Robert A. Ainsworth, Jr.
| Robert Andrew Ainsworth, Jr. | |
 | |
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
| |
| In office July 1966 – December 22, 1981 (death) | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | W. Eugene Davis |
Judge of the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana | |
| In office September 22, 1961 – 1966 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Edward James Boyle, Sr. |
| In office 1950 – 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander E. Rainold |
| Succeeded by | George Tessier |
| Born | May 10, 1910 Gulfport, Mississippi |
| Died | December 22, 1981 (aged 71) New Orleans, Louisiana]] |
| Resting place | Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Stern Ainsworth (married 1934-1981, his death) |
| Children | Robert Ainsworth, III
Elizabeth Ainsworth |
| Alma mater | St. Aloysius High School
Jesuit High School Loyola University Law School (all institutions in New Orleans) |
| Occupation | Attorney; Judge
United States Navy lieutenant |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Robert Andrew Ainsworth, Jr. (May 10, 1910 – December 22, 1981), was an attorney, politician, and judge in New Orleans, Louisiana. An opponent of Mayor Robert Sidney Maestri's "Old Regulars" Democratic organization, he worked in the 1946 campaign in which Chep Morrison, runnnng as a "reformer," unseated Maestri in the primary and then began a 15-year period as mayor. Ainsworth also worked in the Hale Boggs congressional campaign in 1946 and in Boggs' unsuccessful gubernatorial race in 1952.[1][2]
Ainsworth was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, east of New Orleans, to Robert Ainsworth, Sr., and the former Katherine Wursch. He attended St. Aloysius High School and graduated in 1928 from Jesuit High School and in 1932 from Loyola University Law School, all Roman Catholic institutions located in New Orleans. In 1934, he married the former Elizabeth Stern, and the couple had three children, Robert, III, Elizabeth, and Jill Leslie Ainsworth.[1]
Upon his graduation from law school, Ainsworth began the practice of criminal law. [1]During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy.[3][4] In 1940, he managed the successful gubernatorial campaign of Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles, who unseated Earl Kemp Long after a single year in office; Long returned to re-claim the governorship in 1952.[1] In 1949, Ainsworth won a special election as a state senator for uptown New Orleans. He assumed the seat in 1950 (though some sources say 1952) and served for eleven years.[5] As a senator, he worked to establish the Louisiana Legislative Council.[1]
In 1961, he left the state Senate to become judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson elevated Ainsworth to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th circuit. He was a circuit judge until his death[1] at the age of seventy-one at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans during treatment for a heart attack. He is interred at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Ainsworth, Jr., Robert A.. A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography: Louisiana Historical Association. Retrieved on May 18, 2020.
- ↑ A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography bases its article on Judge Ainsworth on these sources: The New Orleans Times-Picayune, December 22 and 23, 1981; The Baton Rouge Advocate, June 29, 1952; Edward Haas, DeLesseps S. Morrison and the Image of Reform (1974); Liva Baker,The Second Battle of New Orleans: The Hundred-Year Struggle to Integrate the Schools (1996); DeLesseps S. Morrison Papers, Special Collections at the Howard-Ti1ton Memorial Library at Tulane University, and the Hale Boggs Papers, also at Tulane.
- ↑ Ainsworth, Robert Andrew, Jr.. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved on May 19, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Judge Robert Andrew Ainsworth, Jr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on May 18, 2020.
- ↑ Membership of the Louisiana Senate, 1880 - Present (Orleans Parish). Louisiana State Senate. Retrieved on May 18, 2020.
