| − | '''John Easterly Coxe''' (July 14, 1887 – November 18, 1972)<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62661485/john-easterly-coxe|title=John Easterly Coxe|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 19, 2019}}</ref> was the [[Louisiana]] state superintendent of education from 1940 to 1948 during the terms of [[Governor]]s [[Sam Houston Jones]] and [[Jimmie Davis]]. At the time the office was elective; years later it was made appointive. | + | '''John Easterly Coxe''' (July 14, 1887 – November 18, 1972)<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62661485/john-easterly-coxe|title=John Easterly Coxe|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 19, 2019}}</ref> was the [[anti-Long]] [[Louisiana]] state superintendent of education from 1940 to 1948 during the terms of [[Governor]]s [[Sam Houston Jones]] and [[Jimmie Davis]]. At the time the office was elective; years later it was made appointive. |
| − | Coxe was one of eight children of William Potts Coxe (1845-1915) and the former Margie Selina Webb (1854-1930), both natives of [[Mississippi]]. He was born in rural Watson in Livingston Parish, fifteen miles from the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. He advanced in the field of professional education from classroom teacher to parish superintendent to a curriculum specialist in the state department of education in Baton Rouge. Running on the Sam Jones [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] ticket,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://astheysawit.com/1001-1940-louisiana.html|title=1940: Louisiana, As They Saw It|publisher=astheysawit.com|accessdate=October 22, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Coxe unseated a powerhouse of Louisiana politics, [[T. H. Harris]], the state superintendent since 1908 for whom a scholarship for college students was established in 1938 through legislation offered by [[Lether Frazar]], a college president and then state representative who later became lieutenant governor in the third term of [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]. Harris was allied with the [[Huey Long|Long]] faction of Louisiana politics. Coxe previously was employed in Harris' office, which he since decried as characterized by "politicalizations and unbearable dictatorship … void of reason in his effort to control the schools and the school people."<ref>"John E. Coxe: Candidate for Education Post Makes Statement," ''Minden Herald,'' January 12, 1940, 4.</ref> | + | Coxe was one of eight children of William Potts Coxe (1845-1915) and the former Margie Selina Webb (1854-1930), both natives of [[Mississippi]]. He was born in rural Watson in Livingston Parish, fifteen miles from the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. He advanced in the field of professional education from classroom teacher to parish superintendent to a curriculum specialist in the state department of education in Baton Rouge. Running on the Sam Jones [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] ticket,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://astheysawit.com/1001-1940-louisiana.html|title=1940: Louisiana, As They Saw It|publisher=astheysawit.com|accessdate=October 22, 2011; no longer on-line}}</ref> Coxe unseated a powerhouse of Louisiana politics, [[T. H. Harris]], the state superintendent since 1908 for whom a scholarship for college students was established in 1938 through legislation offered by [[Lether Frazar]], a college president and then state representative who later became lieutenant governor in the third term of [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]]. Harris was allied with the [[pro-Long]] faction of Louisiana politics. Coxe previously was employed in Harris' office, which he since decried as characterized by "politicalizations and unbearable dictatorship … void of reason in his effort to control the schools and the school people."<ref>"John E. Coxe: Candidate for Education Post Makes Statement," ''Minden Herald,'' January 12, 1940, 4.</ref> |
| | Eight years later, Coxe was unseated by [[Shelby M. Jackson]] of Concordia Parish, a Democrat who held the post it for four terms but forfeited a fifth term to run unsuccessfully for [[governor]] in 1963, when [[John J. McKeithen]] was first elected. Jackson was elected on an intra-party ticket headed by former Governor Sam Jones, who sought a comeback in 1948. Oddly, Coxe had been elected to the first of his two terms in 1940 on the successful Jones ticket. | | Eight years later, Coxe was unseated by [[Shelby M. Jackson]] of Concordia Parish, a Democrat who held the post it for four terms but forfeited a fifth term to run unsuccessfully for [[governor]] in 1963, when [[John J. McKeithen]] was first elected. Jackson was elected on an intra-party ticket headed by former Governor Sam Jones, who sought a comeback in 1948. Oddly, Coxe had been elected to the first of his two terms in 1940 on the successful Jones ticket. |