Changes

| children=Elaine Marion Clements Snapp (1920-2014)​

| children=Elaine Marion Clements Snapp (1920-2014)​

| religion=​[[Southern Baptist]]

| religion=​[[Southern Baptist]]

| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]<br>​

| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]​

Unsuccessful [[Governor|gubernatorial]] candidate, 1944​

Unsuccessful [[Governor|gubernatorial]] candidate, 1944​

}}​

}}​

'''Ernest S. Clements''' (April 17, 1898 &ndash; May 17, 1987)<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url= https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7675210/ernest-clements|title=Ernest Clements|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref> was a most unusual member of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political faction in [[Louisiana]] in a career which spanned thirty-eight years from the 1930s to the 1970s. The pious, introverted Clements did not fit the public image of the no-holds-barred, extroverted Long man. [[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], a former lieutenant governor, state auditor, and state education superintendent who was a long-time observer of Louisiana politics, described his friend Clements as "zealous and a fine orator in the old-school style . . . [but] so humorless, straitlaced, and self-righteous that none of us, from Earl ([[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]) on down to the sound-truck drivers, could keep from playing tricks on him."​<ref name=bdodd>[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics,'' ([[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991​.)</ref>

'''Ernest S. Clements''' (April 17, 1898 &ndash; May 17, 1987)<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url= https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7675210/ernest-clements|title=Ernest Clements|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=January 6, 2020}}</ref> was a most unusual member of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political faction in [[Louisiana]] in a career which spanned thirty-eight years from the 1930s to the 1970s. The pious, introverted Clements did not fit the public image of the no-holds-barred, extroverted Long man. [[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], a former lieutenant governor, state auditor, and state education superintendent who was a long-time observer of Louisiana politics, described his friend Clements as "zealous and a fine orator in the old-school style . . . [but] so humorless, straitlaced, and self-righteous that none of us, from Earl ([[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]) on down to the sound-truck drivers, could keep from playing tricks on him."​<ref name=bdodd>[[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics,'' ([[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]: Claitor's Publishing, 1991​.)</ref>

==The most loyal Longite==​

==A most loyal Longite==​

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Clements served as a state senator from 1936 to 1944, when he gave up the seat, then won by Gilbert Franklin Hennigan (1883-1960), to launch a quixotic campaign for governor. Most of his fellow Longites were openly supporting an elderly attorney and former [[U.S. Representative]] Lewis Lovering  Morgan (1876-1950) of Covington in St. Tammany Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]]. Clements polled only 20,404 votes in the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]], then closed to registered party members.  The winner that year of his first of two nonconsecutive terms was [[Jimmie Davis]], a popular singer and occasional actor, by which roles he had become a state celebrity.​

Clements served as a state senator from 1936 to 1944, when he gave up the seat, then won by Gilbert Franklin Hennigan (1883-1960), to launch a quixotic campaign for governor. Most of his fellow Longites were openly supporting an elderly attorney and former [[U.S. Representative]] Lewis Lovering  Morgan (1876-1950) of Covington in St. Tammany Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]]. Clements polled only 20,404 votes in the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[primary]], then closed to registered party members.  The winner that year of his first of two nonconsecutive terms was [[Jimmie Davis]], a popular singer and occasional actor, by which roles he had become a state celebrity.​

 

In 1948, Governor Earl Long named Clements head of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,<ref name=findagrave/> a plum political prize. Clements, however, had expected to be named to head the highway department, a patronage distributor, and he was known for placing demanding "deadheads" on the state payroll. These are individuals who collect government checks for doing little or no productive labor. Bill Dodd said that Earl Long told Clements: "Ernest, you ain't gonna take over that highway business. You ain't got sense enough to handle it. I'm willing to put you in charge of them coons and possums [Wildlife and Fisheries]. You can take it or leave it!" So Clements, unsurprisingly but offended at Long's high-handed attitude, accepted the appointment.​<ref name=bdodd/>

In 1948, Governor Earl Long named Clements head of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,<ref name=findagrave/> a plum political prize. Clements, however, had expected to be named to head the highway department, a patronage distributor, and he was known for placing demanding "deadheads" on the state payroll. These are individuals who collect government checks for doing little or no productive labor. Bill Dodd said that Earl Long told Clements: "Ernest, you ain't gonna take over that highway business. You ain't got sense enough to handle it. I'm willing to put you in charge of them coons and possums [Wildlife and Fisheries]. You can take it or leave it!" So Clements, unsurprisingly but offended at Long's high-handed attitude, accepted the appointment.​<ref name=bdodd/>

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Thereafter, Clements spent his last years in politics as one of the three members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a rate-making body that supervises utilities and motor carriers. He was elected to the then District 2 seat in 1956, 1962, and 1968. He stepped down at the end of 1974,<ref name=findagrave/> when the body was enlarged to five members under the new Louisiana Constitution that year. Clements was first elected to succeed Wade Omer Martin, Sr. (1885-1956), of St. Martin Parish, who died in August 1956. Martin was first elected to the commission in 1932 and hence served twenty-four years. After Martin's death, Governor Long had named  E. P. Roy to a temporary appointment until the regular election could be held. Clements won that election. In the two years prior to reelection campaigns, Clements served as chairman of the commission.<ref name=bdodd/> He was also chairman in his last two years on the commission, when the junior member was then 34-year-old [[Edward Kennon|Francis Edward Kennon, Jr.]], a nephew of former Governor Robert Kennon, who Clements earlier had opposed for governor.​

Thereafter, Clements spent his last years in politics as one of the three members of the [[Louisiana Public Service Commission]], a rate-making body that supervises utilities and motor carriers. He was elected to the then District 2 seat in 1956, 1962, and 1968. He stepped down at the end of 1974,<ref name=findagrave/> when the body was enlarged to five members under the new Louisiana Constitution that year. Clements was first elected to succeed Wade Omer Martin, Sr. (1885-1956), of St. Martin Parish, who died in August 1956. Martin was first elected to the commission in 1932 and hence served twenty-four years. After Martin's death, Governor Long had named  E. P. Roy to a temporary appointment until the regular election could be held. Clements won that election. In the two years prior to reelection campaigns, Clements served as chairman of the commission.<ref name=bdodd/> He was also chairman in his last two years on the commission, when the junior member was then 34-year-old [[Edward Kennon|Francis Edward Kennon, Jr.]], a nephew of former Governor Robert Kennon, who Clements earlier had opposed for governor.​

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==Dodd recalls his friend Clements==​

==Dodd recalls his friend Clements==​