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==Background==

==Background==

Bagwell was a son of Arthur D. Bagwell (1878-1955), a native of Lincoln Parish, and the former Birdie Mae Harrison (1878-1961), originally from Houma in Terrebonne Parish. The couple died in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish; they are interred there at Oak Grove Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113149701|title=Birdie Mae Harrison Bagwell|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref>​

Bagwell was a son of Arthur D. Bagwell (1878-1955), a native of Lincoln Parish, and the former Birdie Mae Harrison (1878-1961), originally from Houma in Terrebonne Parish. The couple died in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish; they are interred there at Oak Grove Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113149701|title=Birdie Mae Harrison Bagwell|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref>​

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Bagwell attended local [[Segregation|segregated]] schools through high school. He graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] and the LSU Law Center, both of which were also segregated.<ref name=hgbagwell/> In 1936, Bagwell married the former June Sue Ross (1915-1971). The couple had seven children together.<ref name=hgbagwell/><ref name=polgraveyard/>​

Bagwell attended local [[Segregation|segregated]] schools through high school. He graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] and the LSU Law Center, both of which were also segregated.<ref name=hgbagwell/> In 1936, Bagwell married the former June Sue Ross (1915-1971). The couple had seven children together.<ref name=hgbagwell/><ref name=polgraveyard/>​

==Political life==​

==Political life==

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Unusual for his time, Bagwell joined the Republican Party at a time when most whites were [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. Louisiana  had been a one-party state for most statewide and national elections since the late 19th century, when white Democrats regained control of the state government and approved a new state constitution in 1898 that effectively disenfranchised most blacks by raising barriers to voter registration and voting. [[African Americans]] had prior to 1964 constituted the great majority of members of the Louisiana Republican Party.  

Unusual for his time, Bagwell joined the Republican Party at a time when most whites were [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. Louisiana  had been a one-party state for most statewide and national elections since the late 19th century, when white Democrats regained control of the state government and approved a new state constitution in 1898 that effectively disenfranchised most blacks by raising barriers to voter registration and voting. [[African Americans]] had prior to 1964 constituted the great majority of members of the Louisiana Republican Party.  

Governor Kennon endorsed the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket. Although successful nationally,Eisenhower lost the Louisiana [[electoral vote]] that year. White conservatives in the state then remained overwhelmingly Democratic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05E5D8113CE53ABC4F53DFBF668389649EDE|title=LOUISIANA'S CHIEF BACKS EISENHOWER; Gov. Kennon Says General Will End 'Truman Era of Minks, Pay-Offs and Rackets'|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|page=1|date=September 7, 1952|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref> but would by the 21st century become predominantly Republican.​

Governor Kennon endorsed the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket. Although successful nationally,Eisenhower lost the Louisiana [[electoral vote]] that year. White conservatives in the state then remained overwhelmingly Democratic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E05E5D8113CE53ABC4F53DFBF668389649EDE|title=LOUISIANA'S CHIEF BACKS EISENHOWER; Gov. Kennon Says General Will End 'Truman Era of Minks, Pay-Offs and Rackets'|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|page=1|date=September 7, 1952|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref> but would by the 21st century become predominantly Republican.​

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Bagwell sought a federal judgeship but was not selected by the Eisenhower administration.<ref name=hgbagwell/> Along with incoming state party chairman [[LeRoy Smallenberger]] of [[Shreveport]], Bagwell served as an alternate delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention, which also met in Chicago and nominated the ticket of Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., of [[Massachusetts]]. [[George Reese]], a New Orleans lawyer who challenged Democratic U.S. Senator [[Allen  Ellender]] that year for his seat, was also a delegate to the Chicago convention. So was the Shreveport Republican and later a Nixon-appointed U.S. District Judge, Thomas Eaton "Tom" Stagg, Jr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/R/1960/LA.html|title=Louisiana delegation to the 1960 Republican National Convention|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref>​

Bagwell sought a federal judgeship but was not selected by the Eisenhower administration.<ref name=hgbagwell/> Along with incoming state party chairman [[LeRoy Smallenberger]] of Shreveport, Bagwell served as an alternate delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention, which also met in Chicago and nominated the ticket of Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., of [[Massachusetts]]. [[George Reese]], a New Orleans lawyer who challenged Democratic U.S. Senator [[Allen  Ellender]] that year for his seat, was also a delegate to the Chicago convention. So was the Shreveport Republican and later a Nixon-appointed U.S. District Judge, Thomas Eaton "Tom" Stagg, Jr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/parties/R/1960/LA.html|title=Louisiana delegation to the 1960 Republican National Convention|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref>​

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In the 1964 presidential election, [[Barry Goldwater]] was the first Republican to carry the [[Deep South]], although he lost nearly everywhere else. Bagwell called for an "overhaul" of the state party leadership, arguing that more moderate policies were necessary for broader party success. The more [[conservative]] party leaders, including Floyd O. Crawford, the defeated Republican candidate for U.S. representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district; and Morton Blackwell, later active as a Republican party official in [[Virginia]], criticized Bagwell for his comments: They "seem to come from another world and another era." Crawford said, "if Bagwell wishes to be a [[liberal]], then he should become a Democrat."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1585755/louisiana_gop_factions_clash/|title="Louisiana GOP Factions Clash"|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|date=November 13, 1964|accessdate=January 16, 2015}}</ref>​

In the 1964 presidential election, [[Barry Goldwater]] was the first Republican to carry the [[Deep South]], although he lost nearly everywhere else. Bagwell called for an "overhaul" of the state party leadership, arguing that more moderate policies were necessary for broader party success. The more [[conservative]] party leaders, including Floyd O. Crawford, the defeated Republican candidate for U.S. representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district; and Morton Blackwell, later active as a Republican party official in [[Virginia]], criticized Bagwell for his comments: They "seem to come from another world and another era." Crawford said, "if Bagwell wishes to be a [[liberal]], then he should become a Democrat."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1585755/louisiana_gop_factions_clash/|title="Louisiana GOP Factions Clash"|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|date=November 13, 1964|accessdate=January 16, 2015}}</ref>​