Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
→Political career
Michot was elected to the Louisiana House in 1960, when fellow Democrat [[Jimmie Davis]] became [[governor]] for a second nonconsecutive term.
Michot was elected to the Louisiana House in 1960, when fellow Democrat [[Jimmie Davis]] became [[governor]] for a second nonconsecutive term.
In 1963, Michot, then forty-one, gave up his legislative seat to contest unsuccessfully the Democratic nomination for governor. He ran as a critic of the outgoing Davis administration and said that he would consider supporting [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the presidency in the 1964 general election against [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>William C. Havard, Rudolf Heberle, and [[Perry H. Howard]], ''The Louisiana Elections of 1960'', [[Baton Rouge]]: [[Louisiana State University]] Studies, 1963, pp. 99, 102.</ref> Son Michael John "Mike" Michot, a former District 23 state senator from Lafayette, was born on December 12, 1963, just a week after the [[Governor|gubernatorial]] primary. Michot finished sixth in the gubernatorial primary.
In 1963, Michot, then forty-one, gave up his legislative seat to contest unsuccessfully the Democratic nomination for governor. He ran as a critic of the outgoing Davis administration and said that he would consider supporting [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]] for the presidency in the 1964 general election against [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>William C. Havard, Rudolf Heberle, and [[Perry H. Howard]], ''The Louisiana Elections of 1960'', [[Baton Rouge]]: [[Louisiana State University]] Studies, 1963, pp. 99, 102.</ref> Son Michael John "Mike" Michot, a former District 23 state senator from Lafayette, was born on December 12, 1963, just a week after the [[Governor|gubernatorial]] primary. Michot finished sixth in the gubernatorial primary.
In 1967–1968, Michot reentered the political arena and won a seat on the then 11-member Louisiana State Board of Education. Under the configuration then in place, he represented the former Second Louisiana Public Service Commission District. His board colleagues included subsequent board president [[Enoch T. Nix]] of [[Bossier City]]. In 1971, Michot challenged incumbent Education Superintendent [[Bill Dodd]], who had also once been in the state legislature (1940–1948), lieutenant governor (1948–1952), state auditor (1956–1960), and a member of the Louisiana Board of Education (1960–1964). Michot and Dodd hence had both been in the legislature and on the State Board of Education.
Michot charged that Dodd had injected "cronyism" in the department and overloaded it with useless administrators. Michot used an apple as his logo, with the intention of putting students and teachers first in the educational process. He led in the primary balloting and forced Dodd into a second primary. The discouraged Dodd, however, withdrew from the runoff primary, and Michot became the automatic Democratic nominee. Michot then faced only the second Republican ever to contest the superintendency.
Michot's opponent in the general election was Republican [[Robert Frye]], a native of Shongaloo in central Webster Parish and an education professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. After Michot unseated Dodd, Frye telephoned him to offer congratulations. A few weeks later, Frye alleged that Michot had operated with his brother a bar in Lafayette and had offered Frye a high level job in a new Michot education department if Frye would withdraw from the contest. Michot denied the charges and easily prevailed,<ref>"Frye Released Papers Say Michot Unethical," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 27, 1972, p. 1.</ref> 662,597 votes (63.5 percent) to Frye's 380,896 (36.5 percent). Frye carried East Baton Rouge Parish and five north Louisiana parishes, including the Long ancestral stronghold of Winn Parish.<ref>State of Louisiana, Secretary of State, General election returns, February 1, 1972.</ref>
Michot charged that Dodd had injected "cronyism" in the department and overloaded it with useless administrators. Michot used an apple as his logo, with the intention of putting students and teachers first in the educational process. He led in the primary balloting and forced Dodd into a second primary. The discouraged Dodd, however, withdrew from the runoff primary, and Michot became the automatic Democratic nominee. Michot then faced only the second Republican ever to contest the superintendency.
According to his faith in free enterprise, Michot promoted "career education" as superintendent.<ref name=obit/> One of his assistant superintendents with duties in special education, was later Superintendent [[Thomas G. Clausen]], a native of St. Mary Parish then from [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parlouisiana.org/s3web/1002087/docs/Constitutional%20Amendment%20Archive/CA1979_Sept.pdf|title=Thomas G. Clausen, p. 18|publisher=parlouisiana.org|accessdate=October 8, 2013}}</ref> Michot was defeated for a second term in 1975 by his fellow Democrat, J. Kelly Nix, the first executive assistant to Governor [[Edwin Edwards]] and originally from West Carroll Parish. In 1984, Nix was succeeded as the last of the elected superintendents by Tom Clausen.
According to his faith in free enterprise, Michot promoted "career education" as superintendent.<ref name=obit/> One of his assistant superintendents with duties in special education, was later Superintendent [[Thomas G. Clausen]], a native of St. Mary Parish then from [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parlouisiana.org/s3web/1002087/docs/Constitutional%20Amendment%20Archive/CA1979_Sept.pdf|title=Thomas G. Clausen, p. 18|publisher=parlouisiana.org|accessdate=October 8, 2013}}</ref> Michot was defeated for a second term in 1975 by his fellow Democrat, J. Kelly Nix, the first executive assistant to Governor [[Edwin Edwards]] and originally from West Carroll Parish. In 1984, Nix was succeeded as the last of the elected superintendents by Tom Clausen.