Changes

On returning to Louisiana after his military career ended in compulsory retirement, Walker taught military science for a time at his ''alma mater'', Northwestern State University, where his brother, George T. Walker, was then the dean.<ref>Statement of Ellen Walker Stephenson of Lancaster,  [[Pennsylvania]], a niece of William S. Walker, September 2008.</ref>​

On returning to Louisiana after his military career ended in compulsory retirement, Walker taught military science for a time at his ''alma mater'', Northwestern State University, where his brother, George T. Walker, was then the dean.<ref>Statement of Ellen Walker Stephenson of Lancaster,  [[Pennsylvania]], a niece of William S. Walker, September 2008.</ref>​

​

​

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.​

 

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>​

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>​

 

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>​ Speedy Long prevailed in the House contest, 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>

Speedy Long prevailed in the House contest, 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>​

​

​

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.