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===His chosen successor, "Buddy" Leach===

===His chosen successor, "Buddy" Leach===

Several candidates ran for the seat that Waggonner vacated, including two state representatives, Claude Anthony "Buddy" Leach, Jr., then of Leesville in Vernon Parish and [[Loy Weaver]] of Homer in Claiborne Parish.

Several candidates ran for the seat that Waggonner vacated, including two state representatives, Claude Anthony "Buddy" Leach, Jr., then of Leesville in Vernon Parish and [[Loy Weaver]] of Homer in Claiborne Parish.

[[Buddy Roemer|Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III]], son of Governor [[Edwin Edwards]]' commissioner of administration, [[Charles E. Roemer, II]], entered the race, as did a lone Republican, [[Jimmy Wilson]], a former state legislator and former mayor dof Vivian in northernmost Caddo Parish, who had recently switched parties. Waggonner endorsed Leach, who ultimately defeated Wilson in the general election by a margin of 266 disputed votes. He also criticized President [[Geral Ford]] for coming into the district to campaign for Wilson. However, Leach was unable to cement his hold on the 4th district and was unseated in the 1980 [[general election]] after a single term by Democrat, later Republican, Buddy Roemer. That 1980 House election was called the "battle of the Buddys" waged between the two wealthy Democrats.

[[Buddy Roemer|Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III]], son of Governor [[Edwin Edwards]]' commissioner of administration, [[Charles E. Roemer, II]], entered the race, as did a lone Republican, [[Jimmy Wilson]], a former state legislator and former mayor dof Vivian in northernmost Caddo Parish, who had recently switched parties. Waggonner endorsed Leach, who ultimately defeated Wilson in the general election by a margin of 266 disputed votes. He also criticized President [[Gerald Ford], a [[Moderate Republican] for coming into the district to campaign for Wilson. However, Leach was unable to cement his hold on the 4th district and was unseated in the 1980 [[general election]] after a single term by Democrat, later Republican, Buddy Roemer. That 1980 House election was called the "battle of the Buddys" waged between the two wealthy Democrats.

Waggonner's seat remained in Democrat hands for nine years after his retirement, when a Democrat-turned-[[Moderate Republican]], James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III, then from Leach's Leesville but a Shreveport native, won it in another special election held on March 8, 1988. (McCrery retired in January 2009 and was succeeded by the Republican [[John Fleming]], a conservative [[physician]] from Minden. When Fleming stepped down in 2017, the seat went to still another conservative Republican, [[Mike Johnson]] of Benton in Waggonner's Bossier Parish.

Waggonner's seat remained in Democrat hands for nine years after his retirement, when a Democrat-turned-Moderate Republican, James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III, then from Leach's Leesville but a Shreveport native, won it in another special election held on March 8, 1988. (McCrery retired in January 2009 and was succeeded by the Republican [[John Fleming]], a conservative [[physician]] from Minden. When Fleming stepped down in 2017, the seat went to still another conservative Republican, [[Mike Johnson]] of Benton in Waggonner's Bossier Parish.

For a time the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Shreveport was named for Waggonner, but his name was removed when a new courthouse was subsequently constructed. Instead the Joe D. Waggonner Lock and Dam on the Red River bears his name.

For a time the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Shreveport was named for Waggonner, but his name was removed when a new courthouse was subsequently constructed. Instead the Joe D. Waggonner Lock and Dam on the Red River bears his name.