Emma Bellefontaine-Thibodeaux

**Emma Victoria Bellefontaine-Thibodeaux** is an American Politician who serves as the current Republican Governor of Louisiana since January 2016. She is married to George Thibodeaux.

## Family Heritage

Historically, the Bellefontaine family had been one of the first few families to leave their previous home after their forced removal from Acadia, modern-day Nova Scotia, by the British. Despite originally being dairy farmers back in their old home, the Bellefontaines, starting from next to nothing, began a farm focused on growing wheat and potatoes. This farm, known as the Bellefontaine Place, was located in the modern-day parish of Avoyelles and maintained itself without any outside help for nearly three decades. Two years after the Louisiana Purchase Maximillian Bellefontaine, head of the farm at the time, transformed the farm into a sugar plantation. By 1807 the plantation had purchased two slaves, with most of the family helping out as well. But by the time Lousiana had been signed into statehood, the Bellefontaine Place was known to be one of the largest sugar plantations in the state as the family’s wealth continued to grow. By the eve of the American Civil War, the Bellefontaines owned one hundred and thirty eight black slaves, making them the third largest sugar plantation in the state aside from Belle Grove and Nottoway.

Unfortunately for the family, the Antebellum Era came to an end with the succession of the Southern states and the beginning of the American Civil War in the following months. The war ruined the family financially and socially, with most of the male family members being killed and their plantation occupied by Union forces in the later years of the Civil War. Those that survived found that most of their vast fortune had been spend supporting the Confederacy. Between the three surviving male members of the Bellefontaines, they had little over $18,000 between them (roughly $230,000 adjusted for inflation). The three brothers split the remaining money between them and went their separate ways. One branch moved to New Orleans, another maintaining the now-defunct Bellefontaine Place, and Emma's branch of the family moving to Mandeville and using their money to invest in real estate. Over the years, they managed to slowly shed the reputation of slave-holding magnates through time, diplomacy, and charity towards African Americans. By the time Emma was born in 1979, the Bellefontaines of Mandeville had effectively shed their ill-reputation. However, their very-distant cousins that still maintained the Bellefontaine Place still, to some extent, maintained the aforementioned reputation.

## Early Life

Emma Victoria Bellefontaine was born on December 30th, 1979, in Lakeview Regional Medical Center, some few miles out from Mandeville. She was born into an "old money" Cajun family in the city of Mandeville, Louisiana. She had a fairly quite childhood, with her father, Ferdinand Bellefontaine, working as the head of the Bellefontaine Real Estate Empire and her mother being a homemaker. She was born the youngest of three children, and like her brothers Maximilien and Louis, she was taught to speak French first and English second, as was family tradition to even before the Louisiana Purchase. She attended local schools, preforming spectacularly better than either of her two troublemaking brothers. While she was a senior, her brother Louis was killed in a car accident on his way to his freshmen year of university.

Emma applied and was accepted to many high-ranking American schools, but ended up attending Washington and Lee University and majored in economics. She went on to study law at the University of Virginia, where aside from performing extraordinarily well, became involved with the Republican Party as an on-campus administrator. While in Virginia she met her future husband, George Thibodeaux, who also associated with the Republican Party. After graduating at the age of twenty six, she moved back to Mandeville to take care of her ailing father until he passed away in 2006. While her brother Maximilien inherited her father's business, she only received a small portion of the money he had been worth. After her father’s death she moved to New Orleans and began working for the Republican Party. By the time she was thirty, she had married George Thibodeaux and had taken his name alongside hers.

## Political Career

Emma decided to run in the 2011 Lousiana Gubernatorial Election for the position of Governor of Louisiana. During the campaign, she garnered the nickname "beau" for her association with the Old South Bellefontaines in addition to her looks. She won the Republican primaries but was narrowly defeated by her Democratic opponent. Four years later, she ran in the 2015 Lousiana Gubernatorial Election and succeeded in defeating her Democratic opponent. She now stands as the Governor of Louisiana since January of 2016. Unlike current Republican President Calvin Reed, Emma is a highly traditionalist/mainstream Republican, and has made that clear during her tenure in office. She tends to focus on more economic and social issues within her state.