JACKSON — Looking back, covering the political fall of former longtime Central District Transportation Commissioner Sam W. Waggoner back in the late 1980s was one of the saddest and yet in later years most uplifting stories I ever covered.
He was one of the few politicians I ever knew personally who allowed corruption to end what had otherwise been a spectacular career in public service. But when he’d paid his debts for that transgression, Waggoner didn’t slink off and hide.
He spent the rest of his life trying to help others who had lost their way. Waggoner’s story was a rather remarkable story of both transgression and redemption.
Waggoner, 88, died Monday at his Flowood home following an extended illness.
A native of Leake County and 1939 graduate of Carthage High School, Waggoner began his career in road building as a child during the Depression earning 12 cents an hour.
He was one of Mississippi’s most powerful and influential public officials, who earned respect by spearheading what was then the state’s largest expansion of four-lane highways in history.
Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sonny Merideth, with whom Waggoner collaborated for highway funding in the Legislature, said Waggoner “had a lot of credibility with legislators on transportation issues.”
“I called him ‘Mr. Highways,’” Merideth said. “When he told you something you could count on it. Sam spoke with authority, and he built some very good highways.”
State Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, whose father worked for the Transportation Department during Waggoner’s tenure, called Waggoner “a real visionary who left the state’s transportation system far better than he found it.”
“Mr. Waggoner had a lot to do with the fact that Mississippians can travel anywhere in the state on good four-lane highways,” Burton said.
Waggoner was instrumental in passage of the $1.6 billion Corridor Road Program that put four-lane roads within 30 miles of all Mississippi cities.
Later, Waggoner helped create the AHEAD organization — the successor to the Corridor Road Program.
He was the second-longest-serving elected official in Mississippi in 1988 (Agriculture Commissioner Jim Buck Ross was first) when his reputation suffered a blow during a federal corruption probe.
Waggoner resigned in December 1988 and pleaded guilty the following February to one count of extortion and three counts of filing false income tax returns.
At the time of his resignation, Waggoner said bluntly: “I am deeply sorry and I apologize. I am resigning because I have made a mistake, and I must now pay the price for that mistake.”
The feds later confirmed that Waggoner cooperated with prosecutors in their corruption probe, and he was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison and a $100,000 fine. After serving his sentence, Waggoner began to work with prisoners and parolees to help them overcome their problems and become productive citizens.
Waggoner “obviously went through some difficulties in his life, but he dealt with that and spent the latter years of his life working to help people in similar circumstances, and I admired him for that,” Burton said.
Waggoner served as Central District commissioner for 21 years and as a Department of Transportation engineer for 15 years. He was the construction engineer for the Ross Barnett Reservoir and the founder of Engineers and Surveyors Inc.
