2021 LOUISIANA POLITICAL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES SELECTED
The Louisiana Political Museum is proud to announce the 2021 Louisiana Political Hall of Fame Inductees. Induction activities begin in Shreveport, Louisiana on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. The induction banquet will be held at the Shreveport Convention Center. Tickets for the induction banquet can be purchased from the museum for $200.00 each by calling (318) 628-5928 prior to June 11, 2021. All tickets must be reserved and paid in advance.
Robert Adley: After graduating from Airline High School, he joined the United States Marine Corps and volunteered for Vietnam. After serving in California, Virginia, Okinawa, and Vietnam, he received an Honorable Discharge in 1967. Upon returning home, he attended college at LSU Shreveport and held various jobs, including working as a NASO stockbroker where he became active in the oil and gas industry, raising funds to drill and explore. Robert Adley began his business career by opening his company at age 26. For more than 20 years, he drilled and operated wells in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. In 1976, he was recognized as the Outstanding Young Businessman in Bossier Parish. In 1978, he was recognized as one of five Outstanding Young Men in Louisiana. Beginning in 1995, and for the following 20 years, his company managed natural gas supplies for 70 cities and towns in Louisiana. In 1976, Robert was elected to the Bossier City Council. In 1979, Councilman Adley won election to District 8 of the Louisiana House of Representatives. In 2002, Adley entered the race to fill the unexpired term of Senator Campbell. In a race of nine candidates, he received 48% of the vote in the primary and was easily elected to Senate District No. 36 in the general election. His work in the district began to expand statewide as he obtained funds and passed legislation to address conservation, infrastructure funding, water quality, economic development, vocational training, rural health care funding, capital outlay reform, governmental ethics reform, and transparency. His fiscal expertise was invaluable to the Senate committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs and the Audit Advisory Council. He served as Vice-Chairman on the Environmental Quality Committee. He served on Judiciary C and became Chairman of Transportation, Highways, and Public Works. He also made substantial contributions to the Senate select committees on Veterans Affairs as Chairman and Vocational and Technical Education. Senator Adley retired from the Legislature in 2016, after a combined 29 years of exemplary service representing northwest Louisiana in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Following his retirement from the Legislature, Senator Adley was appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards to serve as Executive Director of the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority. Currently, Senator Adley is overseeing the export of oil to offshore loading facilities to meet the demands of international markets. Senator Adley is married to Claudia Henagan. His son, Brandon, is married to Brigitte Gillespie and they have one daughter, Madelene "Maddie" Grace Adley.
Jim McCrery: Jim McCrery was born in Shreveport, LA, but was raised and graduated from high school in Leesville, LA. He earned a B.A. in History and English from Louisiana Tech University in 1971, and a J.D. from the Louisiana State University Law Center in 1975. After practicing law for a few years, in 1981 Jim was named District Manager for U.S. Representative Buddy Roemer, moving to Washington, DC, later that year to serve as Legislative Director for Congressman Roemer until the Spring of 1984, when McCrery moved to Baton Rouge to work as in house counsel and government affairs representative for Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Georgia-Pacific loaned McCrery to the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry in 1986 to chair LABI’s Unemployment Compensation Task Force. The task force was successful in getting major unemployment compensation reform passed in the state legislature and signed by Governor Edwin Edwards. The following year, McCrery chaired LABI’s Liability Reform Task Force. Following Buddy Roemer’s election as governor in the Fall of 1987, McCrery won the special election race to fill Roemer’s unexpired term in Congress.
Congressman McCrery was re-elected 10 times. McCrery served as Chairman of the Select Revenue Subcommittee and the Social Security Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways & Means. As a member of the Ways & Means Committee, McCrery helped write the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, the so-called Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, and the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.After leaving Congress, McCrery joined the DC lobbying firm Capitol Counsel, where he counseled the firm’s clients on tax, trade, and health care issues. McCrery served on the LSU Board of Supervisors from 2014-2018, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Friends of Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Congressman McCrery is now fully retired and living full time in Shreveport with his wife, Jana. He has two sons, Scott and Clark, and Jana has a daughter, Colvin.
Edward J. “Ed” Steimel : Throughout a long career in Louisiana politics, Edward J. “Ed” Steimel was a tireless advocate for reform policies and creating economic opportunity for the citizens of his adopted home state. Steimel was born in Running Lake, Arkansas on January 20, 1922. He grew up in a home that was the center of the small community and served as both a country store and post office run by his mother, Josephine Steimel. His father, George Steimel, was a local attorney. After attending the local schools, Steimel enrolled at Beebe Junior Agricultural College and obtained a teaching certificate before returning to work in his hometown’s one room school. In 1946, Steimel enrolled at Arkansas State College to pursue studies in journalism. In addition to his work in the classroom, he also served as editor of the school’s newspaper and assisted with public relations for the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce. While at Arkansas State, Steimel met and courted his wife, Mary Welch Steimel. The couple married on August 18, 1947 and welcomed their first child, Susanne, exactly one year later. The Steimels would later adopt three more children, Mary Jo, Edward Jr. and George. Steimel graduated in 1949 and was hired by the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce.After a short tenure with the chamber, Steimel was hired by the newly formed Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana as their director of public information. Two years later, Steimel was named PAR’s executive director. He is credited with straightening out the organization’s finances, beefing up their research efforts and giving them a voice both in the State Capitol and around the state. It was during these years that PAR’s research and publications became so well respected that legislators often used their numbers instead of the ones provided by the Governor’s Office when assembling the budget.After more than 20 years at PAR, Steimel was named president of the newly formed Louisiana Association of Business and Industry in 1975. After an incredibly heated debate in 1976, Steimel and LABI succeeded in passing Louisiana’s “Right to Work” law, a landmark legislative achievement. Steimel would continue to push key reform legislation and pro-business bills until his retirement from LABI in 1989. After leaving LABI, Steimel served as Director of Development for the LSU Foundation.
Gregory W. Tarver Sr. : For years, Gregory W. Tarver, Sr. has had the honor and privilege of representing the Northwest Louisiana communities as Louisiana State Senator, Shreveport City Councilman and Caddo Parish Police Juror. He has lived and worked almost his entire life in the greater Shreveport area as a long-standing business owner, community activist, and proud family man. As a young man, Tarver attended Alton High School, then Grambling State University until his education was transformed from campus life to military life, serving in the armed forces, with tours of duty in Germany and Vietnam. Upon returning home, he began working in his family businesses --J.S. Williams' Funeral Home and Insurance Services. After learning and maturing within the business, he became the CEO of the family's establishment which is 112 years old. In his earlier years, Tarver served as Chairman of the Insurance committee, and as a member of the Finance, Environmental Quality, Commerce (Ex Officio), Judiciary B and Local and Municipal committees. Senator Tarver became the first African American Senator in Northern Louisiana since reconstruction. Tarver was elected and served as State Senator for twenty (20) years until he chose to retire in 2004. After retiring for eight years, he made an incredible comeback to serve the people of District 39 once again. Currently, he serves on the following committees: Finance, Judiciary B, Senate & Governmental Affairs, Senate Executive Committee (Chairman), Veterans Affairs and Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, Natural Resources, Vocational and Technical Education. He served on the Board of Confederate Memorial Hospital where he worked for the name change of the hospital. As a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury, Shreveport City Council and other local community organizations, his goal has always been to level the playing field for the youth, elderly, and the working men and women of our communities, who for so long had no one to deliver for them. Tarver, his wife, Velma Kirksey-Tarver - a professional life coach and global humanitarian, and his children, are proud to be a part of this great community.
SPECIAL AWARD RECIEPIENTS
The Young Turks will receive the Political Leaders Group Award.
The Jackson Family (honoring Lydia and Alphonse Jackson) will receive the political Family of Officeholders award.
Lou Gehrig Burnett will be honored with the 2021 Friend of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation Award.
Luke Letlow will be honored with the Louisiana Distinguished Leadership Award.