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Line 23: − + − + − In 1955, Preaus, with the backing of Governor Kennon, who was ineligible to seek a second consecutive four-year term, declared his candidacy for governor.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIhZxpoZVIQC&pg=PA378 |title=The Eisenhower Years|author=Michael S. Mayer|date=2010|page=378|publisher=|location=|isbn=978-0-8160-5387-2|accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> Preaus's platform stressed law enforcement with use of the Louisiana National Guard as needed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/3909247/|title=Pre3aus will use Guard to enforce law|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|date=January 5, 1956|page=1|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> industrial development, tidelands oil revenues, long-range highway planning, no state tax increases, greater independence for local governments, expanded facilities for mental and tuberculosis patients, $65 per month welfare payments to the elderly or needy, the dredging of twenty new lakes,<ref name=mhwr/> and the maintenance of racial [[segregation]], the opposition to which he blamed on "outside agitators."<ref name=segregation>"Preaus Takes Strong Stand on Segregation," ''Minden Herald,'' December 8, 1955, p. 1.</ref> Preaus claimed that the [[NAACP]] [[civil rights]] organization was upsetting the "goodwill" that existed in Louisiana between the races.<ref name=segregation/>+ Line 45:
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|parents=Harry, Sr., and Sallie Tidwell Preaus
|parents=Harry, Sr., and Sallie Tidwell Preaus
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'''Frederick Tidwell Preaus''', known as '''Fred Preaus''' (April 25, 1912 – July 13, 1987),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Frederick+T.&gsln=Preaus&mswpn__ftp=Farmerville%2C+LA&msbdy=1912&uidh=000|title=Frederick T. Preaus|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38119861|title=Frederick Tidwell Preaus|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=February 14, 2015}}</ref> was a [[business]]man and [[politician]] from the U.S. state of [[Louisiana]], a native of Farmerville in Union Parish near the [[Arkansas]] state line. He was an unsuccessful [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] candidate in the 1956 Louisiana gubernatorial election.
'''Frederick Tidwell Preaus''', known as '''Fred Preaus''' (April 25, 1912 – July 13, 1987),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Frederick+T.&gsln=Preaus&mswpn__ftp=Farmerville%2C+LA&msbdy=1912&uidh=000|title=Frederick T. Preaus|publisher=search.ancestry.com|accessdate=January 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38119861|title=Frederick Tidwell Preaus|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=February 14, 2015}}</ref> was a [[business]]man and [[politician]] from the U.S. state of [[Louisiana]], a native of Farmerville in Union Parish near the [[Arkansas]] state line. He was an unsuccessful [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] candidate in the 1956 Louisiana gubernatorial election.
==Background==
==Background==
In 1933, Preaus graduated from [[Louisiana Tech University]] in nearby [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/lincoln/history/schools/tech1933.txt|title=Louisiana Tech, 1933|publisher=usgwarchives.net|accessdate=September 5, 2010}}</ref> In 1953, Preaus was named the president of the Louisiana Tech Alumni Association.
In 1933, Preaus graduated from [[Louisiana Tech University]] in nearby [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/lincoln/history/schools/tech1933.txt|title=Louisiana Tech, 1933|publisher=usgwarchives.net|accessdate=September 5, 2010}}</ref> In 1953, Preaus was named the president of the Louisiana Tech Alumni Association.
Right out of college, Preaus purchased Mitchell [[Ford]], the company dealership in Farmerville, which also sold [[Mercury (automobile)|Mercury]] [[automobile]]s. In 1946, he opened a new building for the company, and his brother, Harry Preaus, Jr. (1915-1998), joined him as a partner. After their retirements, Joe and John Preaus took over the company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6tICgUupecC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Fred+Preaus+of+Farmerville&source=bl&ots=9FRdE_n5l-&sig=DT4aRxCoARANwf2M74zA6LlFxQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EebgVJ6TCca1ggS-84GoDQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Fred%20Preaus%20of%20Farmerville&f=false|title=Union Parish|page=19|author=W. Gene Barron|date=2012|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]|isbn=978-0-7-3859167-4|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Right out of college, Preaus purchased Mitchell [[Ford]], the company dealership in Farmerville, which also sold Mercury [[automobile]]s. In 1946, he opened a new building for the company, and his brother, Harry Preaus, Jr. (1915-1998), joined him as a partner. After their retirements, Joe and John Preaus took over the company.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6tICgUupecC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=Fred+Preaus+of+Farmerville&source=bl&ots=9FRdE_n5l-&sig=DT4aRxCoARANwf2M74zA6LlFxQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EebgVJ6TCca1ggS-84GoDQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Fred%20Preaus%20of%20Farmerville&f=false|title=Union Parish|page=19|author=W. Gene Barron|date=2012|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Company|location=[[Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]|isbn=978-0-7-3859167-4|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Preaus was elected to the five-member Farmerville Town Council in 1949<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/louisiana/monroe/monroe-morning-world/1949/03-13/page-21|publisher=''The Monroe Morning World''|title=Candidates file in Farmerville|page=21|date=March 13, 1949|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> and was active in the [[chamber of commerce]]. In 1952, incoming [[Governor]] [[Robert F. Kennon]] appointed Preaus as the state highway director.<ref name=mhwr/><ref>Other southern highway directors who made unsuccessful runs for governor in their states were state Senator B. R. Patton and state Representative T. T. Fields, Preaus worked to make Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville a reality. Popular with fisherman and boaters, the waterway opened in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lakedarbonnelife.com/2013/01/18/in-the-beginning/|title=In the Beginning|publisher=Lake D'Arbonne Life|date=January 18, 2013|accessdate=February 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bab.stparchive.com/Archive/BAB/BAB11072013P05.php|title=Lake D'Arbonne Celebrating 50th Year|publisher=''The Bernice Banner''|location=Bernice, Louisiana|date=November 7, 2013|page=5|author=Kinny Haddox|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> In 1947, Preaus was president of the Union Parish Fair.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT69&lpg=PT69&dq=Fred+T.+Preaus+of+Farmerville,+LA&source=bl&ots=rJw5aXf2KD&sig=Yn-MunAShn5MO-KYqED0LZ1PR7k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NQXhVMXbEMyXNs6OgcAG&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAzge#v=onepage&q=Fred%20T.%20Preaus%20of%20Farmerville%2C%20LA&f=false|title=''Billboard''|date=May 31, 1947|page=70|publisher=Nelson Business Media|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Preaus was elected to the five-member Farmerville Town Council in 1949<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/louisiana/monroe/monroe-morning-world/1949/03-13/page-21|publisher=''The Monroe Morning World''|title=Candidates file in Farmerville|page=21|date=March 13, 1949|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> and was active in the [[Chamber of Commerce]]. In 1952, incoming [[Governor]] [[Robert F. Kennon]] appointed Preaus as the state highway director.<ref name=mhwr/><ref>Other southern highway directors who made unsuccessful runs for governor in their states were state Senator B. R. Patton and state Representative T. T. Fields, Preaus worked to make Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville a reality. Popular with fisherman and boaters, the waterway opened in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lakedarbonnelife.com/2013/01/18/in-the-beginning/|title=In the Beginning|publisher=Lake D'Arbonne Life|date=January 18, 2013|accessdate=February 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bab.stparchive.com/Archive/BAB/BAB11072013P05.php|title=Lake D'Arbonne Celebrating 50th Year|publisher=''The Bernice Banner''|location=Bernice, Louisiana|date=November 7, 2013|page=5|author=Kinny Haddox|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> In 1947, Preaus was president of the Union Parish Fair.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT69&lpg=PT69&dq=Fred+T.+Preaus+of+Farmerville,+LA&source=bl&ots=rJw5aXf2KD&sig=Yn-MunAShn5MO-KYqED0LZ1PR7k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NQXhVMXbEMyXNs6OgcAG&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAzge#v=onepage&q=Fred%20T.%20Preaus%20of%20Farmerville%2C%20LA&f=false|title=''Billboard''|date=May 31, 1947|page=70|publisher=Nelson Business Media|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Preaus was also engaged in the [[timber]] business. Preaus and J. A. Auger (1911–2010), an inductee of the Loggers Hall of Fame,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepineywoods.com/HallFameSep12.htm|title=Loggers Hall of Fame Sept. 14: Dodson museum underway for Hall, and regional history|author=Tom Kelly|publisher=''The Piney Woods Journal''|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> together developed the first chip mill in Farmerville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fgazette.com/news.php?id=1169|title=Mary Nash-Wood, "Augers Leave Behind Rich Legacy"|publisher=''Farmerville Gazette'', February 3, 2010|accessdate=September 5, 2010}}</ref>
Preaus was also engaged in the [[timber]] business. Preaus and J. A. Auger (1911–2010), an inductee of the Loggers Hall of Fame,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepineywoods.com/HallFameSep12.htm|title=Loggers Hall of Fame Sept. 14: Dodson museum underway for Hall, and regional history|author=Tom Kelly|publisher=''The Piney Woods Journal''|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> together developed the first chip mill in Farmerville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fgazette.com/news.php?id=1169|title=Mary Nash-Wood, "Augers Leave Behind Rich Legacy"|publisher=''Farmerville Gazette'', February 3, 2010|accessdate=September 5, 2010}}</ref>
==Gubernatorial race==
==Gubernatorial race==
With the backing of Governor Kennon, who was ineligible to seek a second consecutive four-year term, Preaus declared his candidacy for governor in 1955.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIhZxpoZVIQC&pg=PA378 |title=The Eisenhower Years|author=Michael S. Mayer|date=2010|page=378|publisher=|location=|isbn=978-0-8160-5387-2|accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> Preaus's platform stressed law enforcement with use of the Louisiana National Guard as needed,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/3909247/|title=Pre3aus will use Guard to enforce law|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|date=January 5, 1956|page=1|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> industrial development, tidelands oil revenues, long-range highway planning, no state tax increases, greater independence for local governments, expanded facilities for mental and tuberculosis patients, $65 per month welfare payments to the elderly or needy, the dredging of twenty new lakes,<ref name=mhwr/> and the maintenance of racial [[segregation]], the opposition to which he blamed on "outside agitators."<ref name=segregation>"Preaus Takes Strong Stand on Segregation," ''Minden Herald,'' December 8, 1955, p. 1.</ref> Preaus claimed that the [[NAACP]] [[civil rights]] organization was upsetting the "goodwill" that existed in Louisiana between the races.<ref name=segregation/>
For lieutenant governor, Preaus allied with [[New Orleans]] City Council member Andre Brown Moore, a 1934 graduate of the [[Tulane University]] Law School who had served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps under [[General]] [[George S. Patton]]'s [[Third Army]]
For lieutenant governor, Preaus allied with [[New Orleans]] City Council member Andre Brown Moore, a 1934 graduate of the [[Tulane University]] Law School who had served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps under [[General]] [[George S. Patton]]'s [[Third Army]]
In a January 1956 speech carried by [[radio]] and [[television]], Kennon minimized the chances of any of the "other anti-Long candidates" to defeat former Governor Earl Long in a potential runoff election]. "The only man who can beat Earl Long in the runoff [which was not required, as it developed)] is Fred Preaus, and the only man Earl is afraid of in this race is Fred Preaus," Kennon quipped.<ref name=lcap>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2460219/|title=Kennon says it'll be Long or Preaus|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|page=32|date=January 12, 1956|accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> Kennon gave a running prediction of how he expected to vote to divide throughout the state, but he badly misjudged the forthcoming election results in which Long won without need for a second primary.<ref name=lcap/>
In a January 1956 speech carried by [[radio]] and [[television]], Kennon minimized the chances of any of the "other anti-Long candidates" to defeat former Governor Earl Long in a potential runoff election]. "The only man who can beat Earl Long in the runoff [which was not required, as it developed)] is Fred Preaus, and the only man Earl is afraid of in this race is Fred Preaus," Kennon quipped.<ref name=lcap>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2460219/|title=Kennon says it'll be Long or Preaus|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|page=32|date=January 12, 1956|accessdate=February 17, 2015}}</ref> Kennon gave a running prediction of how he expected to vote to divide throughout the state, but he badly misjudged the forthcoming election results in which Long won without need for a second primary.<ref name=lcap/>
Considered a [[dark horse]] candidate from the start,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19560118&id=-60fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2840,926230|title=Landslide Vote for Earl Long: Louisiana Supports Former Governor|publisher=''Southeast Missourian''|location=[[Cape Girardeau]], [[Missouri]]|page=1|date=January 18, 1956|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> Preaus was unable to make much headway in the race against Long but carried one parish — not his own Union Parish, but Plaquemines Parish, then dominated by the segregationist [[political boss]] Leander H. Perez, a Dixiecrat in 1948 and one of Preaus' most determined backers.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2ZXz67oSdAC&pg=PA162 |title=Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta|author=Glen Jeansonne|date=1995|edition=2|publisher=University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]]|location=Lafayette, Louisiana|page=162|isbn=157806-917-3|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Considered a [[dark horse]] candidate from the start,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19560118&id=-60fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2840,926230|title=Landslide Vote for Earl Long: Louisiana Supports Former Governor|publisher=''Southeast Missourian''|location=[[Cape Girardeau]], [[Missouri]]|page=1|date=January 18, 1956|accessdate=February 18, 2015}}</ref> Preaus was unable to make much headway in the race against Long but carried one parish — not his own Union Parish, but Plaquemines Parish, then dominated by the segregationist political boss Leander H. Perez, a Dixiecrat in 1948 and one of Preaus' most determined backers.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2ZXz67oSdAC&pg=PA162 |title=Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta|author=Glen Jeansonne|date=1995|edition=2|publisher=University of Louisiana at [[Lafayette]]|location=Lafayette, Louisiana|page=162|isbn=157806-917-3|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref>
Preaus finished in third place in the race with 95,955 votes (11.7 percent), trailing Mayor Morrison, who made the first of his three unsuccessful gubernatorial races, and Earl Long, who won the second of his three non-consecutive terms as Louisiana governor. Lagging behind Preaus were former state police superintendent Francis Carroll Grevemberg, and James M. McLemore, an [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] landowner and [[cattle]]man who made a second bid for governor, once again as a particularly avowed segregationist candidate.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Gubernatorial first primary returns, January 17, 1956</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Bm5yc8Pdc8C&pg=PA549&lpg=PA549&dq=Fred+Preaus+of+Louisiana&source=bl&ots=R3VSZz9V9x&sig=PPb87mIwEK1fOdVM00txbpnEJ2w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JjLgVKO2M4mjgwT_lILwAQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=Fred%20Preaus%20of%20Louisiana&f=false|title=Louisiana Almanac|date=2006|author=[[Milburn E. Calhoun]]|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=Gretna, Louisiana|page=549|isbn=9781589803060|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> Meanwhile, A. Brown Moore lost to Long's choice for lieutenant governor, Lether Frazar, a prominent educator from [[Lake Charles]].
Preaus finished in third place in the race with 95,955 votes (11.7 percent), trailing Mayor Morrison, who made the first of his three unsuccessful gubernatorial races, and Earl Long, who won the second of his three non-consecutive terms as Louisiana governor. Lagging behind Preaus were former state police superintendent Francis Carroll Grevemberg, and James M. McLemore, an [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] landowner and [[cattle]]man who made a second bid for governor, once again as a particularly avowed segregationist candidate.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Gubernatorial first primary returns, January 17, 1956</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Bm5yc8Pdc8C&pg=PA549&lpg=PA549&dq=Fred+Preaus+of+Louisiana&source=bl&ots=R3VSZz9V9x&sig=PPb87mIwEK1fOdVM00txbpnEJ2w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JjLgVKO2M4mjgwT_lILwAQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=Fred%20Preaus%20of%20Louisiana&f=false|title=Louisiana Almanac|date=2006|author=[[Milburn E. Calhoun]]|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=Gretna, Louisiana|page=549|isbn=9781589803060|accessdate=February 15, 2015}}</ref> Meanwhile, A. Brown Moore lost to Long's choice for lieutenant governor, Lether Frazar, a prominent educator from [[Lake Charles]].