James A. Noe
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James Albert Noe Sr. (December 21, 1890 – October 18, 1976) of Monroe served for nearly five months as a Democratic Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K. Allen on January 28, 1936.
Noe was born in tiny Evans Landing in Harrison County, Indiana, to John M. Noe and the former Belle McRae. He also lived in the area of West Point, Kentucky, as a child. His education was limited to county schools. However, in 1971, he received an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana University, to commemorate his liftetime achievements. He served in World War I as a first lieutenant with the 369th Infantry in France. He relocated to Louisiana and garnered a fortune as an independent oilman, both as producer and overriding royalty owner in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.
Noe was elected to the state Senate, District 29 (Ouachita and Jackson parishes). He became a legislative floor leader at the request of Governor Huey P. Long, Jr. He was chosen president pro tempore of the state Senate and succeeded to the governorship to finish out Allen's term because the sitting lieutenant governor, John B. Fournet, had resigned on his election to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
During Noe's brief tenure, he appointed Huey Long's widow, Rose McConnell Long, to finish Long's seat in the U.S. Senate. He also worked toward getting federal money for state highways and establishing a state welfare office. Noe thereafter returned to the state Senate and served until 1940, when he launched his own gubernatorial bid.
In 1940, both he and sitting Governor Earl Kemp Long lost to Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles in the pivotal Democratic primary. Noe and Earl Long later buried their differences. In 1959, Noe and Long ran as an intraparty "ticket" for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. The Noe-Long combination was soundly repudiated by the state's Democratic voters, who instead brought back the administration of James Houston "Jimmie" Davis, who first served from 1944-1948. Noe finished fourth in the 1959 gubernatorial primary with 97,654 votes (11.6 percent). He lost out to conservative former state House Speaker Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock of Franklin, the seat of St. Mary Parish in south Louisiana.
Noe had much more success in his business ventures than he had in politics. Following his governorship, Noe founded both WNOE-AM and WNOE-FM in New Orleans and KNOE-AM, KNOE-FM, and KNOE-TV in Monroe, both named in his honor. He often presented conservative editorials through his radio and television stations and was particularly critical of the nation's "left-turn" in the 1960s. KNOE-AM broadcast the news report of the legendary Paul Harvey news , whom Noe brought to Monroe for a public appearance. Noe also owned and operated farms in his native Indiana, his adopted Ouachita Parish, most notably the Whitehall Plantation, and in rural Tensas Parish adjacent to the Mississippi River.
On May 7, 1922, Noe married the former Anna Gray Sweeney (1901-1972). Their children were Gay Noe (born 1923), James Albert "Jimmy" Noe, Jr. (1928-2005), and Linda McRae Noe (born 1936).
Jimmy Noe, a prominent New Orleans businessman, succeeded his father in running the family-owned radio and television stations. Noe, Jr., turned Republican and supported the GOP gubernatorial nominee David C. Treen in 1972 and was an alternate delegate later in the year to the Republican National Convention that met in Miami Beach to renominate the Nixon-Agnew ticket.
Noe died in Houston, from complications from a heart condition and is buried alongside his wife in Monroe.
[edit] External links
- Obituary of James Noe, Jr. from Times-Picayune
- State of Louisiana - Biography
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
- Arcane Radio Trivia Biography
[edit] References
Davis, Edwin Adams (1961). Louisiana: The Pelican State. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. LCCN 59:9008.
"James Albert Noe," A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 607.
Who's Who in America, 1976-77
Miriam G. Reeves, The Governors of Louisiana
James A. Noe obituary, New Orleans Times-Picayune, October 19, 1976
| Preceded by Oscar Kelly Allen (D) |
Governor of Louisiana
James Albert Noe, Sr., (D) |
Succeeded by Richard W. Leche (D) |
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