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Swearingen was born in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], to Lawson Swearingen, Sr. (1919–2011), and the former Jeanette Christine "Jean" Cadwallader (1922-2012). The senior Swearingen was a [[World War II]] veteran, a graduate of [[Louisiana Tech University]], and an executive with Commercial Union Insurance in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Louisiana, and, later, [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. The paternal grandparents of Swearingen, Jr., were Annie Marie Estlinbaum and Henry Douglas Swearingen of Eagle Lake, Texas.<ref name=lssobit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=lawson-swearingen&pid=155157905|title=Obituary of Lawson Swearingen, Sr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=December 24, 2011|accessdate=October 27, 2019}}</ref>

Swearingen was born in [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], to Lawson Swearingen, Sr. (1919–2011), and the former Jeanette Christine "Jean" Cadwallader (1922-2012). The senior Swearingen was a [[World War II]] veteran, a graduate of [[Louisiana Tech University]], and an executive with Commercial Union Insurance in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Louisiana, and, later, [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]. The paternal grandparents of Swearingen, Jr., were Annie Marie Estlinbaum and Henry Douglas Swearingen of Eagle Lake, Texas.<ref name=lssobit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=lawson-swearingen&pid=155157905|title=Obituary of Lawson Swearingen, Sr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=December 24, 2011|accessdate=October 27, 2019}}</ref>

His mother, Jean, daughter of the Reverend Chester Sabin Cadwallader and the former Carrie Kendall, met her husband at [[Baylor University]] in her native [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas. While the couple resided in Ruston, she was for twelve years the Lincoln Parish deputy clerk of court. She was active in [[Southern Baptist]] women's groups and assisted her husband while they were living in Boston to organize [[Billy Graham]]'s 1980 New England Crusade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=jean-swearingen&pid=157513081|title=Jean Swearingen obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=May 11, 2012}}</ref>

His mother, Jean, daughter of the Reverend Chester Sabin Cadwallader and the former Carrie Kendall, met her husband at [[Baylor University]] in her native [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], Texas. While the couple resided in Ruston, she was for twelve years the Lincoln Parish deputy clerk of court. She was active in [[Southern Baptist]] women's groups and assisted her husband while they were living in Boston to organize [[Billy Graham]]'s 1980 New England Crusade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=jean-swearingen&pid=157513081|title=Jean Swearingen obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=October 27, 2019}}</ref>

Swearingen, Jr., was reared in Ruston and graduated in 1962 from Ruston High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966 in the field of government from ULM, known at the time as Northeast Louisiana State College. He also excelled in college [[basketball]] under the popular coach Leonard O'Neil "Lenny" Fant (1923-1998).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayou.com/~suelynn/obituaries/lofobit.html|author=Mark S. Rainwater|title=Fant's legacy lives on in 'his boys'|date= October 13, 1998|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|accessdate=January 3, 2010}}</ref>  

Swearingen, Jr., was reared in Ruston and graduated in 1962 from Ruston High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966 in the field of government from ULM, known at the time as Northeast Louisiana State College. He also excelled in college [[basketball]] under the popular coach Leonard O'Neil "Lenny" Fant (1923-1998).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayou.com/~suelynn/obituaries/lofobit.html|author=Mark S. Rainwater|title=Fant's legacy lives on in 'his boys'|date= October 13, 1998|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|accessdate=January 3, 2010}}</ref>