Alexandre Mouton

Alexander Mouton ( born November 19, 1804 today's Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, † February 12, 1885 in Lafayette, Louisiana ) was an American politician and 1843-1846 Governor of the State of Louisiana. Between 1837 and 1842 he represented his country in the U.S. Senate.

Early years and political rise

Mouton attended Georgetown College in Washington. After a subsequent law degree, he was admitted in 1825 as a lawyer. Then he began to Lafayette Parish to work as a lawyer.

Between 1827 and 1832 he was a delegate in the House of Representatives from Louisiana. There, he served as President Speaker of the House since 1832. As a member of the Democratic Party, he was in 1828, 1832 and 1836 elector in the presidential election this year. He voted for Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. In 1830 he applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1836 he succeeded then return to the House of Representatives of his State.

U.S. Senator and Governor

Following the resignation of U.S. Senator Alexander Mouton Porter was elected to succeed him as a Class 3 Senator. Alexander Mouton ended the legislative session started by Porter and was subsequently re-elected. In the Senate he was chairman of the Agriculture Committee. Mouton was between January 1837 and his retirement on 1 March 12, 1842 Member of this body.

On August 4, 1842 he was elected governor of his state and later confirmed by the legislature. Alexander Mouton took up his new post on January 30, 1843. During his tenure, the expenditure cuts and a sold state property and other property. Convicts were awarded against money for forced labor. How could the budget be albeit with questionable funds, balanced. The legal competence of the Supreme Court and the District Courts were expanded and the school system has been further improved. In 1845 a new constitution came into force in Louisiana. This Constitution abolished the previous system of gubernatorial elections, only had to take place after a general election, which had to be then approved by the legislature. Under the new Constitution, the confirmation accounted for by Parliament. The new constitution also created several new government agencies, such as the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, a Minister of Education ( Superintendent of Education) and a state librarian.

Further CV

After the end of his governorship on 12 February 1846, Mouton was dedicated back to his own affairs, to which now also included his involvement with the railroad. In 1861 he was chairman of the Assembly, which decided the separation of the state of Louisiana from the Union and join the Confederacy. Mouton was a supporter of the Confederacy. As such, he invested much of his wealth in the ultimately unsuccessful thing of the southern states. His son Alfred Mouton died as a Confederate general in the Battle of Mansfield. Alexander Mouton survived the civil war for nearly 20 years. He died in February 1885. He was married twice and had eleven children. His first wife Zelia Rousseau was the granddaughter of Jacques Dupré, who had been from 1830 to 1831 governor of Louisiana.