John McWilliams Ford
| John McWilliams Ford | |
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An early picture of John McWilliams Ford
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| Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana (Caddo Parish), Louisiana, USA | |
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In office 1918–1922 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Hodges Ward |
| Succeeded by | Lee Emmett Thomas |
| Shreveport Finance Commissioner | |
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In office 1930–1965 |
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| Succeeded by | Tom Tanner |
| Shreveport City Council member | |
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In office 1908–1912 |
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| Caddo Parish Police Jury member | |
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In office 1912–1916 |
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| State Representative from Caddo Parish (at-large) | |
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In office 1916–1917 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph E. Johnston, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | E. Wayles Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 18, 1880 Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Died | July 1, 1965 (aged 85) Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Pierce Ford |
| Children | No children |
| Occupation | Public official |
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(1) Ford was Shreveport’s longest serving public official, having been in office from 1908 to 1965, except for 1922 to 1930. |
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Lee Emmett Thomas
David B. Samuel
Perry Keith
(1) Ford was Shreveport’s longest serving public official, having been in office from 1908 to 1965, except for 1922 to 1930.
(2) Ford was an unassuming man who answered his own telephone and always kept his office door open to the general public.
John McWilliams Ford (February 18, 1880 – July 1, 1965) was the longest-serving elected public official in Shreveport, Louisiana. Though he served as mayor only from 1918 to 1922, it was his tenure as finance commissioner that is most remembered for longevity—from 1930 until his death thirty-five years later. The finance commissioner was established under the previous city commission government, which was replaced with the 1978 elections by the mayor-council form of municipal government.
Ford's first elective office was as city alderman in 1908. He was also a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body now known as the Caddo Parish Commission. A Democrat, he served in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1916, until he stepped down in 1918 to become mayor after the death of S. A. Dickson, MD Robert Hodges Ward had followed Dickson, and then Ford was elected to a single four-year term from 1918–1922. Ford then spent eight years in the private sector before returning to City Hall as finance commissioner, a position which he handily retained in the elections of 1930, 1934, 1938, 1942, 1946, 1950, 1954, 1958, and 1962. Dwight L. Saur, a Certified Public Accountant succeeded Ford as finance commissioner in 1966. Saur himself died in office in 1971, and the position then went to its last occupant and only Republican, George A. Burton, Jr. The new city charter superseded the finance commissioner’s post.
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Wikipedia