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He soon became active in the budding movement to establish a competitive Republican Party in Louisiana, having first been a candidate for the Louisiana State Senate in the [[general election]] held on March 3, 1964, the same contest in which [[Charlton Lyons]] of [[Shreveport]], who also had Winn Parish ties, carried the Republican banner for governor. Walker was defeated, 81-19 percent, by the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[nominee]], former state Representative W. L. Rambo of Georgetown in Grant Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election returns, Louisiana State Senate, March 3, 1964.</ref> who was allied with the [[Earl Long|Long]] political faction and was even to a member of the Long family, the former Mary Alice Long.​

He soon became active in the budding movement to establish a competitive Republican Party in Louisiana, having first been a candidate for the Louisiana State Senate in the [[general election]] held on March 3, 1964, the same contest in which [[Charlton Lyons]] of [[Shreveport]], who also had Winn Parish ties, carried the Republican banner for governor. Walker was defeated, 81-19 percent, by the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[nominee]], former state Representative W. L. Rambo of Georgetown in Grant Parish.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election returns, Louisiana State Senate, March 3, 1964.</ref> who was allied with the [[Earl Long|Long]] political faction and was even to a member of the Long family, the former Mary Alice Long.​

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That summer, Walker was one of twenty delegates from Louisiana to the [[Republican National Convention]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] which nominated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] in the race against [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/walker9.html|title=''The Political Graveyard''|publisher=|accessdate=July 20, 2009}}</ref> Four  congressional nominees from Louisiana were invited to meet privately with former President [[Dwight Eisenhower]], who endorsed the GOP slate, including Walker, future [[Governor]]  [[David C. Treen]], of [[suburban]] [[New Orleans]], publisher Robert "Bob" Angers]] of [[Lafayette]], and businessman Floyd O. Crawford (1907–1995) of [[Baton Rouge]], who opposed incumbent Representative and former gubernatorial candidate James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison, Sr. (1908-2000) of Hammond, Louisiana.<ref>"Barry Cops GOP Banner for Conservatives", ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', [[Shreveport]], Louisiana, July 16, 1964, p. 1.</ref>​

That summer, Walker was one of twenty delegates from Louisiana to the [[Republican National Convention]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] which nominated [[U.S. Senator]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] in the race against [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/walker9.html|title=''The Political Graveyard''|publisher=|accessdate=July 20, 2009}}</ref> Four  congressional nominees from Louisiana were invited to meet privately with former President [[Dwight Eisenhower]], who endorsed the GOP slate, including Walker, future [[Governor]]  [[David C. Treen]], of [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]], publisher Robert "Bob" Angers of [[Lafayette]], and businessman Floyd O. Crawford (1907–1995) of [[Baton Rouge]], who opposed incumbent Representative and former gubernatorial candidate James Hobson "Jimmy" Morrison, Sr. (1908-2000) of Hammond, Louisiana.<ref>"Barry Cops GOP Banner for Conservatives", ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'', [[Shreveport]], Louisiana, July 16, 1964, p. 1.</ref>​

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Walker's opponent was Speedy Oteria Long (1927-2006), an [[attorney]] and a former state senator from Jena in LaSalle Parish. Considered the most [[conservative]] of the Longs, Speedy had unseated his cousin, Gillis William Long (1923-1985) of Alexandria, in the Democratic primary in the summer of 1964. Walker's showing, a half percent better than Treen received in his race against the Democrat Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr. (1914-1972), may have been a reflection of continuing Long factional divisions, which had appeared in 1963 in the gubernatorial primary. In that campaign, U.S. Representative Gillis Long was endorsed by U.S. Senator [[Russell Long]], the son of [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], and the successful opponent, [[John J. McKeithen]], carried the backing of Blanche Beulah Revere Long (1902-1998), Earl Long's politically influential widow. Goldwater was an easy winner in Louisiana and polled large majorities in the northern half of the state prior to passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], which brought forth the registration of large numbers of [[African American]]s. Goldwater provided a boost to Walker but insufficient help to defeat a Long candidate.<ref>[[Bill Dodd]], "Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'', [[Baton Rouge]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991.</ref>​

Walker's opponent was Speedy Oteria Long (1927-2006), an [[attorney]] and a former state senator from Jena in LaSalle Parish. Considered the most [[conservative]] of the Longs, Speedy had unseated his cousin, Gillis William Long (1923-1985) of Alexandria, in the Democratic primary in the summer of 1964. Walker's showing, a half percent better than Treen received in his race against the Democrat Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr. (1914-1972), may have been a reflection of continuing Long factional divisions, which had appeared in 1963 in the gubernatorial primary. In that campaign, U.S. Representative Gillis Long was endorsed by U.S. Senator [[Russell Long]], the son of [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], and the successful opponent, [[John J. McKeithen]], carried the backing of Blanche Beulah Revere Long (1902-1998), Earl Long's politically influential widow. Goldwater was an easy winner in Louisiana and polled large majorities in the northern half of the state prior to passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], which brought forth the registration of large numbers of [[African American]]s. Goldwater provided a boost to Walker but insufficient help to defeat a Long candidate.<ref>[[Bill Dodd]], "Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'', [[Baton Rouge]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991.</ref>​

Long prevailed, 33,250 votes (54.5 percent) to Walker's 27,735 (45.5 percent). Walker carried only Rapides Parish but polled at least 40 percent in Sabine, Natchitoches,  Grant, LaSalle, and Winn parishes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, U.S. Congress, November 3, 1964.</ref>​

Long prevailed, 33,250 votes (54.5 percent) to Walker's 27,735 (45.5 percent). Walker carried only Rapides Parish but polled at least 40 percent in Sabine, Natchitoches,  Grant, LaSalle, and Winn parishes.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, U.S. Congress, November 3, 1964.</ref>​

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Walker never again sought office and was not visibly involved thereafter in politics.​

Walker never again sought office and was not visibly involved thereafter in politics.

==Death==​

==Death==

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After more than three decades of retirement, Walker died at St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria at the age of eighty-four. His services were held on February 9, 1999, at Edmond's Funeral Home Chapel in Winnfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayou.com/~suelynn/99obits/feb99.html|title=Obituaries from the ''Monroe News Star''|publisher=bayou.com|accessdate=July 18, 2009}}</ref> Nine months after her husband's passing, Elizabeth Walker died in Winn Parish Medical Center. Her services were held in the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Winnfield. Pastor Barry Hoekstra (1956-2014), later of First United Methodist in Alexandria and St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Shreveport,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=barry-hoekstra&pid=172602862&fhid=10228|title=Barry Hoekstra|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=September 28, 2014}}</ref> officiated at the services for both William and Elizabeth Walker. There are three Walkere children, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Walker (born August 30, 1948), then of [[Boston]],  [[Massachusetts]], William T. "Will" Walker (born on March 12, 1950, and adopted in Linz, Austria) and wife Shirley, then of [[Tallahassee]], [[Florida]], and Stewart Abel Walker (born September 22, 1951), then of [[New York City]], and two grandchildren, the offspring of Will Walker. William and Mary Elizabeth Walker, who died in the same year, are interred at the family plot at Transport Cemetery in Dodson in Winn Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/obits/current/sep1999.txt|title=Mary Elizabeth Walker obituary|publisher=files.usgwarchives.net|accessdate=July 19, 2009}}</ref>​

After more than three decades of retirement, Walker died at St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria at the age of eighty-four. His services were held on February 9, 1999, at Edmond's Funeral Home Chapel in Winnfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayou.com/~suelynn/99obits/feb99.html|title=Obituaries from the ''Monroe News Star''|publisher=bayou.com|accessdate=July 18, 2009}}</ref> Nine months after her husband's passing, Elizabeth Walker died in Winn Parish Medical Center. Her services were held in the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Winnfield. Pastor Barry Hoekstra (1956-2014), later of First United Methodist in Alexandria and St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Shreveport,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=barry-hoekstra&pid=172602862&fhid=10228|title=Barry Hoekstra|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=September 28, 2014}}</ref> officiated at the services for both William and Elizabeth Walker. There are three Walkere children, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Walker (born August 30, 1948), then of [[Boston]],  [[Massachusetts]], William T. "Will" Walker (born on March 12, 1950, and adopted in Linz, Austria) and wife Shirley, then of [[Tallahassee]], [[Florida]], and Stewart Abel Walker (born September 22, 1951), then of [[New York City]], and two grandchildren, the offspring of Will Walker. William and Mary Elizabeth Walker, who died in the same year, are interred at the family plot at Transport Cemetery in Dodson in Winn Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/obits/current/sep1999.txt|title=Mary Elizabeth Walker obituary|publisher=files.usgwarchives.net|accessdate=July 19, 2009}}</ref>​

 

==A previous William S. Walker==​

==A previous William S. Walker==

Another William S. Walker served in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army and  died from wounds received in 1864 at the Battle of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish. Like the 20th-century Walker, the 19th-century William S. Walker was a lieutenant colonel. He was listed in the first Winn Parish [[census]] in 1860 as having been an [[Alabama]] native and twenty-eight years of age. He became only the second [[sheriff]] of Winn Parish, leaving the position to join the Confederate Army . It is believed that this Walker, who was married to the former Rosanna McCreight, was buried at Mansfield Cemetery and that his remains were later exhumed and reburied in a family plot near Jonesboro in Jackson Parish. The Winnfield chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is named after the first William S. Walker. There were many Walkers in the area over both centuries and no indication that the World War II William Stewart Walker was a descendant of the Confederate William S. Walker.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.penandsaber.com/grays28th/wmwlkr.html|title=Lt. Col William Walker, C.S.A.|publisher=penandsaber.com|accessdate=July 20, 2009}}</ref>​

Another William S. Walker served in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army and  died from wounds received in 1864 at the Battle of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish. Like the 20th-century Walker, the 19th-century William S. Walker was a lieutenant colonel. He was listed in the first Winn Parish [[census]] in 1860 as having been an [[Alabama]] native and twenty-eight years of age. He became only the second [[sheriff]] of Winn Parish, leaving the position to join the Confederate Army . It is believed that this Walker, who was married to the former Rosanna McCreight, was buried at Mansfield Cemetery and that his remains were later exhumed and reburied in a family plot near Jonesboro in Jackson Parish. The Winnfield chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is named after the first William S. Walker. There were many Walkers in the area over both centuries and no indication that the World War II William Stewart Walker was a descendant of the Confederate William S. Walker.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.penandsaber.com/grays28th/wmwlkr.html|title=Lt. Col William Walker, C.S.A.|publisher=penandsaber.com|accessdate=July 20, 2009}}</ref>​

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==References==

==References==

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