Richard W. Leche
Encyclopedia
Richard Webster Leche was the 44th Governor of Louisiana
from 1936 until 1939. Leche was the first governor of Louisiana
sentenced to prison.
in 1916. His studies were interrupted when he enlisted in the United States Army
at the outbreak of the First World War. After being discharged without having seen combat, Leche briefly moved to Chicago
, where he sold automobile parts. On his return to Louisiana, Leche graduated from Loyola University Law School and started a law practice in 1923.
In 1928, Leche ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate
. By 1930, Leche had joined with Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
, and managed Long's campaign for the United States Senate
in the fall of that year. When Long moved on to the Senate in 1932, he appointed Leche as secretary to his successor as governor, Oscar K. Allen
. Leche's job was to keep an eye on Allen and report back to Long on a daily basis. In 1934, Long had Leche appointed as an appeals court judge in New Orleans.
. After a period of backroom maneuvering, the relatively minor Leche was chosen as a compromise candidate by Longite leaders, including New Orleans mayor Robert Maestri
, outgoing governor Oscar K. Allen
, James A. Noe
, Seymour Weiss
, and Abe Shushan. Despite his relative obscurity, Leche was able to beat anti-Long candidate Cleveland Dear
with the aid of the still-powerful Long political machine. Leche polled 67 percent of the primary vote, and the anti-Long forces seemed beyond recovery.
Within four years, however, the scandalous corruption of the Leche administration, "the self-appointed heirs" to Huey Long, was replaced in 1940 by the "reform" candidate, Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles
.
While he continued Long's program of road-building, free textbooks, and expansion of hospital and educational facilities, Leche and his administration were far less committed to wealth redistribution and social programs than Long had been. He ceased attacks on the oil industry, granted tax exemptions to new business and industry, and enacted a regressive sales tax. These policies brought Leche support from the press and the business community, two of Huey Long's staunchest foes.
Shortly after his inauguration, Leche commented, "When I took the oath of office I didn't take any vow of poverty." Corruption was to become the major feature of his administration. It also reached deep into the administration of Louisiana State University
, where President James Monroe Smith
, called by students "Jimmy the Stooge," was forced from the lucrative position through "Hayride" scandal.
In a reconciliation with the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Leche promised to cease using Long's Share Our Wealth
rhetoric and to support New Deal
programs. In return, Roosevelt dropped investigation of the Long machine on tax evasion charges and restored federal patronage to Louisiana. The resulting flow of federal funds, accompanied with widespread graft and corruption, became dubbed the "Second Louisiana Purchase
" by contemporaries. While some of the federal funds went to expand Louisiana State University
and New Orleans's Charity Hospital, Leche and his administration took their rapprochement with Roosevelt as free license to steal as much as possible. Once the corruption became too blatant, though, Leche and several of his cronies were indicted in what were termed the Louisiana Scandals. Beset by scandal and accusations, Leche resigned the governorship on June 26, 1939; he was succeeded by his Lieutenant Governor Earl K. Long.
Richard Leche's legal problems began when Chester Martin, a highway engineer who had his pay skimmed by Leche's newspaper, mimeographed receipts of the payments and a written summary of his allegations. He left them on the desks of every state legislature member the morning before the legislature came into session. Martin lost his job that day, and no one in the state would hire him until the federal government indicted Leche. Martin used the year to get his law degree from LSU, and practiced law until his retirement.
resources to build private homes for himself and his allies, making a profit from the sale of "hot oil" - oil produced illegally in excess of state quotas and thus exempt from taxation - and misuse of the funds of Louisiana State University. Huey Long's prediction - "If those fellows ever try to use the powers I've given them without me to hold them down; they'll all land in the penitentiary" - proved prophetic. Sentenced to ten years in an Atlanta penitentiary, Leche was released on parole in 1945 and pardoned by Harry Truman in 1953. He then resumed his law practice until his death in New Orleans in 1965.
A large medallion at Southeastern Louisiana University
's Strawberry Stadium commemorates the life and career of Richard W. Leche. (The medallion can be viewed on the north exterior end of the east side of the campus football stadium.)
Decades after Leche's conviction, Edwin Edwards would become the second Governor of Louisiana sentenced to prison.
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...
from 1936 until 1939. Leche was the first governor 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...
sentenced to prison.
Early life
Leche was born in New Orleans, the son of Eustace Leche, a salesman, and the former Stella Eloise Richard, a teacher. After graduating from Warren Easton High School, Leche entered Tulane UniversityTulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in 1916. His studies were interrupted when he enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at the outbreak of the First World War. After being discharged without having seen combat, Leche briefly moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he sold automobile parts. On his return to Louisiana, Leche graduated from Loyola University Law School and started a law practice in 1923.
In 1928, Leche ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
. By 1930, Leche had joined with Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, and managed Long's campaign for the United States Senate
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...
in the fall of that year. When Long moved on to the Senate in 1932, he appointed Leche as secretary to his successor as governor, Oscar K. Allen
Oscar K. Allen
Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr. , also known as O. K. Allen, was the 42nd Governor of Louisiana from 1932 to 1936. He was a key lieutenant in the political machine of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., that dominated the state during the first half of the 1930s...
. Leche's job was to keep an eye on Allen and report back to Long on a daily basis. In 1934, Long had Leche appointed as an appeals court judge in New Orleans.
Leche as governor
After Huey Long was assassinated in September 1935, the Long organization was left without a leader and without a candidate for the 1936 gubernatorial electionLouisiana gubernatorial election, 1936
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1936 was held on January 21, 1936. Like most Southern states between Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana'sRepublican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral...
. After a period of backroom maneuvering, the relatively minor Leche was chosen as a compromise candidate by Longite leaders, including New Orleans mayor Robert Maestri
Robert Maestri
Robert Sidney Maestri was mayor of New Orleans from 1936 to 1946 and a key ally of Huey P. Long, Jr., and Earl Kemp Long.- Early life :...
, outgoing governor Oscar K. Allen
Oscar K. Allen
Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr. , also known as O. K. Allen, was the 42nd Governor of Louisiana from 1932 to 1936. He was a key lieutenant in the political machine of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., that dominated the state during the first half of the 1930s...
, James A. Noe
James A. Noe
James Albert Noe, Sr. of Monroe served for three and a half months as the 43rd Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K. Allen on January 28, 1936....
, Seymour Weiss
Seymour Weiss
Seymour Weiss was a prominent New Orleans hotel executive and civic leader who was a close confidante of the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr. Ironically, Weiss, the most loyal of Louisiana Longites, bore the same last name as Carl Weiss, M.D., the apparent assassin of U.S...
, and Abe Shushan. Despite his relative obscurity, Leche was able to beat anti-Long candidate Cleveland Dear
Cleveland Dear
Cleveland Dear was a United States Representative from the state of Louisiana and a one-time gubernatorial candidate. He served two terms in Congress as a Democrat from central Louisiana. He was a staunch member of the anti-Long political faction.Dear was born in Sugartown in Beauregard Parish in...
with the aid of the still-powerful Long political machine. Leche polled 67 percent of the primary vote, and the anti-Long forces seemed beyond recovery.
Within four years, however, the scandalous corruption of the Leche administration, "the self-appointed heirs" to Huey Long, was replaced in 1940 by the "reform" candidate, Sam Houston Jones of Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
.
While he continued Long's program of road-building, free textbooks, and expansion of hospital and educational facilities, Leche and his administration were far less committed to wealth redistribution and social programs than Long had been. He ceased attacks on the oil industry, granted tax exemptions to new business and industry, and enacted a regressive sales tax. These policies brought Leche support from the press and the business community, two of Huey Long's staunchest foes.
Shortly after his inauguration, Leche commented, "When I took the oath of office I didn't take any vow of poverty." Corruption was to become the major feature of his administration. It also reached deep into the administration of 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...
, where President James Monroe Smith
James Monroe Smith
James Monroe Smith, Sr. , was the president of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the 1930s...
, called by students "Jimmy the Stooge," was forced from the lucrative position through "Hayride" scandal.
In a reconciliation with the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Leche promised to cease using Long's Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth was a movement begun during the Great Depression by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana.-Major provisions of "Share Our Wealth":The key planks of the Share Our Wealth platform included:...
rhetoric and to support New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
programs. In return, Roosevelt dropped investigation of the Long machine on tax evasion charges and restored federal patronage to Louisiana. The resulting flow of federal funds, accompanied with widespread graft and corruption, became dubbed the "Second Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
" by contemporaries. While some of the federal funds went to expand 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...
and New Orleans's Charity Hospital, Leche and his administration took their rapprochement with Roosevelt as free license to steal as much as possible. Once the corruption became too blatant, though, Leche and several of his cronies were indicted in what were termed the Louisiana Scandals. Beset by scandal and accusations, Leche resigned the governorship on June 26, 1939; he was succeeded by his Lieutenant Governor Earl K. Long.
Richard Leche's legal problems began when Chester Martin, a highway engineer who had his pay skimmed by Leche's newspaper, mimeographed receipts of the payments and a written summary of his allegations. He left them on the desks of every state legislature member the morning before the legislature came into session. Martin lost his job that day, and no one in the state would hire him until the federal government indicted Leche. Martin used the year to get his law degree from LSU, and practiced law until his retirement.
Conviction and imprisonment
Resignation did not end Leche's legal troubles. In 1940, he was convicted of using the mails to defraud; the particulars involved a scheme to sell trucks to the state Highway Department. Other charges included the use of stolen WPAWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
resources to build private homes for himself and his allies, making a profit from the sale of "hot oil" - oil produced illegally in excess of state quotas and thus exempt from taxation - and misuse of the funds of Louisiana State University. Huey Long's prediction - "If those fellows ever try to use the powers I've given them without me to hold them down; they'll all land in the penitentiary" - proved prophetic. Sentenced to ten years in an Atlanta penitentiary, Leche was released on parole in 1945 and pardoned by Harry Truman in 1953. He then resumed his law practice until his death in New Orleans in 1965.
A large medallion at Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University
Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...
's Strawberry Stadium commemorates the life and career of Richard W. Leche. (The medallion can be viewed on the north exterior end of the east side of the campus football stadium.)
Decades after Leche's conviction, Edwin Edwards would become the second Governor of Louisiana sentenced to prison.
External links
- State of Louisiana - Biography
- Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries