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'''Walter Bertram Hatten''', known as '''Bert Hatten''' (born March 9, 1927),<ref name=voterportal>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Home/Home?uid=3850794|title=Click Walter Hatten, 71291,, March 1927|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=February 6, 2018}}</ref> is a former [[newspaper]]man who served for three terms as the [[mayor]] of West Monroe in Ouachita Parish] in north [[Louisiana]], a position which he filled as a [[Democratic Party]] from 1966 to 1978. He is perhaps best known for his editorial column, "Inside Straight", in ''The Ouachita Citizen'', a weekly in West Monroe.  

'''Walter Bertram Hatten''', known as '''Bert Hatten''' (born March 9, 1927),<ref name=voterportal>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Home/Home?uid=3850794|title=Click Walter Hatten, 71291,, March 1927|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=February 6, 2018}}</ref> is a former [[newspaper]]man who served for three terms as the [[mayor]] of West Monroe in Ouachita Parish in north [[Louisiana]], a position which he filled as a [[Democratic Party]] from 1966 to 1978. He is perhaps best known for his editorial column, "Inside Straight", in ''The Ouachita Citizen'', a weekly in West Monroe.  

==Background==

==Background==

==Political life==

==Political life==

In 1963, Hatten was heavily involved in the campaign to return former [[Governor]] [[Robert F. Kennon]] to the state's highest office. Kennon, a [[conservative]] Democrat who served as governor from 1952 to 1956, was eliminated in the primary election held on December 7, just two weeks after the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Kennon had run as an anti-Kennedy candidate in what turned out to have been the former governor's last campaign.<ref name=hannajr>{{cite web|url=http://www.theind.com/LaLaLand/hanna-shares-family-memories-of-jfk-2360/|title=Sam Hanna, Jr.: One fateful day in Dallas, November 20, 2013|publisher='[The Ouachita Citizen''|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref>  

In 1963, Hatten was heavily involved in the campaign to return former [[Governor]] [[Robert F. Kennon]] to the state's highest office. Kennon, a [[conservative]] Democrat who served as governor from 1952 to 1956, was eliminated in the primary election held on December 7, just two weeks after the assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Kennon had run as an anti-Kennedy candidate in what turned out to have been the former governor's last campaign.<ref name=hannajr>{{cite web|url=http://www.theind.com/LaLaLand/hanna-shares-family-memories-of-jfk-2360/|title=Sam Hanna, Jr.: One fateful day in Dallas, November 20, 2013|publisher=''The Ouachita Citizen''|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref>  

On June 14, 1966, Hatten was handily elected mayor of West Monroe to succeed fellow Democrat J. Allen Norris, who served from 1952 to 1966. He defeated the [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate,  William Green "Billy" Haynes, Jr. (1912-1984),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18914032|title=William Green Haynes, Jr.|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref> also a West Monroe insurance agent, 2,490 votes (68 percent) to 1,171 (32 percent).<ref>On February 1, 1972, W. G. "Billy" Haynes, Jr., a pioneer of the Louisiana [[Republican Party]], ran  for state insurance commissioner but was overwhelmed by the Democrat Sherman A. Bernard (1925-2012) of Jefferson Parish.</ref> Five Democrats were elected with Hatten to serve on the city council. One of those aldermen, Charles Anding, a trade union official, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1987 from District 15, which encompasses West Monroe. Another alderman, Truett Thorn,<ref>''Lake Charles American Press'', June 15, 1966, p. 10.</ref> was a coach at West Monroe High School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/West_Monroe_High_School_Rebelaire_Yearbook/1983/Page_40.html  

On June 14, 1966, Hatten was handily elected mayor of West Monroe to succeed fellow Democrat J. Allen Norris, who served from 1952 to 1966. He defeated the [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate,  William Green "Billy" Haynes, Jr. (1912-1984),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18914032|title=William Green Haynes, Jr.|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref> also a West Monroe insurance agent, 2,490 votes (68 percent) to 1,171 (32 percent).<ref>On February 1, 1972, W. G. "Billy" Haynes, Jr., a pioneer of the Louisiana [[Republican Party]], ran  for state insurance commissioner but was overwhelmed by the Democrat Sherman A. Bernard (1925-2012) of Jefferson Parish.</ref> Five Democrats were elected with Hatten to serve on the city council. One of those aldermen, Charles Anding, a trade union official, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1987 from District 15, which encompasses West Monroe. Another alderman, Truett Thorn,<ref>''Lake Charles American Press'', June 15, 1966, p. 10.</ref> was a coach at West Monroe High School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/West_Monroe_High_School_Rebelaire_Yearbook/1983/Page_40.html