Changes

Hanna moved in infancy with his parents from Kansas City to Shreveport. In 1947, he graduated from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School and enrolled at [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], He played on the LSU Tigers [[baseball]] team from 1949 to 1951, and was thereafter a shortstop for several minor league teams but soon returned to Shreveport to join his father in business.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2016/12/17/former-shreveport-mayor-bill-hanna-dies/95574356/|title=Former Shreveport Mayor Bill Hanna dies at 86|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''||author=Scott Ferrell|accessdate=December 18, 2016}}</ref>

Hanna moved in infancy with his parents from Kansas City to Shreveport. In 1947, he graduated from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School and enrolled at [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], He played on the LSU Tigers [[baseball]] team from 1949 to 1951, and was thereafter a shortstop for several minor league teams but soon returned to Shreveport to join his father in business.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2016/12/17/former-shreveport-mayor-bill-hanna-dies/95574356/|title=Former Shreveport Mayor Bill Hanna dies at 86|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''||author=Scott Ferrell|accessdate=December 18, 2016}}</ref>

In 1977, Hanna was named "Automobile Dealer of the Year" by the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, of which he once was the president.<ref name=fullobit/> The company was well known for the popular sales slogan, "You Can Afford a Hanna Ford," which was intended to attract moderate-income buyers.<ref name=fullobit>{{cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=william-thomas-hanna-jr&pid=183143757|title=William Thomas Hanna, Jr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=December 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name=findagrave/> Hanna Ford, however, no longer exists.​

In 1977, Hanna was named "Automobile Dealer of the Year" by the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, of which he once was the president.<ref name=fullobit/> The company was well known for the popular sales slogan, "You Can Afford a Hanna Ford," which was intended to attract moderate-income buyers.<ref name=fullobit>{{cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=william-thomas-hanna-jr&pid=183143757|title=William Thomas Hanna, Jr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=December 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name=findagrave/> Hanna Ford, however, no longer exists.

 

==Public career==​

==Public career==​

Hanna won the  mayoral election by defeating his fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Donald Edgar Hathaway, the outgoing municipal public works commissioner. Two years after the mayoral race,  Hathaway was elected to what became a twenty-year tenure as the [[sheriff]] of Caddo Parish.<ref name=findagrave/> Hanna was the first Shreveport mayor since George Washington Hardy, Jr.  (1900-1967), who had not served in a prior public office at the time of his election. Hardy, at thirty-two, was mayor for a single two-year term from 1932 to 1934. Some questioned Hanna's  enthusiasm for "politics." Such an attitude made it appear that he did not like being mayor because he did not seek a second term in 1982.

Hanna won the  mayoral election by defeating his fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Donald Edgar Hathaway, the outgoing municipal public works commissioner. Two years after the mayoral race,  Hathaway was elected to what became a twenty-year tenure as the [[sheriff]] of Caddo Parish.<ref name=findagrave/> Hanna was the first Shreveport mayor since George Washington Hardy, Jr.  (1900-1967), who had not served in a prior public office at the time of his election. Hardy was mayor for a single two-year term from 1932 to 1934. Some questioned Hanna's  enthusiasm for "politics." Such an attitude made it appear that he did not like being mayor because he did not seek a second term in 1982.​.

 

Mayor Hanna promoted the decision to construct Interstate 49 through northwestern Louisiana.  [[General Motors]] located a plant in Shreveport while Hanna was mayor, but the facility since closed. The stadium at the  Louisiana State Fair Grounds, became the renovated Independence Stadium, at which numerous [[football]] teams occasionally played their games.<ref name=fullobit/> Some two weeks after becoming mayor, Hanna presented [[actor]] [[John Wayne]], then in the last year of his life, the second annual "Spirit of Independence" Award at the annual Independence Bowl.<ref>''The Shreveport Times,'' December 14, 1978.</ref> <ref name=findagrave/>​

Mayor Hanna promoted the decision to construct Interstate 49 through northwestern Louisiana.  [[General Motors]] located a plant in Shreveport while Hanna was mayor, but the facility since closed. The stadium at the  Louisiana State Fair Grounds, became the renovated Independence Stadium, at which numerous [[football]] teams occasionally played their games.<ref name=fullobit/> Some two weeks after becoming mayor, Hanna presented [[actor]] [[John Wayne]], then in the last year of his life, the second annual "Spirit of Independence" Award at the annual Independence Bowl.<ref>''The Shreveport Times,'' December 14, 1978.</ref> <ref name=findagrave/>​