Ted Jones
| Theodore Lutrell "Ted" Jones (Louisiana lawyer, lobbyist, | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 21, 1934 Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, USA |
| Died | August 11, 2019 (aged 85) Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Political Party | Democrat |
| Occupation | Lawyer; Lobbyist |
| Spouse | (1) Ethel Roberts Jones (2) Sally Wonders Jones Children: Alma mater: |
Theodore Lutrell Jones, known as Ted Jones (May 21, 1934 – August 11, 2019)[1] was a lawyer and lobbyist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who provided counsel to governors, U.S. Representatives, U.S. Senators, and presidential candidates.[2]
Background
In 1960, at the age of twenty-six,[3] Jones received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. He procured his Juris Doctorate in 1963 from the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford. In 1970, he received a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he has also long maintained a law practice. His legal specialties included taxation, estate planning, insurance, communications, oil and natural gas, rate regulations, federal and state campaign election law, corporate law, and financial transactions.[4]
Legal and political career
Jones was briefly the chief of staff to Democratic U. S. Representative Speedy Long of the since disbanded 8th congressional district. Thereafter, he was named counsel for the then newly implemented Medicare program for John J. McKeithen. He was a special counsel for McKeithen's successor as governor, Edwin Edwards. He workedin the 1968 presidential race on the staff of then Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, who was defeated by Richard M. Nixon; both Humphrey and Nixon lost in Louisiana that year. Jones wrote two books dealing with business and tax planning and foreign tax credits.[2]
Jones was special counsel to both the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the Louisiana Tax Commission. He was a former state assistant collector of revenue. For eight years, Jones was the chief lobbyist for the Louisiana state government in Washington, D.C.[4]
Jones played the guitar in the band of John McKeithen's predecessor as governor, Jimmie Davis, and continued to entertain with the remaining band members after Davis's death. At the annual induction ceremonies of the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield in 2004, Jones sang Davis' trademark song, "You Are My Sunshine". He was also known for his renditions of Governor Earl Kemp Long giving a stump speech. In 2003, Jones himself considered running for governor but declined after he determined how much his pay would be reduced were he to have been successful.[5]
He was an organizer of the Washington Mardi Gras in the nation's capital. He wore a Panama Jack hat and spoke in a drawl of his native Georgia.[1]
Jones was a key advisor in the successful 2015 campaign to elect the Democrat John Bel Edwards, also of Washington Parish, as governor.[1]
Personal life
Jones and his second wife, Sally Wonders Jones (born 1939), have a son, Theodore Wonders Jones (born July 9, 1971),[6] who is also an attorney. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans on a scholarship[7] and graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University near Dallas, Texas, with a Juris Doctorate. The junior Jones has managed the financing of long-term debt for the state, various municipalities, and institutions of higher education. Prior to joining the Stephens firm, he was the chief legislative counsel to former U.S. Representative Wilbert J. "Billy" Tauzin, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. A Republican, the younger Jones formerly practiced corporate and securities law in northern California with two firms, one of which is Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, previously headed by Charles Taylor Manatt, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.[8]
The son practiced thereafter with his father in the Jones Walker firm in Baton Rouge.[1]
The senior Jones also maintained a residence on the Gulf Coast at Miramar Beach in Walton County, Florida. His Democratic voter registration was in Bogalusa in Washington Parish, where he had a farm.[1]
Honors
Ted Jones holds honorary doctorates of humanity from both his alma mater, Northwestern State University, and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish. He is an inductee of the NSU "Long Purple Line of Distinguished Alumni" and the former director of the NSU Foundation.[4]
In 2007, Jones was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tyler Bridges (August 11, 2019). Ted Jones, veteran Baton Rouge lobbyist, dies at 85; remembered as 'kind of a renaissance man'. Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on August 12, 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Theodore "Ted" Jones. lapoliticalmuseum.com. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
- ↑ The author is unable to find information on Jones from his birth in 1934 until he entered college c. 1956.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tauzin Consultants: Management Team. tauzinconsultants.com. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
- ↑ James Ronald Skains. Political Hall of Fame induction in Winnfield will honor eight. The Piney Woods Journal. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Voter Portal.
- ↑ Scott Dyer, Scholarship Controversy Grows, June 17, 1993. tulanelink.com. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Theodore W. Jones. stephens.com. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
