Patrick Thomson Caffery is a retired 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...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and former United States Representative from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district surrounds the southern tier of the Greater New Orleans Area. The district contains large portions of southeastern and south central Louisiana, including River Parishes and East Acadiana...

.

Caffery, the grandson of U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Donelson Caffery

Donelson Caffery

Donelson Caffery was an American politician from the state of Louisiana, a distinguished soldier in the American Civil War, and a sugar plantation owner.- Biography :...

, grew up in Franklin

Franklin, Louisiana

Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, the seat of St. Mary Parish

St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...

. An Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

, he was selected in 1950 in a nationwide competition by the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

 to present a State of the Nation report in the White House to U.S. President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

. He graduated from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana...

) in 1955, having been awarded a music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

 and having been chosen as coronet

Coronet

A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of coronne , itself from the Latin corona .Traditionally, such headgear is – as indicated by the German equivalent...

 soloist with the SLI Stage Band. He received a law degree from 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...

 in Baton Rouge in 1956, where he served as managing editor of the Louisiana Law Review. He practiced law in New Iberia

New Iberia, Louisiana

New Iberia is a city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, United States, 30 miles southeast of Lafayette. In 1900, 6,815 people lived in New Iberia; in 1910, 7,499; and in 1940, 13,747...

, and was an assistant district attorney there. From 1964 to 1968, he was a member of 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...

.

Caffery defeated 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...

 Edwin E. Willis

Edwin E. Willis

Edwin Edward Willis was an American politician and attorney from the U.S. state of Louisiana who was affiliated with the Long political faction. A Democrat, he served in the Louisiana State Senate during 1948 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1969.-Early life:Willis...

, a 20-year incumbent, and committee chairman, in the primary election in 1968. He was unopposed in the general election in both 1968 and 1970. He did not seek a third term in 1972, and returned to his law practice in New Iberia. His seat went Republican

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 1972 general election with the election of David C. Treen

David 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...

, a future governor of Louisiana, who had lost three House elections in the 1960s

1960s

The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

in another district.