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→Other 1952 campaign developments
==Other 1952 campaign developments==
==Other 1952 campaign developments==
Leander Perez, a wealthy businessman who virtually owned his own parish of Plaquemines claimed that Hale Boggs had been involved in communist subversion when Boggs was a college student. Perez, a [[Segregation|segregationist]], also brought up racial issues. He objected to Boggs' relatively moderate positions on race at the time. When New Orleans public schools were first integrated during the 1959-1960 academic year, Perez warned whites that they would likely lose control over their public schools.
Leander Perez, a wealthy businessman who virtually owned his own parish of Plaquemines claimed that Hale Boggs had been involved in communist subversion when Boggs was a college student. Perez, a [[Segregation|segregationist]], also brought up racial issues. He objected to Boggs' relatively moderate positions on race at the time. When New Orleans public schools were first integrated during the 1959-1960 academic year, Perez warned whites that they would likely lose control over their public schools. Boggs still maintained a nominal segregationist position himself and voted against passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], as did all eight Louisiana U.S. House members and both [[U.S. Senator]], [[Allen J. Ellender]] and [[Russell Long]], as well.
Boggs still maintained a nominal segregationist position himself and voted against passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], as did all eight Louisiana U.S. House members and both [[U.S. Senator]], [[Allen J. Ellender]] and [[Russell Long]], as well.
[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], another gubernatorial candidate in 1952, recalled in his memoirs entitled ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' that Perez "used Miss Grace to accuse Hale Boggs of having been a communist and of still being a communist sympathizer. A suit was filed to keep Boggs off the ballot. The suit plus a month or two of daily negative publicity killed Boggs and Miss Grace before they got started good."<ref name=bdodd>[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' (Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing, 1991).</ref>
[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], another gubernatorial candidate in 1952, recalled in his memoirs entitled ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' that Perez "used Miss Grace to accuse Hale Boggs of having been a communist and of still being a communist sympathizer. A suit was filed to keep Boggs off the ballot. The suit plus a month or two of daily negative publicity killed Boggs and Miss Grace before they got started good."<ref name=bdodd>[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' (Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing, 1991).</ref>
Soon Perez ditched Miss Grace as his gubernatorial preference and endorsed another losing candidate, [[James M. McLemore]], a landowner, stockman, and auction-barn operator in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. McLemore was the first candidate for governor in the twentieth century to base a campaign primarily on racial matters, speaking out particularly against miscegenation. He also ran again for governor in 1956, when Earl Long won his third and last term in the office..
Soon Perez ditched Miss Grace as his gubernatorial preference and endorsed another losing candidate, [[James M. McLemore]], a landowner, stockman, and auction-barn operator in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. McLemore was the first candidate for governor in the twentieth century to base a campaign primarily on racial matters, speaking out particularly against miscegenation. He also ran again for governor in 1956, when Earl Long won his third and last term in the office..