Dave Treen was a plain vanilla Republican governor in a multi-flavored, heavily Democratic state when he spoke at Northwestern in the 1980s.
I was master of ceremonies for the program and took some good-natured jabs at him. That was the popular style for banquets then. Emcees tried to keep things light with quips and gentle barbs.
Treen was an easy target. He was a genuinely nice man and good public official, but he came across as pretty dull compared to his flamboyant predecessor.
Edwin Edwards served two terms before Treen became the first Republican governor of Louisiana in a century. Everything about Edwards was colorful…his wardrobe, language, politics, personal life and all the rest.
I reminded the banquet audience that Edwards wore stylish sport coats, bright neckties and pastel leisure suits and that Treen had survived in politics with a pair of gray slacks and one blue blazer.
The legislature had approved an 8 percent raise for state workers that year, but Treen cut it to 5.7 percent. I announced that we would lose money on the banquet since tickets were 8 dollars but state employees refused to pay more than 5.7 dollars for them.
Treen’s reputation for being cheap was confirmed, I told the crowd, when somebody at the governor’s mansion saw him gargle with Listerine and spit it back in the bottle.
Edwards had announced he would run against Treen in the next election. I told the audience that Treen had no hard feelings and had just sent Edwards a turkey for Thanksgiving with a note telling him to stuff it.
My office phone rang early the morning after the banquet. The voice on the other end said, “Hey, it’s Dave Treen. I loved the program last night and would like to get some of your lines for a roast I have to do in Washington this week.”
I had no doubt the caller was Gene Knecht, Tynes Hildebrand or some other friend on campus. Our practical jokes were rampant then, and I knew governors didn’t make their own phone calls.
So I bantered with the caller, told him I was too busy to mess with him and things like that. But as we talked and laughed about some of the private conversation we had at the table the previous night, I realized this was really Governor Treen.
He had served in Congress earlier and was on the program to roast one of his former colleagues in Washington. I told him I had just jotted down notes for the program but would type up the comments and get them to him.
Treen called a few days later to say his remarks went over well at the roast and to share some other speakers’ one-liners with me.
Edwards beat him in the next election with some campaign lines like, “Dave Treen is so slow it takes him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes on TV.”
Treen was sharp and far from slow and lost primarily because Republicans were so heavily outnumbered by Democrats then.
The governor’s reserved demeanor disguised a genuine zest for life and sparkling sense of humor.
He arranged for comedian Bob Hope to headline the fund-raiser kicking off his re-election campaign, and Treen played a big role in the Republicans’ annual Elephant Stomp extravaganza that became one of the most colorful social and political events in the state.
His mother was a Northwestern graduate, and he truly liked Natchitoches. As governor, he helped create the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. That was a bold, significant political accomplishment at the time.
We talked periodically after he left office to share humorous stories and one-liners for speaking engagements.
REPRINTED FROM THE NATCHITOCHES TIMES