John "Jack" Christian was a business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

man who served from 1957-1964 as the Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

/President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

, 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...

.

Background

Christian was born to John C. Christian and the former Bessie Nicholson (1884–1971) in Vicksburg

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

, the seat of Warren County

Warren County, Mississippi

-National protected areas:* Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge * Vicksburg National Military Park -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 49,644 people, 18,756 households, and 13,222 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile...

 in western Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, located on the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 and site of an American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 siege. He was educated in the Vicksburg public school and then studied engineering at 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...

, which brought him to Baton Rouge. From 1930-1937, he was employed by his father's automobile agency, Christian & Brough Company in Vicksburg. From 1937-1938, he was a representative of the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company with duties in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, and Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

. In 1938, he founded Baton Rouge Motors Company, with a franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 for Cadillac, La Salle, and Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 vehicles.

Christian's work was interrupted by World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when he at thirty-one joined the United States Naval Reserve and served, accordingly, from 1942 to 1945. He was discharged from the military at the rank of lieutenant. After the war, he headed from 1946-1951 Jack Christian Motor Company in Baton Rouge. From 1952-1956, he was the sales manager of McInnes Chevrolet.

In 1942, Christian married the former Caryol (Toby) Caulfield at the First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. The couple had no children. He was Episcopalian

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

. Christian was active in the Lions Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...

, the Fraternal Order of Eagles

Fraternal Order of Eagles

Fraternal Order of Eagles International is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington by a group of six theater owners including John Cort , brothers John W. and Tim J. Considine, Harry Leavitt , Mose Goldsmith and Arthur Williams...

, and the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

.

Political career

From 1953-1956, Christian served part-time on the Baton Rouge City-Parish Council, a combined municipal/parish operation, a hybrid of a city council member and a county commissioner, originally launched in East Baton Rouge Parish on January 1, 1949. On August 22, 1956, Christian was elected Mayor-President and served from January 1, 1957, to December 31, 1964. In office, he introduced a major medical insurance policy for city-parish employees, created a system of job classification and salary schedules for the employees, and introduced a $21 million sewer expansion project. He succeeded Mrs. Jesse L. Webb, Jr., who had served only a few femaining months of her husband's term.

In October 1959, Christian, citing traffic and safety concerns, moved trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating or "Guising", is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy with the question "Trick or treat?"...

 from Saturday, October 31 (Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

), to Friday, October 30, in order to accommodate the LSU Tigers

1959 LSU Tigers football team

The 1959 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 1959 college football season. The Tigers were coached by Paul Dietzel and were the defending national champions.-Pre-season:...

 football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 game. During the game, Billy Cannon

Billy Cannon

William Abb "Billy" Cannon is an All-American, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner and 2008 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and one of the American Football League's most celebrated players.He was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and moved...

 returned a punt against the Ole Miss Rebels, resulting in an 89-yard touchdown

Touchdown

A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

 that helped to keep LSU undefeated and secured Cannon the Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

, making him the only Tiger to have won the trophy thus far.

On August 29, 1964, Christian was defeated for renomination by his fellow 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...

 Woodrow Wilson Dumas, a member of the parish council since 1953, who had served his first term on the body alongside Christian. Dumas served four terms as mayor-president, with service ending in his 1980 defeat by the Democrat Pat Screen

Pat Screen

James Patrick Screen, Jr., known as Pat Screen , was a Louisiana State University quarterback from New Orleans, Louisiana, who served as the Democratic Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish from 1981–1988....

.

After his mayoral tenure, Christian was until his death the vice president and general manager of McInnes-Peterson Chevrolet. He died in Baton Rouge on the last day of 1972, three weeks shy of his 62nd birthday.