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'''Samuel Shepherd Caldwell''', known as '''Sam Caldwell''' (November 4, 1892 – August 14, 1953), was an [[oil]]man who served from 1934 to 1946 as the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]].​

'''Samuel Shepherd Caldwell''', known as '''Sam Caldwell''' (November 4, 1892 – August 14, 1953), was an [[oil]]man who served from 1934 to 1946 as the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]].​

 

==Background==​

==Background==

 

The son of Samuel A. Caldwell and the former Alice Jeter, Caldwell was born and educated in Mooringsport in Caddo Parish.<ref name=polgr>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/caldwell.html|title=Index to Politicians: Caldwell|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=January 10, 2020}}</ref> He then attended [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]]. For nine years he was employed by Kansas City Southern Railway in the accounting and auditing departments. He worked seven years for Shell Oil Company, part of that tenure as the assistant superintendent of the land department. He was thereafter an independent oil operator affiliated with the Louisiana-Arkansas division of the then Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.<ref name=annacaldwell/>​

The son of Samuel A. Caldwell and the former Alice Jeter, Caldwell was born and educated in Mooringsport in Caddo Parish.<ref name=polgr>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/caldwell.html|title=Index to Politicians: Caldwell|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=January 10, 2020}}</ref> He then attended [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]]. For nine years he was employed by Kansas City Southern Railway in the accounting and auditing departments. He worked seven years for Shell Oil Company, part of that tenure as the assistant superintendent of the land department. He was thereafter an independent oil operator affiliated with the Louisiana-Arkansas division of the then Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.<ref name=annacaldwell/>​

 

==Political life==​

==Political life==​

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===Gubernatorial race===​

===Gubernatorial race===​

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In 1944, Caldwell campaigned unsuccessfully for [[governor]] against former Shreveport Public Safety Commissioner (a position since abolished) [[Jimmie Davis]]. Caldwell's choice for lieutenant governor  was state Senator  [[Frank B. Ellis]] of St. Tammany Parish,<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 14, 1944, p. 5.</ref> who a decade later waged an unsuccessful challenge to [[U.S. Senator]] [[Allen J. Ellender]]. Caldwell received just under thirty thousand votes in the gubernatorial primary. [[Leander Perez]], boss of the Louisiana Delta from Plaquemines Parish, endorsed for governor "either" Caldwell or Lewis Lovering Morgan (1876-1950) of Covington in St. Tammany Parish. At the time, Perez had a personal dislike for Davis and outgoing Governor [[Sam H. Jones]] of [[Lake Charles]], who covertly favored Davis. Morgan was the gubernatorial running mate of former Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], who was seeking the office of lieutenant governor that year. Others who sought the governorship in 1944 were colorful state Senator [[Dudley J. LeBlanc]] of Abbeville in Vermillion Parish and [[U.S. Representative]] [[James H. Morrison]] of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, a resident of Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish, names widely known across the state at that time. Davis led the balloting and then defeated Morgan in the runoff election.<ref name=perez>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FZgEl830BEcC&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&dq=sam+caldwell+and+jimmie+davis&source=bl&ots=OTz6kp2Jd1&sig=YBH6Ix9C_ZHCsCB8iU0rm9HkO2o&hl=en&ei=_y0QTYS3JMOB8gaZi735DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=sam%20caldwell%20and%20jimmie%20davis&f=false|author=Glen Jeansonne|title=Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta|publisher=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]:[[Louisiana State University Press]], 1975; [[Lafayette]]:University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 1997|ISBN=1-57806-917-3|accessdate=December 20, 2010}}</ref>​

In 1944, Caldwell campaigned unsuccessfully for [[governor]] against former Shreveport Public Safety Commissioner (a position since abolished) [[Jimmie Davis]]. Caldwell's choice for lieutenant governor  was state Senator  [[Frank B. Ellis]] of St. Tammany Parish,<ref>''Minden Herald,'' January 14, 1944, p. 5.</ref> who a decade later waged an unsuccessful challenge to [[U.S. Senator]] [[Allen J. Ellender]]. Caldwell received just under thirty thousand votes in the gubernatorial primary. [[Leander Perez]], boss of the Louisiana Delta from Plaquemines Parish, endorsed for governor "either" Caldwell or Lewis Lovering Morgan (1876-1950) of Covington in St. Tammany Parish. At the time, Perez had a personal dislike for Davis and outgoing Governor [[Sam H. Jones]] of [[Lake Charles]], who covertly favored Davis. Morgan was the gubernatorial running mate of former Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]], who was seeking the office of lieutenant governor that year. Others who sought the governorship in 1944 were colorful state Senator [[Dudley J. LeBlanc]] of Abbeville in Vermillion Parish and [[U.S. Representative]] [[James H. Morrison]] of Louisiana's 6th congressional district, a resident of Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish, names widely known across the state at that time. Davis led the balloting and then defeated Morgan in the runoff election.<ref name=perez>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FZgEl830BEcC&pg=PA143&lpg=PA143&dq=sam+caldwell+and+jimmie+davis&source=bl&ots=OTz6kp2Jd1&sig=YBH6Ix9C_ZHCsCB8iU0rm9HkO2o&hl=en&ei=_y0QTYS3JMOB8gaZi735DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=sam%20caldwell%20and%20jimmie%20davis&f=false|author=Glen Jeansonne|title=Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta|publisher=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]:[[Louisiana State University Press]], 1975; [[Lafayette]]:University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 1997|ISBN=1-57806-917-3|accessdate=December 20, 2010}}</ref>​

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In effect, Davis and Caldwell had been city council members elected at-large in the early 1940s, when Shreveport operated under the city commission government, changed in 1978 to the mayor-council format.<ref name=lahist/> Caldwell had urged that the city switch from the city commission to the mayor-council format, a move not undertaken until 1978, long after his death.<ref name=caldwelladm/> After he dispatched Morgan on the theme of "Peace and Harmony," Davis was unopposed in the [[general election]], as was then the political custom in Louisiana. After a twelve-year hiatus, Davis returned to serve a second gubernatorial term from 1960 to 1964<ref name=perez/>​but failed in a third-term comeback bid in 1971.  

In effect, Davis and Caldwell had been city council members elected at-large in the early 1940s, when Shreveport operated under the city commission government, changed in 1978 to the mayor-council format.<ref name=lahist/> Caldwell had urged that the city switch from the city commission to the mayor-council format, a move not undertaken until 1978, long after his death.<ref name=caldwelladm/> After he dispatched Morgan on the theme of "Peace and Harmony," Davis was unopposed in the [[general election]], as was then the political custom in Louisiana. After a twelve-year hiatus, Davis returned to serve a second gubernatorial term from 1960 to 1964<ref name=perez/>​but failed in a third-term comeback bid in 1971.  

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Caldwell died in Shreveport of an unspecified [[lung]] ailment at the age of sixty, almost five months after he had been treated at the [[Mayo Clinic]] in Rochester,  [[Minnesota]]. He is interred along with other family members at the Masonic Rest Section of Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref name=polgr/><ref name=caldwelladm>{{cite web|url= http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/07/26/history-former-mayors-impact-recalled/30707485/|title=Our History: Former mayor’s impact recalled|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=July 26, 2015|author=John Andrew Prime|accessdate=July 27, 2015}}</ref>​

Caldwell died in Shreveport of an unspecified [[lung]] ailment at the age of sixty, almost five months after he had been treated at the [[Mayo Clinic]] in Rochester,  [[Minnesota]]. He is interred along with other family members at the Masonic Rest Section of Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref name=polgr/><ref name=caldwelladm>{{cite web|url= http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/07/26/history-former-mayors-impact-recalled/30707485/|title=Our History: Former mayor’s impact recalled|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=July 26, 2015|author=John Andrew Prime|accessdate=July 27, 2015}}</ref>​

 

==References==​

==References==

{{reflist}}​

{{reflist}}

 

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Sam}}​

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Sam}}​

[[Category:Louisiana People]]​

[[Category:Louisiana People]]​