Editing Allen J. Ellender (section)

==Early life==
Ellender was born in the town of [[Montegut, Louisiana|Montegut]] in Terrebonne Parish. He was the son of Victoria Marie (Javeaux) and Wallace Richard Ellender, Sr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/LA/TB-buried.html|title=The Political Graveyard: Terrebonne Parish, La.|author=Lawrence Kestenbaum|work=politicalgraveyard.com|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> He attended public and private schools, and in 1909 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Roman Catholic [[Brother Martin High School|St. Aloysius College]] in New Orleans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tulane University |date=1913 |title=Jambalaya, the Tulane University Yearbook |url=https://tuarchives.tulane.edu/sites/default/files/tuarchives/yearbooks/jambalayayearboo18edit%20%281%29.pdf |location=Nashville, TN |publisher=Benson Printing Co. |page=101 |ref={{sfnRef|"Jambalaya, the Tulane University Yearbook"}}}}</ref> (It has been reorganized as [[Brother Martin High School]]). He graduated from [[Tulane University Law School]] with an [[bachelor of laws|LL.B.]] in 1913,{{sfn|"Jambalaya, the Tulane University Yearbook"|page=100}} was admitted to the bar later that year, and launched his practice in Houma.

===World War I===
Though he received a draft deferment for [[World War I]], Ellender volunteered for military service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Becnel |first=Thomas A. |date=1995 |title=Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrbQd0_eA_EC&pg=PA24 |location=Louisiana State University Press |publisher=Baton Rouge, LA |pages=24–25 |isbn=978-0-8071-1978-5 |ref={{sfnRef|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''}}}}</ref> Initially rejected on medical grounds after being diagnosed with a kidney stone, Ellender persisted in attempting to serve in uniform.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=24–25}} After surgery and recovery, Ellender inquired through his Congressman about obtaining a commission in the Army's [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army|Judge Advocate General Corps]], and was offered a commission as an interpreter and translator in the [[United States Marine Corps]], which he declined over concerns that because he spoke [[Louisiana French]], he might not be proficient enough in the formal French language.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=24–25}}

While taking courses to improve his French, he also applied for a position in the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps#Student Army Training Corps (SATC)|Student Army Training Corps]] at Tulane University.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=24–25}} He was accepted into the program in October 1918, and reported to Camp Martin on the Tulane University campus.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=24–25}} The war ended in November, and the SATC program was disbanded, so Ellender was released from the service in December before completing his training.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=24–25}} Despite attempts lasting into the late 1920s to secure an honorable discharge as proof of his military service, Ellender was unsuccessful in obtaining one.{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|page=52}} Instead, the commander of Camp Martin replied to an inquiry from Ellender's congressman that "Private Allen J. Ellender" had been released from military service in compliance with an army order prohibiting new enlistments in the SATC after the [[Armistice of November 11, 1918]].{{sfn|''Senator Allen Ellender of Louisiana: A Biography''|pages=52–53}} As his career progressed, his biography often included the incorrect claim that Ellender had served as a sergeant in the [[United States Army]] Artillery Corps during the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Onofrio |first=Jan |date=1999 |title=Louisiana Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHYYYlp473oC&pg=PA88 |location=St. Clair Shores, MI |publisher=Somerset Publishers, Inc. |page=88 |isbn=978-0-403-09817-0}}</ref>

===State politics===
Ellender was a delegate to the Louisiana constitutional convention in 1921. The constitution produced by that body was retired in 1974, two years after Ellender's death. He served in the [[Louisiana House of Representatives]] from 1924 to 1936. He was floor leader from 1928 to 1932, when in 1929 he worked successfully against the [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] forces, led by [[Ralph Norman Bauer]] and [[Cecil Morgan]], that attempted to remove [[Governor of Louisiana|Governor]] Huey Long for a litany of [[Political corruption|abuses of power]]. Ellender was the House Speaker from 1932 to 1936, when he was elected to the US Senate.