George Despot
Encyclopedia
George Joseph Despot was a Shreveport businessman and a pioneer
in the establishment of a competitive Republican Party
in the U.S. state
of Louisiana
. He was the state Republican chairman from 1978-1985. His leadership began when the state party was so small that there was a standing joke that the Louisiana GOP
could operate from a phone booth.
Despot was born in Shreveport to George G. Despot (1898–1969) and Katherine "Katie" Despot (1901–1977). The Despots were Catholic
and Croatian, and they came to the United States
under an "Old World" arranged marriage. There were trials in the home and more than one separation.
George Despot's younger daughter, Rebecca A. Despot (born 1961), reflected on her paternal grandparents: "My grandfather and his brother had a restaurant in Shreveport called "the Columbia," [which was] open twenty-four hours a day. . . . It became the businessman's hangout in town. When [one sees] old pictures of Shreveport, there are always pictures of the Columbia. They sent Daddy to school when he was three because they did not know [that] they were not supposed to send him so early."
For a time, young George Despot attended a Catholic high school in New Orleans. Despot graduated from the University of Notre Dame
in South Bend, Indiana
, and the Louisiana State University
Law School in Baton Rouge.
Despot earned his living in the oil and natural gas business as the owner of Despot Explorations, Inc.
presidential ticket, which lost in Louisiana. In 1964, Despot rallied behind the gubernatorial candidacy of Shreveporter Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.
. Lyons waged the first serious Republican campaign in modern Louisiana history but fell far short of victory. Despot and a friend, Shreveport CPA
George Aubrey Burton, Jr.
, were named by Lyons as the campaign co-chairmen, largely because it was Despot and Burton who convinced Lyons to run for governor. The winner was Democrat
John Julian McKeithen
. While Lyons was running for governor, Despot was an unsuccessful candidate for the Caddo Parish Police Jury. The police jury, now succeeded as the Caddo Parish Commission, is the parish's governing body.
On November 8, 1966, Despot lost a second race—for the Caddo Parish School Board. So did his friend George Burton. Despot never again sought office himself but instead worked thereafter for other Republican candidates. Burton went on to become the first Shreveport Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to municipal office.
In 1976, Despot was first elected by his fellow Caddo Parish party members from District 33, to the Republican State Central Committee. Two years later he was named chairman by committee members.
As state chairman, Despot demanded that party organizations call caucuses to endorse one specific candidate in races in which more than one Republican filed for office. This was necessary to prevent GOP candidates from diluting their strength. Otherwise, none might poll enough primary votes even to make the ballot in the general election
under Louisiana's unique jungle primary
law, in which all candidates regardless of party affiliation run on the same ballot. Then the two top votegetters, assuming that no one secured a numerical majority in the primary, meet in the general election, popularly called a "runoff."
When challenged about endorsements in a 1980 party caucus in Bossier City, Despot thundered:
"The party endorsement is worth a great deal. Some voters will not have a chance to meet either candidate. Without party endorsement, they might not vote for either Republican. I will enforce party discipline with an iron hand across this state. If the chair refuses to call a caucus, I will remove the Political Action Council chairwoman."
Despot noted that his party could not realistically contest all offices on the ballot: "There are just some [legislative] districts in the state where there is little opportunity for a Republican to get elected." This pick-and-choose approach was not conducive to rapid growth for the GOP but instead contributed to the partisan complexion of the legislature remaining largely unchanged even when Treen was elected governor in 1979.
(1980–1984), though it was unclear whether Treen was involved in the plot against Despot.
George Despot encountered opposition from conservative
groups that flocked to the Republican Party over social issues, such as abortion
and opposition to homosexual preferences. In 1988, Despot even lost his own seat on the GOP central committee when supporters of the presidential candidate, the evangelist
Pat Robertson
of Virginia
, captured a third of the 144 seats on the committee. Despot wrote a prophetic internal memo at the time in which he warned that the Robertson forces wanted "to take control of the state Republican party." Beyond support of Robertson, the overriding issue was abortion. To Louisiana party loyalists, such as Despot, most of whom already opposed abortion, the challenge from the Robertson forces brought intraparty upheaval, which led to disastrous Republican election results in Louisiana in 1991 and 1992.
According to Rebecca Despot, an unnamed aide to then U.S. Senator John Breaux
told her that the outcome of Louisiana elections "right after my father was ousted would have been different had he still been the chairman. I don't think people understand the passion he felt about what he was doing and that he was a man with a mission. They took his mission away, and people will never know what that did to him."
Then Caddo Republican Chairman Reginald Hargrove said that the party members "all owe him a debt of gratutide." According to Hargrove, Despot had encouraged local GOP factions to mend their differences in preparation for the 1991 state and parish elections and the 1992 national elections. "He had been telling people to go out and work with us," Hargrove added.
Despot's last political role (in 1987) was as advisor to Fourth Congressional District Republican chairman Ken Frazier in Frazier's unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
. Frazier lost to the late Democrat Roy McArthur "Hoppy" Hopkins
of Oil City
. "George was the old master. There have been differences within the party, but they had nothing to do with personal relationships. He's been a friend to everybody, and everybody will grieve for him," said Frazier.
State Representative Arthur W. "Art" Sour, Jr.
, (1924–2000) of Shreveport, who served from 1972–1992, said that he always found his fellow Catholic Despot to be "a good Christian man and a man of principle" despite any political differences that the two may have had. Sour said Despot's passing may bring the factions together. Sour would lose his seat to a Democrat, Melissa Flournoy, just nine months after Despot's death.
James Wellborn, chairman of the Bossier Parish Republican Party in the 1970s, said that Despot singlehandedly forged an effective state and local organization when registrars would routinely discourage prospective voters from registering as Republicans. Until the implementation of the jungle primary, registrars constantly told voters that they "would not be able to vote" in most elections unless they were Democrats.
According to Wellborn, Despot also helped to organize a challenge to existing political boundaries in Bossier Parish and secured reapportionment of the local districts despite opposition and harassment from the parish's elites. Despot had a "knack for motivating people, though at times he could make people angry as well. He moved so fast he left a lot of sand in his wake. Some people just got it in their eyes," Wellborn said.
Prior to his death, Despot had curtailed much of his local activity because he preferred to concentrate on national and state politics.
The staunchly conservative Nungesser, who himself shocked his party when he endorsed Patrick J. Buchanan for the 1992 Republican nomination, said that Despot was "strong-willed, and had his own strong ideas, but he always had what was best for Louisiana at heart." Nungesser, who was in the catering business serving ships, was the only state chairman who did not support the first George Bush in the 1992 primaries.
Despot died after 9 p.m. on February 14 of a blood clot in his lung. He had appeared to have been in good health despite recent minor surgery. "He was fine at five minutes after nine, and then he was gone by 9:25," said Mrs. Despot, the former Pearla Tinsley (born 1928). "He was feeling great and was looking forward to going back to the golf course," she added.
Graveside services were held on February 16, 1991, at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport. In addition to his wife and daughter Rebecca, Despot was survived by his older daughter, Susan A. Despot, then of Shreveport and later of New Orleans, and two brothers, Gregory A. Despot (August 9, 1928 - May 17, 2007) and Camille C. Despot.
Honorary pallbearers included Despot friend George Burton, with whom he had long labored in Republican ranks, U.S. District Judge Thomas Eaton "Tom" Stagg, Jr.
; Shreveport businessman Dalton Woods; and Dr. George A. Belchic, Jr. Belchic and his wife, the former Harriet Cameron
(1928–1999), worked with Despot in Shreveport Republican circles.
switched his allegiance to the Republican Party. Roemer's switch did not unite the feuding wings of the GOP. Because he supported abortion, the right-to-life contingent of the party rejected Roemer and coalesced around Congressman Clyde C. Holloway
of Rapides Parish. But few other Republicans would support Holloway. Holloway did win a preference poll among Republicans attending statewide endorsement caucuses. Also running for governor was the candidate who was anathema to party leaders: State Representative David Duke
of Jefferson Parish. When all the smoke had cleared, Duke eliminated Roemer from a general election berth, and Edwin Edwards staged a fourth-term victory over the unpopular Duke.
Thereafter, the bottom fell out politically for Despot's favorite, the first President Bush. Challenged from the right by Pat Buchanan and plagued by a troubling economy, Bush failed nationally and in Louisiana as well in the 1992 elections.
Both of those developments would have been especially troubling to George J. Despot had he lived.
Despot's Republican Party papers are in the archives section of Louisiana State University at Shreveport.
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
in the establishment of a competitive Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. He was the state Republican chairman from 1978-1985. His leadership began when the state party was so small that there was a standing joke that the Louisiana GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
could operate from a phone booth.
Despot was born in Shreveport to George G. Despot (1898–1969) and Katherine "Katie" Despot (1901–1977). The Despots were Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and Croatian, and they came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
under an "Old World" arranged marriage. There were trials in the home and more than one separation.
George Despot's younger daughter, Rebecca A. Despot (born 1961), reflected on her paternal grandparents: "My grandfather and his brother had a restaurant in Shreveport called "the Columbia," [which was] open twenty-four hours a day. . . . It became the businessman's hangout in town. When [one sees] old pictures of Shreveport, there are always pictures of the Columbia. They sent Daddy to school when he was three because they did not know [that] they were not supposed to send him so early."
For a time, young George Despot attended a Catholic high school in New Orleans. Despot graduated from the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, and the Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
Law School in Baton Rouge.
Despot earned his living in the oil and natural gas business as the owner of Despot Explorations, Inc.
Despot's tenure as state chairman
In 1960, Despot sponsored Republican advertisements for the Nixon/LodgeHenry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Holy See . He was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 1960 Presidential election.-Early life:Lodge was born in Nahant,...
presidential ticket, which lost in Louisiana. In 1964, Despot rallied behind the gubernatorial candidacy of Shreveporter Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr.
Charlton Lyons
Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
. Lyons waged the first serious Republican campaign in modern Louisiana history but fell far short of victory. Despot and a friend, Shreveport CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
George Aubrey Burton, Jr.
George A. Burton
George Aubrey Burton, Jr. , is a Certified Public Accountant and the last elected finance commissioner in Shreveport. Burton is the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected to municipal office in Shreveport, having served as finance commissioner from 1971-1978...
, were named by Lyons as the campaign co-chairmen, largely because it was Despot and Burton who convinced Lyons to run for governor. The winner was Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
John Julian McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
. While Lyons was running for governor, Despot was an unsuccessful candidate for the Caddo Parish Police Jury. The police jury, now succeeded as the Caddo Parish Commission, is the parish's governing body.
On November 8, 1966, Despot lost a second race—for the Caddo Parish School Board. So did his friend George Burton. Despot never again sought office himself but instead worked thereafter for other Republican candidates. Burton went on to become the first Shreveport Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to municipal office.
In 1976, Despot was first elected by his fellow Caddo Parish party members from District 33, to the Republican State Central Committee. Two years later he was named chairman by committee members.
As state chairman, Despot demanded that party organizations call caucuses to endorse one specific candidate in races in which more than one Republican filed for office. This was necessary to prevent GOP candidates from diluting their strength. Otherwise, none might poll enough primary votes even to make the ballot in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
under Louisiana's unique jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
law, in which all candidates regardless of party affiliation run on the same ballot. Then the two top votegetters, assuming that no one secured a numerical majority in the primary, meet in the general election, popularly called a "runoff."
When challenged about endorsements in a 1980 party caucus in Bossier City, Despot thundered:
"The party endorsement is worth a great deal. Some voters will not have a chance to meet either candidate. Without party endorsement, they might not vote for either Republican. I will enforce party discipline with an iron hand across this state. If the chair refuses to call a caucus, I will remove the Political Action Council chairwoman."
Despot noted that his party could not realistically contest all offices on the ballot: "There are just some [legislative] districts in the state where there is little opportunity for a Republican to get elected." This pick-and-choose approach was not conducive to rapid growth for the GOP but instead contributed to the partisan complexion of the legislature remaining largely unchanged even when Treen was elected governor in 1979.
Louisiana GOP removes Despot as chairman
Despot was removed as chairman in 1985 by a group identified with the "Religious Right", a number of whom had been supporters of former Governor David C. TreenDavid C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
(1980–1984), though it was unclear whether Treen was involved in the plot against Despot.
George Despot encountered opposition from conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
groups that flocked to the Republican Party over social issues, such as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and opposition to homosexual preferences. In 1988, Despot even lost his own seat on the GOP central committee when supporters of the presidential candidate, the evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, captured a third of the 144 seats on the committee. Despot wrote a prophetic internal memo at the time in which he warned that the Robertson forces wanted "to take control of the state Republican party." Beyond support of Robertson, the overriding issue was abortion. To Louisiana party loyalists, such as Despot, most of whom already opposed abortion, the challenge from the Robertson forces brought intraparty upheaval, which led to disastrous Republican election results in Louisiana in 1991 and 1992.
According to Rebecca Despot, an unnamed aide to then U.S. Senator John Breaux
John Breaux
John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...
told her that the outcome of Louisiana elections "right after my father was ousted would have been different had he still been the chairman. I don't think people understand the passion he felt about what he was doing and that he was a man with a mission. They took his mission away, and people will never know what that did to him."
Republicans assess Despot's record
Fellow Republicans throughout the state mourned Despot's passing. Then Chairman William "Billy" Nungesser (September 30, 1929—January 21, 2006) of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish said that Despot's political savvy, his close relationship with President George Herbert Walker Bush, and his ability to raise campaign funds would be missed by the Louisiana GOP.Then Caddo Republican Chairman Reginald Hargrove said that the party members "all owe him a debt of gratutide." According to Hargrove, Despot had encouraged local GOP factions to mend their differences in preparation for the 1991 state and parish elections and the 1992 national elections. "He had been telling people to go out and work with us," Hargrove added.
Despot's last political role (in 1987) was as advisor to Fourth Congressional District Republican chairman Ken Frazier in Frazier's unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
. Frazier lost to the late Democrat Roy McArthur "Hoppy" Hopkins
Roy M. Hopkins
Roy McArthur Hopkins, known as Hoppy Hopkins , was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having represented District 1 in northern Caddo Parish and two precincts in northern Bossier Parish from 1988 until his Thanksgiving Day death after a long illness of bone cancer...
of Oil City
Oil City, Louisiana
Oil City is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,219 at the 2000 census. Oil City is located on Louisiana Highway 1 north of Caddo Lake...
. "George was the old master. There have been differences within the party, but they had nothing to do with personal relationships. He's been a friend to everybody, and everybody will grieve for him," said Frazier.
State Representative Arthur W. "Art" Sour, Jr.
Art Sour
Arthur William Sour, Jr., known as Art Sour , was a Shreveport businessman and a pioneer in developing a competitive Republican Party in Louisiana. A conservative, Sour served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972-1992. He was born in Shreveport to Arthur W. Sour and Adele Sour . He...
, (1924–2000) of Shreveport, who served from 1972–1992, said that he always found his fellow Catholic Despot to be "a good Christian man and a man of principle" despite any political differences that the two may have had. Sour said Despot's passing may bring the factions together. Sour would lose his seat to a Democrat, Melissa Flournoy, just nine months after Despot's death.
James Wellborn, chairman of the Bossier Parish Republican Party in the 1970s, said that Despot singlehandedly forged an effective state and local organization when registrars would routinely discourage prospective voters from registering as Republicans. Until the implementation of the jungle primary, registrars constantly told voters that they "would not be able to vote" in most elections unless they were Democrats.
According to Wellborn, Despot also helped to organize a challenge to existing political boundaries in Bossier Parish and secured reapportionment of the local districts despite opposition and harassment from the parish's elites. Despot had a "knack for motivating people, though at times he could make people angry as well. He moved so fast he left a lot of sand in his wake. Some people just got it in their eyes," Wellborn said.
Prior to his death, Despot had curtailed much of his local activity because he preferred to concentrate on national and state politics.
The staunchly conservative Nungesser, who himself shocked his party when he endorsed Patrick J. Buchanan for the 1992 Republican nomination, said that Despot was "strong-willed, and had his own strong ideas, but he always had what was best for Louisiana at heart." Nungesser, who was in the catering business serving ships, was the only state chairman who did not support the first George Bush in the 1992 primaries.
Despot's obituary
Despot was a member of the Shreveport Club and the East Ridge Country Club, and he was an avid golfer.Despot died after 9 p.m. on February 14 of a blood clot in his lung. He had appeared to have been in good health despite recent minor surgery. "He was fine at five minutes after nine, and then he was gone by 9:25," said Mrs. Despot, the former Pearla Tinsley (born 1928). "He was feeling great and was looking forward to going back to the golf course," she added.
Graveside services were held on February 16, 1991, at Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport. In addition to his wife and daughter Rebecca, Despot was survived by his older daughter, Susan A. Despot, then of Shreveport and later of New Orleans, and two brothers, Gregory A. Despot (August 9, 1928 - May 17, 2007) and Camille C. Despot.
Honorary pallbearers included Despot friend George Burton, with whom he had long labored in Republican ranks, U.S. District Judge Thomas Eaton "Tom" Stagg, Jr.
Tom Stagg
Thomas Eaton "Tom" Stagg, Jr. , is a Louisiana attorney, businessman, politician, and jurist who has served as a United States federal judge for the Western District of Louisiana since his appointment by President Richard Nixon in the spring of 1974...
; Shreveport businessman Dalton Woods; and Dr. George A. Belchic, Jr. Belchic and his wife, the former Harriet Cameron
Harriet Belchic
Harriet Cameron Belchic was a Republican political activist from Shreveport, Louisiana, who was also the first woman ever granted both bachelor of science and master of science degrees in geology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge...
(1928–1999), worked with Despot in Shreveport Republican circles.
Despot's death untimely from political standpoint
Within a month of Despot's death, Democratic Governor Charles E. Roemer, IIIBuddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
switched his allegiance to the Republican Party. Roemer's switch did not unite the feuding wings of the GOP. Because he supported abortion, the right-to-life contingent of the party rejected Roemer and coalesced around Congressman Clyde C. Holloway
Clyde C. Holloway
Clyde Cecil Holloway is an American small business owner from Forest Hill in the southern part of Rapides Parish who is one of five members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He also served as a conservative Republican member of the U.S...
of Rapides Parish. But few other Republicans would support Holloway. Holloway did win a preference poll among Republicans attending statewide endorsement caucuses. Also running for governor was the candidate who was anathema to party leaders: State Representative David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
of Jefferson Parish. When all the smoke had cleared, Duke eliminated Roemer from a general election berth, and Edwin Edwards staged a fourth-term victory over the unpopular Duke.
Thereafter, the bottom fell out politically for Despot's favorite, the first President Bush. Challenged from the right by Pat Buchanan and plagued by a troubling economy, Bush failed nationally and in Louisiana as well in the 1992 elections.
Both of those developments would have been especially troubling to George J. Despot had he lived.
Despot's Republican Party papers are in the archives section of Louisiana State University at Shreveport.