David Conner Treen Sr. (July 16, 1928 – October 29, 2009) was an American politician and attorney from

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 border ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Treen served as

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 ...

for

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the southwestern and south central portion of the state, ranging from the Texas border to the Atchafalaya River ...

from 1973 to 1980 and

Governor of Louisiana 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 r ...

from 1980 to 1984. Treen was the first Republican elected to both offices since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. Born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, Treen grew up in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Metairie. After three unsuccessful runs for Congress in the 1960s, Treen won his first election in 1972 to represent a U.S. House district that covered parts of

Greater New Orleans The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a m ...

and

Acadiana Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...

. In Congress, Treen had a reliably conservative voting record, and he subsequently won reelection three times by increasing margins. Treen was among the inaugural members of the House Select Committee on Intelligence when it was created in 1975. In 1979, Treen won election as governor of Louisiana, and he resigned from the House in 1980 to take office as governor. During his single term as governor, Treen cut the state income tax and created a professional development program for teachers. Treen also signed legislation creating the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. However, as the Treen administration took place during the

early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1983. It is widely considered to have been the most severe recession since World War II. A key event leading t ...

, Louisiana faced increasing unemployment and bond debt. Treen lost his reelection bid in 1983 to

Edwin 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� ...

, who had served as governor before Treen. After leaving the governor's office, Treen continued to be politically involved in Louisiana, running for Congress and endorsing gubernatorial candidates as recently as 2008 before his death in 2009.

Early life and legal career

Treen was born in the state capital of

to Joseph Paul and Elizabeth (née Speir) Treen. He attended public schools in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, and Orleans. In 1945, Treen graduated from the former Alcee Fortier High School in New Orleans, where his classmates included the subsequent

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Victor Gold. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948 in history and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Tulane University in New Orleans. While at Tulane, he was a brother of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin '' frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity i ...

. In 1950, he graduated from

Tulane Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. In addition to the usual common ...

and was admitted to the bar. Treen served in the

U.S. 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 Signa ...

from 1951 to 1952. After his discharge, Treen joined the law firm of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles. From 1952 to 1957, Treen was legal counsel and vice president of the Simplex Manufacturing Corporation in New Orleans. In 1957, Treen became an associate at the Beard, Blue & Schmitt law firm before eventually being promoted to partner in what became Beard, Blue, Schmitt & Treen.

Early political career

States' Rights party chair and presidential elector candidate in 1960

In the

1960 U.S. presidential election The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic United States Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent V ...

, Treen ran as an elector for the States' Rights Party, which supported Virginia U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., a segregationist Democrat, over the two mainstream candidates, Democrat

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

and Republican

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. He also served as the chairman of the party's state central committee. Along with Treen, States' Rights electors from Louisiana included hard-line segregationists

Leander Perez Leander Henry Perez Sr. (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district ...

and Willie Rainach. Treen warned at a rally that "

of the South is far from being over" and that "the Democratic and Republican parties would reduce the laboring man to mere tools in a socialistic state." Ultimately, Kennedy won the election in Louisiana; the States' Rights ticket received 21 percent of the popular vote in Louisiana. But after the result was in, Treen called for the

Louisiana Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represe ...

to refuse to accept Kennedy's electors and instead send those of the States' Rights Party, unpledged, to the Electoral College, saying there was no requirement that the legislature respect the popular vote. The legislature did not go along with Treen's idea. Treen emphasized in 1961 that his states' rights group was not affiliated with the

National States' Rights Party The National States' Rights Party was a white supremacist political party that briefly played a minor role in the politics of the United States. Foundation Founded in 1958 in Knoxville, Tennessee, by Edward Reed Fields, a 26-year-old chiropracto ...

, a group that he said was "a disgrace to the term 'states rights.'" However, Treen would later leave the Louisiana States' Rights Party because he perceived the party to be

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

1962, 1964, and 1968 U.S. House elections

In 1962 Treen joined the central committee of the

Louisiana Republican Party The Republican Party of Louisiana (french: Parti républicain de Louisiane) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its chair is Louis Gurvich, who was elected in 2018. It is currently the dominant party in the ...

. Encouraged by friends, Treen launched a campaign for the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

to serve

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+25, ...

, based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Hale Boggs Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. (February 15, 1914 – disappeared October 16, 1972; declared dead December 29, 1972) was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the House ma ...

. Treen raised $11,000 for his 1962 campaign and lost the election, receiving only about a third of total votes. In 1964, Treen again challenged Boggs. In a year when Republican presidential candidate

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presid ...

won the majority of statewide votes in Louisiana, Treen received 62,881 votes (45 percent) to Boggs' 77,009 (55 percent). Treen ran again in 1968 in his third and final campaign against Boggs, who was then the House

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

; Boggs won with 81,537 votes (51 percent) to Treen's 77,633 (49 percent). Following the 1970 United States Census, Louisiana's 2nd congressional district was reapportioned to exclude parts of Jefferson Parish with strong Republican support, including Treen's residence.

1971–72 gubernatorial election

Treen was challenged in 1971 in the only Republican gubernatorial

closed primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

ever held in Louisiana by Robert Max Ross. In a campaign tour in Minden, Treen said that Louisiana needed "true competition" in state government, or "a system in which two political parties operate on a continuing and permanent basis to examine and criticize each other's policies and programs." If elected, Treen said that he would be "as independent as possible" in the governorship. Treen won the Republican primary with 92 percent of the vote. Treen polled 480,424 ballots (42.8%) to Edwards's 641,146 (57.2%) Treen carried twenty-seven parishes, mostly in the northern part of the state, with margins exceeding 60 percent in ten of those parishes. Weak support among black voters was reported as one factor in Treen's loss."Treen Named State GOP Committeeman", ''Minden Press-Herald'', March 6, 1972, pg. 1.

U.S. House of Representatives (1973–1980)

Elections

1972

After a decade of service on the Republican State Central Committee, Treen was named as the Louisiana Republican national committeeman for a two-year stint that began in 1972. He succeeded his former ticket mate, Tom Stagg, who later was appointed as a U.S. District judge in Shreveport. Later in 1972, Treen ran for the open

seat vacated by conservative Democrat Patrick T. Caffery of

New Iberia New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Lafa ...

. At the time, the district included the

and

parishes of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, Lafourche, St. Charles,

St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, and Terrebonne, as well as parts of Jefferson and St. Martin parishes. Treen defeated Democrat J. Louis Watkins Jr. with 71,090 (54 percent) to 60,521 (46 percent) votes on November 7, 1972. On the same day, incumbent President

, a Republican, carried Louisiana in winning

reelection The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

. Republicans also had a net gain of 12 seats in the U.S. House.

1974

In the 1974 midterm elections that happened nearly three months after the resignation of President Richard Nixon, Democrats added 49 seats to their House majority. However, in contrast to national trends, Treen won reelection against Democratic challenger State Representative Charles Grisbaum Jr. Treen carried 58.5 percent of the vote with 55,574 votes, while Grisbaum had 39,412 votes (41.5 percent). Also in that election cycle,

Henson Moore William Henson Moore III (born October 4, 1939) is an American attorney and businessman who is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, having represented Louisiana's 6th congressional district, based about Baton Rouge, from 1975 to ...

won the 6th district race and became just the second Republican elected to Louisiana's congressional delegation in the 20th century.

1976

Although Democrat

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

won the 1976 presidential election both nationally and in Louisiana, Treen won reelection in 1976 by an even larger margin than 1974, with nearly 73 percent of the vote against Democratic candidate David Scheuermann.

1978

Already using them in gubernatorial elections, Louisiana began using open primaries for congressional elections in 1978; Treen ran unopposed in the 1978 District 3 open primary. Because he faced no opposition in the primary, no votes were tabulated for his district in the general election on November 7, 1978, and Treen won reelection by default. Nationally, Republicans gained 15 seats in the U.S. House.

Congressional tenure

Sworn in to office on January 3, 1973, Treen became the first Republican from Louisiana to serve in Congress in the 20th century. In its 100-point scale ranking members of Congress for their votes on key conservative issues, the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

(ACU) rated Treen a perfect 100 in 1973. By 1979, Treen had a lifetime ACU rating of 91. In contrast,

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pro ...

rated Treen 5 out of 100 in 1979 on votes for liberal policies. While in Congress, Treen was part of a special committee that successfully amended the

Outer Continental Shelf The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a feature of the geography of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U. ...

Lands Act of 1953 to allow states greater review of

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the t ...

on the Gulf Coast. Treen also introduced an amendment to the Small Business Act that was enacted as section 5 of the Small Business Amendments of 1974 (Public Law 93-386). The amendment added the following text to the Small Business Act: "If loan applications are being refused or loans denied by such other department or agency responsible for such work or activity due to administrative withholding from obligation or withholding from apportionment, or due to administratively declared moratorium, then, for purposes of this section, no duplication shall be deemed to have occurred." According to ''

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'', the Treen amendment granted access to

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

loans to those in the fishing industry. Following the 1974 resignation of President

that followed Watergate, Treen voted against the confirmation of former New York Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

to serve as vice president under

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

; the confirmation passed both houses of Congress. In 1975, Treen was among three conservative appointees of House Minority Leader John J. Rhodes to the newly created

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...

that was established to investigate activities of the

United States Intelligence Community United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. While in Congress, Treen co-sponsored 26 bills that became law. Among those bills was a 1973 bill allowing

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 near ...

access to federal lands in

Caddo Parish Caddo Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Caddo'') is a parish located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 237,848. The parish seat is Shreveport, which developed ...

for

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

research. Treen also was among 59 co-sponsors of a bill introduced in 1979 to "facilitate increased enforcement by the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

of laws relating to the importation of controlled substances, and for other purposes"; the bill was signed by President Carter on September 15, 1980, months after Treen left Congress to serve as Governor of Louisiana.

Committee assignments

* House Committee on Armed Services * House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries * House Select Committee on Intelligence

1979 gubernatorial election

Because the state constitution restricted governors from seeking a third consecutive term in office, incumbent Governor

was ineligible for the 1979 election. Treen was the only Republican candidate among over five candidates. On October 27, 1979, in one of the closest elections in Louisiana history, Treen won first place with nearly 22 percent of the vote in the

jungle primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

for governor, the second such election held in Louisiana following Edwards's reform of Louisiana elections. Barely finishing in second place and the final qualifying spot for the general election was Louis Lambert, a Democratic member of the

Louisiana Public Service Commission The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year te ...

, with 20.74 percent of the vote. While Treen was most popular in the

, and

North Louisiana North Louisiana (french: Louisiane du Nord), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier Ci ...

, Lambert had the strongest support among black voters and members of labor unions. One factor in black and labor voters' preferring Lambert, according to

Howell Raines Howell Hiram Raines (; born February 5, 1943) is an American journalist, editor, and writer. He was executive editor of ''The New York Times'' from 2001 until he left in 2003 in the wake of the scandal related to reporting by Jayson Blair. In 20 ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', was Treen's 1960 work for the Louisiana States' Rights Party. For the December 8 general election, the four losing Democratic candidates, including Secretary of State Paul Hardy and State Senator Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr., all endorsed Treen. Their support helped him to defeat Democratic challenger Louis Lambert by 9,557 votes. Treen received 690,691 (50.3%) to Lambert's 681,134 (49.7%). He won 22 parishes in victory, compared to 27 parishes in defeat in 1972. Only ten parishes that had voted for Treen in 1972 stuck with him in 1979. His strongest parishes in victory were all in south Louisiana: Plaquemines, Lafayette, St. Tammany, and Iberia. Treen paid off the four Democratic candidates' campaign debts in exchange for their support.

Governor of Louisiana (1980–1984)

Tenure

On March 10, 1980, the 51-year-old Treen became the 51st governor of Louisiana. Until then, the last Republican to serve in that office was Stephen B. Packard, who briefly served in the first few months of 1877 following the

Compromise of 1877 The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Wormley Agreement or the Bargain of 1877, was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among members of the United States Congress, to settle the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election between Ruth ...

that ended

. His oath of office was administered by 19th Judicial Court Judge Douglas Gonzales, a Republican from Baton Rouge. Gonzales gave Treen a Bible inscribed, "Dave, Upon this good book, you took your oath of office. Please keep it close so it can serve as a constant reminder of your solemn commitment to the people of this great state ..." Treen entered office with Democratic Lieutenant Governor Robert L. Freeman, a

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

that had no Republican members, and

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

where Democrats had a supermajority.

Cabinet appointments

During his single term, Treen appointed more African Americans to state offices than had any other previous governor in history. Treen named Lockport shipbuilder Donald G. Bollinger as the secretary of the

Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) (French: ) is a state law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates and management of facilities at state prisons within the state of Louisiana. The agency is headquart ...

. Bollinger also served for two years as the state Republican chairman prior to Nungesser. After taking office, Treen elevated Ansel M. Stroud, Jr., from assistant adjutant general to

adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in sta ...

of the

Louisiana National Guard The Louisiana National Guard is the armed force through which the Louisiana Military Department executes the U.S. state of Louisiana's security policy. Consisting of the Louisiana Army National Guard, a reserve component of the United States Army; ...

, a position that Stroud continued to hold until 1997. Treen appointed to office all of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates who endorsed him. Fitzmorris became executive assistant for economic development. Edgar Mouton was named executive counsel to Treen, but he later abandoned the administration and endorsed the return of Edwin Edwards to the governorship in 1983. E.L. Henry became the powerful Commissioner of Administration. Treen named Paul Hardy as secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development. Edwards loyalist George Fischer was named secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, one of the largest departments in state government.

Education policy

In 1981, Treen obtained legislative passage of his "Professional Improvement Program" (or PIPs) to provide bonuses of $2,000 each to participating public school teachers. The initial $67 million appropriation for the program was increased to $90 million. PIPs allowed instructors to obtain supplemental pay for taking college-level courses and/or attending intensive workshops in order to improve teaching performance. Problems developed when numerous teachers signed up for classes with limited academic requirements and shunned the more rigorous courses. Such actions by the educators undermined the purpose of Treen's reform. Edwards dismantled the program when he returned to office in 1984. Also in 1981, Treen signed into law the Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science in Public School Instruction Act, commonly called the Creationism Act. Authored by Senator Bill Keith of Caddo Parish, the bill required public schools to balance the teaching of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and

creation science Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of Young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without ove ...

. Three years after Treen left office, 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 ...

ruled against that law in the 1987 case ''

Edwards v. Aguillard ''Edwards v. Aguillard'', 482 U.S. 578 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of teaching creationism. The Court considered a Louisiana law requiring that where evolutionary science was taught in public ...

,'' as creation science is not science but religious teaching. Introduced by State Representative Jimmy D. Long of

Natchitoches Parish Natchitoches Parish (french: Paroisse des Natchitoches or ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,566. The parish seat is Natchitoches. The parish was formed in 1805. The Natchito ...

, chair of the House Education Committee, a 1981 bill signed by Treen established the

Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts , motto_translation = We shall excel , slogan = ''Above. Beyond.'' , streetaddress = 715 University Parkway , city = Natchitoches , state = Louisiana , zipcode = 71457 , country = United States , coordinates = , type = Public, Selectiv ...

, a statewide high school for gifted children located on the campus of

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

in Natchitoches. The school opened in 1983. Treen worked with the Lafayette delegation, including Representatives Mike Thompson and Ron Gomez, for construction of the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisian ...

Ragin' Cajuns stadium, the

Cajundome The Cajundome is a 13,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in Lafayette, Louisiana on the South Campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's and women's basketball programs in addition to ...

. Construction began in 1982 and was completed and dedicated late in 1985, by which time Edwards had returned to the office.

Crime policy

He established in 1981 the Litter Control and Recycling Commission, as a measure to improve quality of life in cities and other areas. Violators faced potential fines of $100 to $500 and/or several days of litter collection from along state highways. Capital punishment in Louisiana resumed very late in the Treen administration. In December 1983, nearly two months after losing his re-election bid, Treen ordered the execution by

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

of convicted murderer Robert Wayne Williams, the tenth American and first in Louisiana to face execution since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 upheld capital punishment in a series of cases including '' Roberts v. Louisiana''. By September 1983, Treen signed only 34

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ...

s or commutations, far fewer than the 1,526 signed by Edwards in his two terms.

Environmental policy

In 1983, Treen signed legislation that established the Department of Environmental Quality, which opened on February 1, 1984. He accused "political special interests" loyal to Edwin Edwards with undermining his effort.

State budget and economic policy

During the Treen administration, revenues from the Louisiana

state income tax In addition to federal income tax collected by the United States, most individual U.S. states collect a state income tax. Some local governments also impose an income tax, often based on state income tax calculations. Forty-two states and many ...

decreased by $100 million, but the state budget increased to nearly $6 billion. Two years into Treen's governorship, Louisiana owed nearly $2.5 billion in capital construction project bond debt. Treen entered office in March 1980 with Louisiana's unemployment rate at 6.4 percent. However, as the

took hold, the statewide unemployment rate in Louisiana consistently rose and reached a high of 13.3 percent in June 1983. In 1982, Treen proposed a $450 million tax on

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon di ...

, to support preservation of coastal wetlands, as more was being understood about their critical role in protecting the coast. It was known as the Coastal Wetlands Environmental Levy, but the measure ran into strong opposition from conservatives and the trade association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI). Treen defended CWEL on the premise that it would place no undue burden on any individual or group and would increase the state coffers at a much higher yield than would a boost in the state income tax. LABI director Edward J. Steimel announced immediate opposition to CWEL. CWEL was defeated in the Louisiana House although it received approval from a majority of lawmakers; it fell twelve votes short of the required two-thirds needed. Among the opponents were conservative legislators

Woody Jenkins Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr., known as Woody Jenkins (born January 3, 1947), is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge and Central City, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2000 and waged three unsucc ...

of Baton Rouge and B.F. O'Neal, Jr., of Shreveport. After the defeat of CWEL, Treen ordered a three percent reduction in state employment, with the goal of saving $12 million, far less than the environmental tax would have generated. In 1986, out of office, Treen noted that state finances had declined by $450 million, an amount which he had projected CWEL would have brought into the state treasury. In December 1982, Treen abandoned his call for new taxes and attempted to cut $150 million from the state budget to provide seniority raises for state employees. House Speaker John Hainkel, meanwhile, proposed $40 million in higher taxes, including higher tuition and fees at vocational schools and repeal of a $5 million tax exemption provided to

Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was ...

in Louisiana. In August 1982, Treen vetoed 24 bills passed by the legislature on the premise that most would have added expense to the already strained state budget. One of the bills would have exempted

Butane Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name bu ...

and

propane gas Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as ...

dealers from sales taxes. Treen worked to reform the state

worker's compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

program, long known for its high insurance rates on business. When a 1982 reform plan failed, Treen blamed LABI because the trade association would not compromise with the Democrats to secure a bill that could pass the legislature. LABI director Ed Steimel declared the worker's compensation problem at the time to be the major roadblock to bringing new and expanded industries into the state. Early in 1983, a revised worker's compensation bill was passed, and money was earmarked to make the

unemployment compensation Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compu ...

fund solvent. No action was taken on a policy involving hiring out convict labor. "A majority of the Senate thought we had asked for enough. There was a lack of enthusiasm once again against a position taken by Victor Bussie, the president of the state AFL-CIO. With Treen's backing, the state of Louisiana subsidized the

1984 Louisiana World Exposition The 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984, and ende ...

held in New Orleans from April to November 1984, which encountered financial issues from the start to the point that balancing its budget required over 11 million visitors paying the full $15 admission. Ultimately, under 7.5 million people attended, and most of them paid discounted admission prices. The exposition declared bankruptcy, and the governments of New Orleans and Louisiana lost a combined $140 million on the event.

Lawsuit from lieutenant governor

Treen and Lieutenant Governor Freeman had a dispute in the summer of 1983 over the 1983–84 operating budget for Freeman's office. Treen recommended $411,907, an amount considerably lower than Freeman had requested; the latter said he would have to lay off six of his fifteen employees. Freeman threatened to take Treen to court if he vetoed the larger amount: "I'm certainly not going to continue cooperating with a man who threatens me and my employees." Treen vetoed the entire appropriation of nearly $381,500 for the lieutenant governor's office, resulting in a lawsuit from Freeman. A trial court initially blocked the veto, but in August 1983, the Louisiana Court of Appeal reversed that decision and let the veto stand: "In the present controversy, the issuance of the preliminary injunction, rather than preserving the status quo, effectively mandated the expenditures of the vetoed funds from the state treasury at a time of declining state revenues and uniform budget cuts."

1983 gubernatorial election

Treen and Edwards were known as fierce rivals. Treen began his campaign for a second term in December 1982, with John Cade leading the group, 'People for Dave Treen.' At first, Cade emerged as the governor's campaign spokesman so that he could concentrate on his job duties. Cade questioned Edwards' decision to forgo his gubernatorial retirement income of $40,000 per year on the grounds that Edwards was no longer "retired" because he was running to reclaim the governorship. Cade said that Edwards would have collected only $14,000 in pension and not before the age of sixty had he not engineered legislative approval of the more lucrative package. At a fundraiser in Thibodaux to celebrate his 55th birthday, Treen said that Edwards in 1980 "left a pile of unpaid bills and a stinking surplus of

hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, c ...

dumps." As of June 30, 1983, Edwards raised far more campaign cash than Treen, $5.4 million to $2.1 million. On October 9, the comedian

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

headlined a Treen fundraiser at $1,000 per ticket held in the Downtown Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. Treen picked up the support of former U.S. Representative

James Domengeaux James R. Domengeaux, known as Jimmy Domengeaux (January 6, 1907 – April 11, 1988), was a lawyer from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1941 to 194 ...

, a Democrat from

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

and director of the

Council for the Development of French in Louisiana The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL; french: le Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane) is Louisiana's Office of Francophone Affairs (french: Agence des affaires francophones). It is a state agency wh ...

. Edwards handily unseated Treen to secure the third of his four terms as governor. Treen won a handful of parishes, including rural La Salle Parish in north Louisiana, which supported him in all three of his gubernatorial bids. Treen received 586,643 (36.3 percent) to Edwards' 1,008,282 (62.4 percent). Another 1.3 percent was cast for minor candidates, one of whom was Robert M. Ross, Treen's Republican primary rival in 1971.

Later political career

U.S. Senate and federal judgeship bids

After leaving the governor's office, Treen returned to practicing law. Still, Treen continued to seek political office. On July 20, 1984, Treen filed to be a candidate for that year's U.S. Senate election to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

J. Bennett Johnston John Bennett Johnston Jr. (born June 10, 1932) is a retired American attorney, politician, and later lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1972 to 1997. Beginning his political caree ...

, only to withdraw four days later. On July 23, 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Treen for a seat on 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 * Mi ...

in New Orleans vacated by the death of Albert Tate Jr. However, the appointment was delayed by Democratic senators on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee who objected to Treen's past membership in the Louisiana States' Rights Party and other allegations. Treen withdrew from consideration on April 26, 1988. The Senate wound up confirming Reagan's second choice, attorney John M. Duhé, Jr.

Work in 1991 gubernatorial and 1992 presidential elections

For the 1991 gubernatorial election, despite their differences, Treen endorsed Edwards's bid for a fourth term over Republican candidate

David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member ...

, a former Grand Wizard of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cath ...

and by then a

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person ca ...

. Treen said that a Duke win "would damage this state for decades to come." In the general election, Edwards won with over 61 percent of the vote. For the

1992 United States presidential election The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independent ...

, Treen became Louisiana chair of President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

's re-election campaign, focusing on voter registration, fundraising, and campaign messaging. Treen and U.S. Representative

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, bas ...

of the 4th congressional district joined Bush at a rally in

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, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is th ...

in September 1992. On November 1, the Sunday before Election Day, Treen introduced Vice President

Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

at a rally in New Orleans. Ultimately, Democrat Bill Clinton won the election and a 45.6 percent plurality of Louisiana votes, while Bush came in second with 41 percent and Reform Party candidate

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indep ...

third with 11.8 percent.

1995 gubernatorial election

On June 30, 1994, Treen announced a comeback candidacy for governor of Louisiana. Nearly three months earlier, Treen gave a speech before a

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarter ...

in Slidell advocating that the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represe ...

become single-body like the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sma ...

. Addressing an increasing incarceration rate in Louisiana, Treen advocated crime prevention programs such as education, arts, and sports. Keeping their campaigns independent of the party structure, Treen and fellow former governor

Buddy Roemer Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III (October 4, 1943 – May 17, 2021) was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives fr ...

declined to participate in the January 1995 state Republican convention or sign an oath to support the eventual Republican candidate. On July 25, 1995, ''

'' published a front-page story revealing that Treen's son received tuition waivers at the

Tulane University School of Medicine The Tulane University School of Medicine is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States and is a part of Tulane University. The school is located in the Medical District of the New Orleans Central Business District. History The school wa ...

in the early 1980s when Treen was governor. The same story reported that as a state legislator in the 1980s, Democratic candidate

Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasur ...

had given Tulane tuition waivers to a former campaign manager. Citing personal reasons, Treen withdrew from the gubernatorial election on August 11, 1995; by that time, he had been polling in the single digits. Treen endorsed Republican candidate Mike Foster. After taking first place in the October 21 open primary with a 26.1 percent plurality, Foster won the November 18 top-two runoff with 63.5 percent of the vote. Foster became only the second Republican to be elected governor of Louisiana in the 20th century, following Treen's historic election in 1979.

1999 U.S. House special election

Following the resignation of Representative

Bob Livingston Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A Republican, he was chosen as Newt Gingrich's successor as Speaker of the U.S. H ...

, Treen attempted a political comeback by entering the 1999 Louisiana's 1st congressional district special election on January 26, 1999. By this time, his home in Mandeville had been drawn into the 1st District. In the open primary held May 1, 1999, Treen finished first among nine candidates with 36,719 votes (25 percent). State Representative

David Vitter David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. ...

came in second with 31,741 votes (22 percent); David Duke was third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). In the May 29 runoff, Vitter defeated Treen, 61,661 ballots (51 percent) to 59,849 (49 percent), a margin of 1,812 votes.

Activities since 2000

In the

2000 United States presidential election The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican candidate George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, ...

, Treen endorsed Republican candidate

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and appeared at a Bush rally at the Castine Center in Mandeville on October 30, 2000. Bush won the election and carried Louisiana with 52.6 percent of the popular vote. Treen declared on March 11, 2003 that he would run for that year's gubernatorial election. Treen withdrew on June 12 prior to the primary. Treen eventually backed Republican candidate

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives a ...

, who took first place in the open primary but lost the runoff to Democratic candidate Lieutenant Governor

Kathleen Blanco Kathleen Marie Blanco (née Babineaux; December 15, 1942 – August 18, 2019) was an American politician who served as the 54th Governor of Louisiana from January 2004 to January 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first and, t ...

. In 2007, Treen and Johnston wrote to then-President

to request a presidential pardon of Edwards, who began a 10-year prison sentence in 2002 for corruption. Bush left office in January 2009 without pardoning Edwards. On October 23, 2007, Treen announced that he would be a candidate in the March 8, 2008, special election to succeed

, who was elected governor. He cited his experience and political ties in Washington, D.C. as reasons for his candidacy. Once among four Republican candidates, Treen withdrew from consideration on January 28, 2008. Later in the year for the 2008 U.S. Senate election, Treen endorsed the reelection of Democratic U.S. Senator

against Republican state Treasurer

John Neely Kennedy John Neely Kennedy (born November 21, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Louisiana since 2017. He served as the Louisiana State Treasurer from 2000 to 2017. Kennedy has been a me ...

Personal life, death, and memorial

Until becoming governor, Treen lived in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and was (a ...

. He lived in Mandeville after his governorship. From 1951 until her death in 2005, Treen was married to Dolores "Dodie" Brisbi, a graduate of

Newcomb College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter. ...

in New Orleans. They had three children, Jennifer, David Jr., and Cynthia. As of 2009, David and Dodie Treen had nine grandchildren. Treen's eldest grandson, Jason Neville, was a chair of the Louisiana

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. Treen died from complications from a

respiratory illness Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bron ...

East Jefferson General Hospital East Jefferson General Hospital is a hospital in Metairie, Louisiana ( U.S.). The hospital broke ground in 1965 and is still expanding. The facility serves the people of the East Bank of Jefferson Parish. History In 1965, the Jefferson Pari ...

in Metairie. Condolences and kinds words poured in from around the state, typified by

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

president John L. Crain's tribute that Treen "was a true Louisiana icon, a Republican governor in Louisiana before it was cool". His body lay in state at the

Louisiana State Capitol The Louisiana State Capitol (french: Capitole de l'État de Louisiane) is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Louisiana and is located in downtown Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the chambers for the Louisiana State Legislature, made up ...

following a memorial service on November 2, 2009. A second memorial service was held at St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Mandeville on November 3. The family requested memorials to, among several charities, the Methodist Children's Home in Mandeville.

Legacy

Prior to Treen's 1979 election victory as governor, the last Republican to win election as governor of Louisiana was

William Pitt Kellogg William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as a United States Senator from 1868 to 1872 and from 1877 to 1883 and as the Governor of Louisiana from 1873 to 1877 d ...

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

, during the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the blood ...

. Following Reconstruction, the Democratic Party had a de facto political monopoly in Louisiana and other southern states. By the 1970s, white voters in Louisiana began shifting towards the Republican Party. ''Louisiana: A History'' recounted that Treen and other Republican candidates in that decade "appeal dto the rapidly increasing population in the suburbs." After 1979, Republicans won Louisiana gubernatorial elections four times: Mike Foster in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake stri ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

. In an editorial following his death, ''

'' of New Orleans said of Treen: "Louisianians will remember him as a sensitive, honorable and fair man who carried those qualities into the governor's office during his tenure from 1980 to 1984." Writing for the conservative ''

American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...

'', Quin Hillyer said that Treen was influential in conservative politics in both Louisiana and the U.S.: Roger Villere, chair of the Louisiana Republican Party, called Treen "a courageous man who loved our country and our state" and added: "He fought the political establishment in the 1960s and 1970s when it was very difficult to elect a Republican in our state, and his career in political office was marked with integrity and fiscal discipline." In November 2009, the

St. Tammany Parish St. Tammany Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Tammany) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 264 ...

school board voted unanimously to dedicate the David C. Treen Instructional Technology Center, which opened in March 2010. Located in Mandeville, the center serves as a secondary location for the Louisiana

Small Business Development Corporation The Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) is an independent statutory authority, established in 1984 under the Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983 by the Government of Western Australia. The primary role of the SBDC is to enc ...

, a federally funded program.

References

;Works cited * * * *

External links

Former Governor Aids Medical Students
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Treen, David C. 1928 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American politicians Alcee Fortier High School alumni American United Methodists Respiratory disease deaths in Louisiana Republican Party governors of Louisiana Louisiana lawyers Military personnel from Louisiana People from Mandeville, Louisiana Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni United States Air Force officers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Methodists