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Waggonner was initially elected to Congress in a special election held in December 1961 to succeed Democrat Overton Brooks, who died in office. He defeated the Republican choice, [[Charlton Lyons]], an oilman from [[Shreveport]], who subsequently ran for governor in 1964 against Democrat [[John J. McKeithen]]. Thereafter, Waggonner rarely had opposition. In 1968, he faced an [[African American]] challenger, fellow Democrat Leon Tarver of Shreveport.
Waggonner was initially elected to Congress in a special election held in December 1961 to succeed Democrat Overton Brooks, who died in office. He defeated the Republican choice, [[Charlton Lyons]], an oilman from [[Shreveport]], who subsequently ran for governor in 1964 against Democrat [[John J. McKeithen]]. Thereafter, Waggonner rarely had opposition. In 1968, he faced an [[African American]] challenger, fellow Democrat Leon Tarver of Shreveport.
In 1968, Waggonner spoke against the legislation introduced by Republican U.S. Representative Robert McClory of [[Illinois]], which designates the third Monday of February as what has become "President's Day," rather than the traditional February 22 holiday in honor of the birth of [[George Washington]]. Waggonner told the sponsors of the bill: “You have further commercialized and made further meaningless something that has the respect of the people of this country.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://amgreatness.com/2018/02/18/make-washingtons-birthday-great/|title=Make Washington’s Birthday Great Again|author=John Fonte|publisher=Amgreatness.com|date=February 18, 2018|accessdate=February 19, 2019}}</ref>
After 1969, Waggonner struck up a friendship with [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] and served as a liaison between Nixon and the House Democratic majority. Through this relationship, Waggonner was able to procure public works projects for his Fourth District, including the attempt to establish year-round navigation of the Red River between Shreveport and [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
After 1969, Waggonner struck up a friendship with [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] and served as a liaison between Nixon and the House Democratic majority. Through this relationship, Waggonner was able to procure public works projects for his Fourth District, including the attempt to establish year-round navigation of the Red River between Shreveport and [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].