President Pro Tempore Allen J. Ellender
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman J. Bennett Johnston; John Breaux
Democratic Party Whip Russell B. Long

Committee Chairmanships

Agriculture and Forestry Allen J. Ellender
Appropriations Allen J. Ellender
Energy and Natural Resources J. Bennett Johnston
Finance Russell B. Long
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Mary L. Landrieu

Louisiana Citizens Honored in the Capitol's Art Collection

Huey Pierce Long by Charles Keck (Statuary Hall)
Edward Douglass White by Arthur Morgan (Senate connecting corridor)

Unusual Facts

During his tenure in the Senate, Allan J. Ellender invited fellow senators and administration officials to sample his Creole cooking at luncheons in his third floor Capitol hideaway. Five U.S. presidents sampled his cooking, including President Lyndon B. Johnson, who, enticed by a delicious aroma on a visit to the Capitol, dropped by, uninvited, to sample Ellender's famous shrimp gumbo.

Suggestions for Further Reading

  • Dufour, Charles L.Ten Flags in the Wind: The Story of Louisiana. New York: Harper and Roe, 1967.
  • Evans, Eli N. Judah P. Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate. New York: Harper and Roe, 1967.
  • Federal Writers' Project. Louisiana: A Guide to the State. New York: Hastings House, reprint of the 1941 edition, 1971.
  • Hair, William Ivy. The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long.
     
    Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991.
  • Mann, Robert. Legacy to Power: Senator Russell Long of Louisiana. New York: Paragon House, 1992.
  • Taylor, Joe Gray. Louisiana: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1976.
  • Wall, Bennett H., ed. Louisiana, a History. Arlington Heights, IL: Forum Press, 1990.
  • Wilds, John, Charles L. Dufour, Walter G. Cowan. Louisiana, Yesterday and Today: A Historical Guide to the State. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996.
  • Williams, T. Harry. Huey Long. New York: Knopf, 1971.

Louisiana Senators

Member Name Year of Birth Year of Death
BARROW, Alexander 1801 1846
BENJAMIN, Judah Philip 1811 1884
BLANCHARD, Newton Crain 1849 1922
BOULIGNY, Charles Dominique Joseph 1773 1833
BREAUX, John Berlinger 1944  
BROUSSARD, Edwin Sidney 1874 1934
BROUSSARD, Robert Foligny 1864 1918
BROWN, James 1766 1835
CAFFERY, Donelson 1835 1906
CLAIBORNE, William Charles Cole 1775 1817
CONRAD, Charles Magill 1804 1878
DESTRÉHAN, Jean Noel 1754 1823
DOWNS, Solomon Weathersbee 1801 1854
EDWARDS, Elaine Schwartzenburg 1929  
ELLENDER, Allen Joseph 1890 1972
EUSTIS, James Biddle 1834 1899
FEAZEL, William Crosson 1895 1965
FOSTER, Murphy James 1849 1921
FROMENTIN, Eligius   1822
GAY, Edward James 1878 1952
GIBSON, Randall Lee 1832 1892
GUION, Walter 1849 1927
HARRIS, John Spafford 1825 1906
JOHNSON, Henry 1783 1864
JOHNSTON, John Bennett, Jr 1932  
JOHNSTON, Josiah Stoddard 1784 1833
JONAS, Benjamin Franklin 1834 1911
KELLOGG, William Pitt 1830 1918
LANDRIEU, Mary L 1955  
LIVINGSTON, Edward 1764 1836
LONG, Huey Pierce 1893 1935
LONG, Rose McConnell 1892 1970
LONG, Russell Billiu 1918 2003
MAGRUDER, Allan Bowie 1775 1822
McENERY, Samuel Douglas 1837 1910
MOUTON, Alexander 1804 1885
NICHOLAS, Robert Carter 1793 1857
OVERTON, John Holmes 1875 1948
PORTER, Alexander 1785 1844
POSEY, Thomas 1750 1818
RANSDELL, Joseph Eugene 1858 1954
SLIDELL, John 1793 1871
SOULÉ, Pierre 1801 1870
THORNTON, John Randolph 1846 1917
VITTER, David
1961
WAGGAMAN, George Augustus 1782 1843
WEST, Joseph Rodman 1822 1898
WHITE, Edward Douglass 1845 1921