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→Seventeen years in Congress
After 1969, Waggonner struck up a friendship with President Richard Nixon, who was elected the previous year over the Democrat [[Hubert Humphrey]] and the [[Independent voter|Independent]] [[George Wallace]]. He became a liaison between Nixon and the House Democratic majority. Through this relationship, Waggonner was able to procure public works projects for his 4th district, including the attempt to establish year-round navigation of the Red River between Shreveport and [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
After 1969, Waggonner struck up a friendship with President Richard Nixon, who was elected the previous year over the Democrat [[Hubert Humphrey]] and the [[Independent voter|Independent]] [[George Wallace]]. He became a liaison between Nixon and the House Democratic majority. Through this relationship, Waggonner was able to procure public works projects for his 4th district, including the attempt to establish year-round navigation of the Red River between Shreveport and [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]].
===The Republican/Southern Democrat coalition===
In Congress, Waggonner often supported a Republican-Southern Democratic coalition on various issues. These conservative Democrats were later known as the "Boll weevils." Waggonner was fiscally conservatism and opposed many of the federal social programs as well as [[civil rights]] legislation in 1964, 1965, and 1968. He took a "hawkish" position on the [[Vietnam War]].
Waggonner said that he spent much of his time in Congress trying to convince liberals of the error of their politics. "The trend to socialism is not accidental, but reflects the attitude of the majority, or it would not be the prevailing trend. I spend all of my time talking to the liberals in Congress, doing all I can to persuade them of the rightness of our views, not to conservatives who already share our philosophy."<ref>"Says Waggonner, Missionary Work Among Liberals Is Necessary", ''Minden Press'', June 3, 1963, p. 1</ref>
Waggonner opposed the efforts to [[Impeachment|impeach]] President Nixon prior to the resignation over [[Watergate]]-related matters. While leading southern conservatives in the U. S. House, he wielded power with Nixon that was often reserved for the Speaker or a key committee chairman. He was an influential member of the House Ways and Means Committee and a key player the Republican president needed to get legislation passed in the House. Waggonner later revealed that he also had close contacts with Democratic Presidents Kennedy and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], neither of whom was particularly popular in the 4th District.
In 1976, Waggonner was arrested for soliciting an undercover police decoy in [[Washington, D.C.]], for purposes of [[prostitution]]. He was released because at that time lawmakers enjoyed immunity from prosecution for [[misdemeanor]] offenses. After the Waggonner case, the law was changed to allow congressional members to face misdemeanor charges with the exception of parking violations.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppIIbWkftv4C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Joe+D.+Waggonner+arrest&source=bl&ots=WgR2ondm8i&sig=bD9XbjT4DrFQF3ut8Yby-bzeNco&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Y8VCT7aBNISq2QWg6qjdBg&sqi=2&ved=0CEcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Joe%20D.%20Waggonner%20arrest&f=false|author=Jeffrey M. Eliot et al|title=The Congressional-Presidential Political Dictionary|date=1984|page= 194|publisher=Google Books||accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref>
In 1976, Waggonner was arrested for soliciting an undercover police decoy in [[Washington, D.C.]], for purposes of [[prostitution]]. He was released because at that time lawmakers enjoyed immunity from prosecution for [[misdemeanor]] offenses. After the Waggonner case, the law was changed to allow congressional members to face misdemeanor charges with the exception of parking violations.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppIIbWkftv4C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Joe+D.+Waggonner+arrest&source=bl&ots=WgR2ondm8i&sig=bD9XbjT4DrFQF3ut8Yby-bzeNco&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Y8VCT7aBNISq2QWg6qjdBg&sqi=2&ved=0CEcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Joe%20D.%20Waggonner%20arrest&f=false|author=Jeffrey M. Eliot et al|title=The Congressional-Presidential Political Dictionary|date=1984|page= 194|publisher=Google Books||accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref>