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Cal Clarke's leadership role in the petroleum industry allowed young Clem Clarke access to many figures in the business, particularly Michael Late Benedum, the [[West Virginia]] native who rose to prominence in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], but had early holdings in Shreveport and Caddo Parish. Benedum was self-educated in his petroleum career when little was known of geology, and geophysics had not materialized as a field of study.<ref name=interview/>​

Cal Clarke's leadership role in the petroleum industry allowed young Clem Clarke access to many figures in the business, particularly Michael Late Benedum, the [[West Virginia]] native who rose to prominence in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], but had early holdings in Shreveport and Caddo Parish. Benedum was self-educated in his petroleum career when little was known of geology, and geophysics had not materialized as a field of study.<ref name=interview/>​

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Benedum was originally a lease man for Standard Oil. He entered a long-term partnership with Joe Trees to pursue drilling and build a refinery in Caddo Parish. Benedum and Trees were called the greatest wildcatters ever. Benedum sold out his Caddo lease for $7 million in 1910 to Standard Oil. In eastern Rusk County, Benedum and Trees drilled too far east of what became the giant East Texas Oil Field, launched in 1930 west of Henderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01841.html|title=Benedum, Michael L.|publisher=American National Biography|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> by [Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, a native of [[Alabama]] and a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who subsequently settled in [[Dallas]]. Joiner wound up with the first claims in western Rusk County to the lucrative East Texas field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjo40|title=Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> Working together, Benedum and Clarke found some oil in Blossom in Lamar County in northeast Texas, at 2,700 feet, but the strike was not commercially feasible. Clarke obtained other leases and retained Benedum to drill for oil. After hitting a dry hole, Clarke moved temporarily to [[California]].<ref name=interview/>​

Benedum was originally a lease man for Standard Oil. He entered a long-term partnership with Joe Trees to pursue drilling and build a refinery in Caddo Parish. Benedum and Trees were called the greatest wildcatters ever. Benedum sold out his Caddo lease for $7 million in 1910 to Standard Oil. In eastern Rusk County, Benedum and Trees drilled too far east of what became the giant East Texas Oil Field, launched in 1930 west of Henderson<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/20/20-01841.html|title=Benedum, Michael L.|publisher=American National Biography|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> by [Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner, a native of [[Alabama]] and a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who subsequently settled in [[Dallas]]. Joiner wound up with the first claims in western Rusk County to the lucrative East Texas field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjo40|title=Columbus Marion "Dad" Joiner|publisher=''The Handbook of Texas''|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> Working together, Benedum and Clarke found some oil in Blossom in Lamar County in northeast Texas, at 2,700 feet, but the strike was not commercially feasible. Clarke obtained other leases and retained Benedum to drill for oil. After hitting a dry hole, Clarke moved temporarily to [[California]].<ref name=interview/>​

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Benedum subsequently asked Clarke to develop a geological report on the  state of [[Florida]]. Clark, Benedum, and Trees leased a million acres, mostly in Collier County in the Everglades. They hired Gulf Oil Company to perform vital geophysical work. On September 26, 1943, the Humble Oil Company, which had bought out Gulf for $1 million in investment, drilled a well at a depth of 11,726 feet. This was the first oil discovery in Florida in the Collier County field developed by Benedum, Trees, and Clarke. Trees had died a few months before the Florida discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aoghs.org/states/first-florida-oil-well/|title=First Florida Oil Well|publisher=aoghs.org|accessdate=February 9, 2015}}</ref> Then Clarke with the permission of Generalissimo [[Rafael Trujillo]] took a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin of the [[Dominican Republic]]. Clarke leased alone another million acres in Florida through Sun Oil Company.<ref name=interview/>​

Benedum subsequently asked Clarke to develop a geological report on the  state of [[Florida]]. Clark, Benedum, and Trees leased a million acres, mostly in Collier County in the Everglades. They hired Gulf Oil Company to perform vital geophysical work. On September 26, 1943, the Humble Oil Company, which had bought out Gulf for $1 million in investment, drilled a well at a depth of 11,726 feet. This was the first oil discovery in Florida in the Collier County field developed by Benedum, Trees, and Clarke. Trees had died a few months before the Florida discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aoghs.org/states/first-florida-oil-well/|title=First Florida Oil Well|publisher=aoghs.org|accessdate=February 9, 2015}}</ref> Then Clarke with the permission of Generalissimo [[Rafael Trujillo]] took a concession with mineral rights in the Azua Basin of the [[Dominican Republic]]. Clarke leased alone another million acres in Florida through Sun Oil Company.<ref name=interview/>​

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In his Senate campaign, Clarke faced opposition from two Democratic tickets: (1) the  Truman-Barkley national slate, placed on the ballot through a special session of the state legislature, and (2) the official state party line taken that year by [[Strom Thurmond]], then a [[Segregation|segregationist]] governor of [[South Carolina]] and later an eight-term member of the U.S. Senate. Thurmond switched allegiance in 1964 from the Democrats to the Republicans to support [[Barry  Goldwater]] over President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Clarke considered the two opposing Long slates "illegal". Though no such situation of this kind had been undertaken previously in Louisiana,  candidates in New York could then and still may combine their general election votes from rival party slates. Clarke sued to prevent the Truman-Thurmond slates from both offering Russell Long as their senatorial nominees, but the appeals court declined to hear the case.<ref name=interview/><ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980'',  ([[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]: [[Northwestern State University]], 1980), p. 49</ref>​

In his Senate campaign, Clarke faced opposition from two Democratic tickets: (1) the  Truman-Barkley national slate, placed on the ballot through a special session of the state legislature, and (2) the official state party line taken that year by [[Strom Thurmond]], then a [[Segregation|segregationist]] governor of [[South Carolina]] and later an eight-term member of the U.S. Senate. Thurmond switched allegiance in 1964 from the Democrats to the Republicans to support [[Barry  Goldwater]] over President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Clarke considered the two opposing Long slates "illegal". Though no such situation of this kind had been undertaken previously in Louisiana,  candidates in New York could then and still may combine their general election votes from rival party slates. Clarke sued to prevent the Truman-Thurmond slates from both offering Russell Long as their senatorial nominees, but the appeals court declined to hear the case.<ref name=interview/><ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Louisiana, 1920-1980'',  ([[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]: [[Northwestern State University]], 1980), p. 49</ref>​

 

For a brief time, Clarke appeared poised for a breakthrough. Leander Perez of Plaquemines Parish in [[suburb]]an New Orleans was then the chairman of the powerful Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He opposed  a generous tidelands oil lease settlement offered by the Truman administration and held out for a greater advantage to Louisiana, which never materialized. In a dispute with then Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], Perez threatened to deprive Russell Long, Earl Long's nephew, from securing the official state Democratic nomination. Such a move would have denied Long a place on the Democratic Thurmond column, the ticket with the traditional rooster emblem, which was automatically the choice of tens of thousands of Louisiana voters at the time. Perez toyed with passing the official Democratic mantle to Clem Clarke. Only a deal between Perez and Governor Long kept Russell Long on the Thurmond slate,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisianavoice.com/2010/08/11/earls-big-blunder-no-thanks-to-leander-perez/|title=Earl’s big blunder (no thanks to Leander Perez)|publisher=Louisiana Voice|author=Tom Aswell|date=August 11, 2010|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> which carried the Louisiana [[electoral vote]]. Russell Long subsequently served for thirty-eight years in the Senate until he stepped down in 1987 and was succeeded by fellow Democrat [[John Breaux]].​

​For a brief time, Clarke appeared poised for a breakthrough. Leander Perez of Plaquemines Parish in [[suburb]]an New Orleans was then the chairman of the powerful Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. He opposed  a generous tidelands oil lease settlement offered by the Truman administration and held out for a greater advantage to Louisiana, which never materialized. In a dispute with then Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], Perez threatened to deprive Russell Long, Earl Long's nephew, from securing the official state Democratic nomination. Such a move would have denied Long a place on the Democratic Thurmond column, the ticket with the traditional rooster emblem, which was automatically the choice of tens of thousands of Louisiana voters at the time. Perez toyed with passing the official Democratic mantle to Clem Clarke. Only a deal between Perez and Governor Long kept Russell Long on the Thurmond slate,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisianavoice.com/2010/08/11/earls-big-blunder-no-thanks-to-leander-perez/|title=Earl’s big blunder (no thanks to Leander Perez)|publisher=Louisiana Voice|author=Tom Aswell|date=August 11, 2010|accessdate=February 10, 2015}}</ref> which carried the Louisiana [[electoral vote]]. Russell Long subsequently served for thirty-eight years in the Senate until he stepped down in 1987 and was succeeded by fellow Democrat [[John Breaux]].​

 

Clarke tried to convince Thurmond voters to cast split tickets, then unheard of in Louisiana general elections, and to support him, not Long, for the Senate. Clarke claimed that there were a "lot of shenanigans at the polls, and the split vote that I got where they were voting for Thurmond and for me, I doubt very seriously if they were counted and given to me. ... Of course, a lot of these votes were given to me on account of the anti-Long feeling in Louisiana [yet Earl Long had won the governor's election earlier that same year]. I am proud to say that I did carry my home city of Shreveport against Russsell Long."<ref name=interview/> Clark also won in East Baton Rouge, Iberia, and [[Lafayette]] parishes. By plurality, Iberia was the only parish to support Dewey.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Presidential election returns by parish, November 2, 1948</ref>​

Clarke tried to convince Thurmond voters to cast split tickets, then unheard of in Louisiana general elections, and to support him, not Long, for the Senate. Clarke claimed that there were a "lot of shenanigans at the polls, and the split vote that I got where they were voting for Thurmond and for me, I doubt very seriously if they were counted and given to me. ... Of course, a lot of these votes were given to me on account of the anti-Long feeling in Louisiana [yet Earl Long had won the governor's election earlier that same year]. I am proud to say that I did carry my home city of Shreveport against Russsell Long."<ref name=interview/> Clark also won in East Baton Rouge, Iberia, and [[Lafayette]] parishes. By plurality, Iberia was the only parish to support Dewey.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Presidential election returns by parish, November 2, 1948</ref>​

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