Editing Allen J. Ellender (section)

{{Short description|American politician (1890–1972)}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = AllenJosephEllender.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, {{Circa|1971}}
| order               = [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
| term_start          = January 21, 1971
| term_end            = July 27, 1972
| predecessor         = [[Richard Russell Jr.]]
| successor           = [[James Eastland]]
| jr/sr1              = United States Senator
| state1              = [[Louisiana]]
| term_start1         = January 3, 1937
| term_end1           = July 27, 1972
| predecessor1        = [[Rose McConnell Long]]
| successor1          = [[Elaine Edwards]]
| order2              = 54th [[List of Speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives|Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives]]
| term_start2         = 1932
| term_end2           = 1936
| governor2           = [[Alvin Olin King]]<br />[[Oscar K. Allen]]
| predecessor2        = [[John B. Fournet]]
| successor2          = [[Lorris M. Wimberly]]
| birth_date          = September 24, 1890
| birth_place         = [[Montegut, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1972|7|27|1890|9|24|mf=y}}
| death_place         = [[Bethesda, Maryland]], U.S.
| constituency        = 
| party               = [[US Democratic Party|Democratic]]
| alma_mater          = [[Tulane University]]
| profession          = Lawyer
| spouse              = {{marriage|Helen Calhoun Donnelly|1917|1949|end = died}}<ref>
{{cite book |title=Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: a biography |last=Becnel |first=Thomas |year=1995 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0-8071-1978-5 |pages=22 and p. 166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrbQd0_eA_EC&q=helen+ellender+brain+tumor&pg=PA166 |access-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref>
| children            = 1<ref>{{cite book |title=Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: a biography |last=Becnel |first=Thomas |year=1995 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0-8071-1978-5 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrbQd0_eA_EC&q=helen+ellender+brain+tumor&pg=PA166 |access-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eunicetoday.com/obituaries|title=Orthopedic surgeon|publisher=Eunice Today|access-date=May 17, 2014}}</ref>
| allegiance          = United States 
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| unit                = 
| serviceyears        = 1918
| rank                = [[Private (rank)#United States Army|Private]]
| battles             = [[World War I]]
}}
'''Allen Joseph Ellender''' (September 24, 1890 – July 27, 1972) was an American politician and lawyer who was a U.S. senator from [[Louisiana]] from 1937 until his death. He was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] who was originally allied with [[Huey Long]]. As Senator he had a generally conservative record, voting 77% of the time with the [[Conservative Coalition]] on domestic issues.<ref>Thomas Becnel, ''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: a biography'' (1996) p 245</ref><ref name="Becnel, p 248">Becnel, ''Senator Allen Ellender'' p 248</ref> A staunch [[Racial segregation|segregationist]], he signed the [[Southern Manifesto]] in 1956, voted against the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], and opposed anti-lynching legislation in 1938.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/75-3/s101 TO IMPOSE CLOTURE ON DEBATE H.R. 1507, AN ANTI-LYNCHING BILL.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved September 13, 2021.</ref><ref>Thomas Becnel, ''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: a biography (1996) p 245''</ref><ref name=":0">Congressional Record – Senate (January 20, 1938)

[https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1938-pt1-v83/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1938-pt1-v83-16-1.pdff https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1938-pt1-v83/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1938-pt1-v83-16-1.pdf]</ref> Unlike many Democrats he was not a "[[War hawk|hawk]]" in foreign policy and opposed the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Becnel, p 248"/>

Ellender served as President Pro Tempore, and the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He also served as the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee for over 18 years.