by Marion Marks

Growing up in the South is both a blessing and a curse, particularly for those who peel back the layers of the past and examine the evolution of the politics and the modern Republican Party. For those who have been here since the 1950’s 2015-2016 has been a stressful and often painful year.
In 1952, Charlton Lyons headed the “Democrats for Eisenhower,” but, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate that election. However, I did get to later have a better understanding of the evolution of the Republican party during that time. Prior to Lyons, it was stated that the Louisiana GOP could hold a convention in a phone booth, serve fried chicken, and there would be plenty of room to dance. Things have changed drastically since then.

In 1961 Republican Lyons, a Shreveport oilman, won 45 percent of the votes in the special election against the Joe D. Waggonner, a Democrat in Louisiana’s 4th congressional district race for the US House of Representatives. This was the closest a Republican had come in a federal race since Reconstruction and marked a high-water post for many years. The contest received Read more