Charles Elson Roemer II, also known as Charlie Roemer or Budgie Roemer (December 11, 1923 – July 7, 2012), was a farmer and businessman from
Bossier City
Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...
in northwestern
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, who served as the commissioner of administration from 1972 to 1980 in the first two terms of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Edwin Washington Edwards
Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972–1 ...
. He was the father of
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III, who served as governor from 1988 to 1992, between the third and fourth Edwards terms.
Background
Roemer was a son of Charles Elson Roemer, known as Pete Roemer, and the former Maggie Crocker. After his father's death, he was reared on a farm by his stepfather and mother, Vernon and Maggie Mayer. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he volunteered for the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, forerunner of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
. Thereafter, he attended
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...
in
Ruston and then graduated
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
from
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
in
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
. While attending LSU, he worked as a welder at the nearby
Exxon
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
refinery. He married his high school sweetheart, the former Juliet Adeline McDade (December 25, 1923 – January 29, 2016), who was two weeks his junior. A native of McDade in
Bossier Parish
Bossier Parish ( ; french: Paroisse de Bossier) is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 116,979, and 128,746 in 2020.
The parish seat is Benton. The principal city is ...
, she survived her husband after seventy years of marriage.
Adeline, as she was known, was a daughter of Ross Elias McDade Sr. (1877–1969) and McDade's second wife, the former Ethel Earle Elston (1890–1958). Coincidentally, Roemer's middle name, Elson, is one letter short of his mother-in-law's maiden name, Elston.
[
Charles and Adeline Roemer worked as a team on the farm. They introduced in conjunction with the LSU Red River Valley Experiment Station, Stardel cotton at their Scopena Plantation in ]Bossier Parish
Bossier Parish ( ; french: Paroisse de Bossier) is a parish located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 116,979, and 128,746 in 2020.
The parish seat is Benton. The principal city is ...
south of Bossier City. They cultivated hybrid seed corn, owned an International Harvester
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
equipment dealership, and owned and operated two cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
s. In addition to cotton and corn, Roemer grew soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
s, sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
s, tomatoes, geese
A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...
, and cattle. The Roemers owned a dozen airplanes, most used for crop dusting
Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...
, and Roemer was himself a licensed pilot. The Roemers worked to organize Rural Electrification Administration
The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. it is ...
cooperatives in both Louisiana and Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.[ When Roemer was injured in an airplane accident in the early 1950s, Adeline took over management of Scopena. Thereafter, she continued to run the ]cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
and handled most of the agri-business accounts. A staunch Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, she was active in various social and civic causes over the years.
Jack Dillard, a long-term Shreveport farm reporter, described the senior Roemer as a personal mentor who taught him much about agriculture: "Mr. Roemer invited me to state and national agriculture sessions and meetings where we had front-row seats. I knew very little about the cotton business but learned a lot from him. He could go to Baton Rouge and back faster than anyone I know. He talked as we traveled and introduced me to the leadership at that time. The National Cotton Council was as close as the phone. His love for Scopena Plantation and Stardel Cotton was always in his thoughts. When he shifted into politics, our travels slowed; but he always had time to talk or give a tip on upcoming activities."
Political activities
By the 1960s, Roemer had become politically involved. On January 31, 1961, U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Overton Brooks
Thomas Overton Brooks (December 21, 1897 – September 16, 1961) was a Democratic U.S. representative from the Shreveport-based Fourth Congressional District of northwestern Louisiana, having served for a quarter century beginning on Janua ...
of Louisiana's 4th congressional district, based about Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
, voted with a narrow majority of 217–212 to increase the size of the House Rules Committee
The Committee on Rules, or more commonly, the Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for the rules under which bills will be presented to the House of Representatives, unlike other commit ...
to permit Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
of Texas to appoint newer, members to the panel, which determines the legislation brought to the House floor. Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
s in both parties generally opposed this vote, which they termed "packing the Rules Committee." Because of this vote, Joe Waggonner
Joseph David Waggonner Jr. (September 7, 1918 – October 7, 2007) was a Democratic U.S. Representative for the 4th congressional district in northwest Louisiana from December 1961 to January 1979. He was also a confidant of Republican Preside ...
of Bossier Parish announced that he would challenge Brooks in the August 1962 Democratic primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
. Roemer was among the organizers of a civic group known as the Congressional Affairs League of Louisiana, created to express a vote of "No Confidence" in Representative Brooks. Brooks died in 1961, and Waggonner won a special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
for the seat by defeating the Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nominee, Charlton Lyons
Charlton may refer to:
People
* Charlton (surname)
* Charlton (given name)
Places Australia
* Charlton, Queensland
* Charlton, Victoria
* Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wal ...
of Shreveport.
Within a decade, however, Roemer became an advocate of civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
for African Americans, a position which led him to support then U.S. Representative Edwin Edwards of Crowley
Crowley may refer to:
Places
* Crowley, Mendocino County, California, an unincorporated community
*Crowley County, Colorado
* Crowley, Colorado, a town in Crowley County
*Crowley, Louisiana, a city
* Crowley, Oregon (disambiguation)
* Crowley, Te ...
in south Louisiana for governor in the 1971 Democratic primary though a state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
from Shreveport, J. Bennett Johnston Jr., was Edwards' principal rival for the party nomination and subsequently a long-term U.S. senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
. After he narrowly defeated Johnston, Edwards then faced a determined challenge from Republican David C. Treen
David Conner Treen Sr. (July 16, 1928 – October 29, 2009) was an American politician and attorney at law (United States), attorney from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Treen served as United State ...
. Roemer frequently invited black leaders to Scopena Plantation to discuss politics and chart a course of action at election time. He managed Edwards' first gubernatorial campaign from headquarters in the Hotel Monteleone
Hotel Monteleone is a family-owned and operated hotel located at 214 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. The hotel includes the only high-rise building in the interior French Quarter and is well known for its Ca ...
in downtown New Orleans. He made use of relatively new computer software through his company, Innovative Data Systems, to gauge the importance of various political issues and to enhance get-out-the-vote activities, using telegrams to targeted voters. According to his obituary published in major Louisiana newspapers, Roemer as Edwards' first commissioner of administration promised "to bring the management and operations of state government into better focus and discipline ... though he was at times controversial, he was known to be swift and fair in his management decisions."[
]
FBI Sting Operation Brilab
In 1981, a year after the second Edwards administration ended, Roemer and four others, including Carlos Marcello
Carlos Joseph Marcello (; born Calogero Minacore ; February 6, 1910 – March 3, 1993) was an Italian-American crime boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the late 1980s.
Aside from his role in the American Mafia, he is also n ...
, the boss of the New Orleans crime family
The New Orleans crime family or New Orlean Mafia was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in the city of New Orleans. The family had a history of criminal activity dating back to the late nineteenth century. The family reached its height ...
; Aubrey W. Young
Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-German ...
, a key administration figure during the administration of Governor John J. McKeithen; New Orleans attorney Vincent A. Mannello, and lobbyist
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
I. Irving Davidson were charged in U.S. District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
in with conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
, racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
, and mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
and wire fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to fraud, defraud another, and are Federal crime in the United States, federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the ...
in a scheme to bribe state officials to give the five men multimillion-dollar insurance contracts. The charges were the result of a Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) probe known as BriLab.
U.S. District Judge Morey Sear
Morey Leonard Sear (February 26, 1929 – September 6, 2004) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Education and career
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Sear received a Jur ...
allowed the admission of secretly-recorded conversations that demonstrated corruption at the highest levels of state government. Young was acquitted of all charges.
Roemer was thereafter convicted of one count of conspiracy and imprisoned. He was released some three years later in October 1984. Marcello was convicted of conspiracy and then indicted on additional charges involving an alleged attempt to bribe the judge. Marcello was finally released from prison in October 1989, after he had served for fifteen months.[ Irving Davidson claimed that federal agents had used threats and offers of ]immunity
Immunity may refer to:
Medicine
* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
to convict Marcello. The Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
does not indicate that Davidson or Mannello ever served time.
The FBI agents posed as crooked insurance executives and engaged in a sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
against Roemer and his co-defendants. According to the prosecution, Roemer and Marcello were expecting to share a monthly commission of $387,000. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* M ...
in New Orleans upheld the guilty verdicts, but the court changed its mind in 1989, when it declared that the convictions could no longer stand because the statute on which the convictions were based had been altered by the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. The prosecution said that Roemer and Marcello had conspired to deprive citizens of honest government. In the 1989 appeal, the defense team cited the Supreme Court opinion that the particular law was intended to protect money or property rights, not to defend the "intangible" right to good government. "I was worth $12 million or $15 million, and I took bankruptcy. ... Four million dollars went in expenses for the trial and preparation, and I lost ten years of my life," Roemer said at the time of the reversal of his conviction even after he had served time in the penitentiary.
In July 1992, Roemer and his younger son, Franklin Daniel "Danny" Roemer (born 1946), like his brother a graduate of Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, and R. Lee Harvill, a developer from Benton, the seat of government
The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...
of Bossier Parish, were indicted by a federal grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
on conspiracy and bank fraud charges stemming from a loan involving a real estate deal in Bossier Parish. The charges stemmed from an 18-month probe by the FBI and federal prosecutors.
The senior Roemer and Harvill were acquitted, but Danny Roemer was convicted of bank fraud in the U.S. District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, a $20,000 fine, and restitution of $2,421,591 plus interest. He appealed unsuccessfully to the U.S. appeals court in New Orleans to reverse his conviction. On February 9, 1995, Danny Roemer was released from the Bureau of Prisons.
Family and death
Adeline Roemer gave her husband the nickname "Budgie," referring to a small bird,[ not to budget decisions that he made as commissioner of administration. In addition to sons, Buddy Roemer and his third wife, Scarlett, and Danny Roemer and wife Judy, Charles Roemer had three daughters, Margaret (nickname: "Punkin") Roemer Lefler, the widow of Randal Harland Lefler; Melinda Roemer Barrett and husband Michael, and Melanie Roemer Melville and husband David; seventeen grandchildren; and thirty-six great-grandchildren.][ Roemer's sister, Margaret "Peggy" Roemer Read (1919–2010) of New Orleans, was the founder of the Friends of City Park and worked in the revitalization of the New Orleans Botanical Garden. Her surviving husband and Roemer's brother-in-law is Henry James Read.
Roemer died in his sleep at Scopena Plantation at the age of eighty-eight after a ten-year struggle with ]Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
. Services were held on July 10, 2012, at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Shreveport, with officiating ministers Michael Barrett, Carl Rhoads, and Roemer's son-in-law, David R. Melville,[ pastor of the Fellowship United Methodist Church of Bossier City,. Melville was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Louisiana's 4th congressional district seat in the 2010 general election, having been defeated by the Republican incumbent ]John C. Fleming
John Calvin Fleming Jr. (born July 5, 1951) is an American politician, physician, military veteran, and businessman. After leaving Congress in 2017, he served for two years in the administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Informat ...
of Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...
. This same congressional seat was held by Buddy Roemer from 1981 to 1988 and unsuccessfully sought by Adeline Roemer in 1988, who was defeated by the then freshman incumbent Republican Jim McCrery
James Otis McCrery III (born September 18, 1949) is an American lawyer, politician and lobbyist who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1988 to 2009. He represented the 4th District of Louisiana, based ...
, a former aide to Buddy Roemer. McCrery held the House seat until his retirement in January 2009, when he was succeeded by Fleming, who will vacate the position to run for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in 2016.
Nine grandsons served as pallbearers. Grandson Chas Roemer, son of Buddy Roemer and first wife, the former Frances "Cookie" Demler, later Cookie Thomas, is an elected Republican member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is an administrative policy-making body for elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was created in the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, called by ...
. Former Governor Edwin Edwards, an honorary pallbearer,[ described Roemer as "a very honorable man, very efficient. He was very ambitious, but that was not a bad quality ... He was ambitious for the good things."][ State Senate President ]John Alario
John A. Alario, Jr. is an American politician from Louisiana who represented the 8th district in the Louisiana State Senate from 2008 until 2020. Currently a Republican, Alario previously represented District 83 in the Louisiana House of Represe ...
, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Westwego in Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foot ...
, who was a Democratic floor leader for Edwards, recalls Roemer as a skilled budget tactician: "He was someone who made sure we had a balanced budget. He always had the best interest of the state in mind."[
Roemer is interred beside his wife, who died early in 2016, at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roemer, Charles E. II
1923 births
2012 deaths
Louisiana Tech University alumni
Louisiana State University alumni
Louisiana Democrats
Farmers from Louisiana
Businesspeople from Louisiana
Politicians from Bossier City, Louisiana
Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
American prisoners and detainees
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
Military personnel from Louisiana
United States Army personnel of World War II
Neurological disease deaths in Louisiana
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
20th-century Methodists
21st-century Methodists
American United Methodists