William "Billy" Nungesser
| Billy Nungesser | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana | |
|
In office 1988–1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Donald G. Bollinger |
| Succeeded by | Dud Lastrapes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Aicklen Nungesser September 30, 1929 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 21, 2006 (aged 76) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westlawn Memorial Park Gretna, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth Amelia Marks |
| Children | 4, including Billy |
| Occupation | Businessman |
William Aicklen Nungesser (September 30, 1929 – January 21, 2006), was a leader of the Republican Party in the formerly traditionally Democratic state of Louisiana during much of the latter 20th century.
A confidant of David C. Treen, Louisiana's first Republican U.S. Representative and governor since Reconstruction, Nungesser broke with his party leadership in 1992, when as the outgoing state chairman after four years of service, he endorsed conservative dissident Patrick J. Buchanan for the GOP presidential nomination, rather than President George Herbert Walker Bush, for whom Nungesser had campaigned in 1988. Bush was thereafter nominated but unseated in the general election by the Democrat Bill Clinton. Nungesser was the only state chairman in the nation to have supported Buchanan.
Nungesser was born in the Carrollton section of New Orleans but lived mostly in the Algiers section until he and his wife of nearly fifty years, the former Ruth Amelia Marks (1932-2012), moved to Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish in the late 1990s to be nearer their two grandchildren. He was a U.S. Marine during the Korean War and a member of the American Legion. He was a 32nd-degree Mason was said to have read extensively, including the "Great Books".
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