John Fleming

John Calvin Fleming Jr. (born July 5, 1951) is an American politician, physician, military veteran, and businessman who is the current Louisiana State Treasurer, having been elected in 2023.

Fleming graduated from Meridian High School in 1969.

Just prior to Fleming's high school graduation, Fleming's father died of a heart attack.

This forced him to finance his education with odd jobs and loans.

Fleming attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1973.

He later attended medical school at the Jackson campus of the same university, earning an M.D. in 1976.

Fleming and his wife, Cindy, married in 1978.

The couple has four children.

Fleming was chief resident in Family Medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Pendleton, California.

He also trained at the drug and alcohol treatment unit at the Navy Regional Medical Center in Long Beach, California.

Serving in the Navy after his residency, Fleming practiced family medicine on the island of Guam.

In 1979, Fleming completed a Family Medicine residency with the United States Navy.

From 1979 to 1981, he was the director of drug and alcohol treatment and chairman of the Navy Family Advocacy Committee.

He subsequently performed similar duties in Charleston, South Carolina.

Subsequently, Fleming stayed in the Navy another three years, serving until 1982 when he moved his family to and set up a private family medicine practice in Minden, Louisiana.

He has served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and Sunday school department director at First Baptist of Minden.

Fleming also trained for years in karate attaining the rank of third-degree black belt.

He took his first piano lesson at age 43 and ultimately studied for 14 years afterwards, playing the occasional recital and concert.

After leaving the Navy, Fleming established a practice in Minden in August 1982.

His first clinic was on Pearl Street across from the United States Post Office.

He chose Minden for his city of residence because, in his words, it "has small-town charm, warm essence of life, long, lazy summer days with watermelon cuts and family reunions."

To attract patients to his new practice, Fleming announced evening and Saturday morning hours to accommodate working people and students.

Fleming is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine He joined the staff of the Minden Medical Center.

Fleming is also a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP).

In 1994, the Minden Press-Herald revealed Dr. Fleming's call "to end violence and drug addiction. I link these two together because I believe most of the violence we see is caused by addiction to, or buying and selling of drugs."

In 2006, Fleming wrote Preventing Addiction: What Parents Must Know to Immunize Their Kids Against Drug And Alcohol Addiction. In the book, Fleming argues that alcohol, among other addicting substances, can serve as a gateway for broader and more problematic drug use, and that the immature brain development of children makes them vulnerable to drug addiction later in life.

In 2007, he was chosen as the LAFP "Louisiana Family Practice Physician of the Year."

Fleming previously worked with drug-dependent persons through the program called "New Beginnings" at the Minden Medical Center.

Fleming previously served as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district from 2009 to 2017.

From January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2017, Fleming was the representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district.

He resides in the city of Minden in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.

A second cousin (five generations removed) to the former House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky, Fleming is a member of Sons of the American Revolution and Jamestowne Society.

He was the second Republican to hold his House seat since Reconstruction.

Fleming won the 2023 Louisiana Treasurer election in the November runoff, receiving over 65% of the vote.

Fleming was born in Meridian in Lauderdale County in eastern Mississippi.

He was reared in a working-class home.

While he was still young, his mother became disabled and could no longer work.

After leaving congress, he served two years in the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Information Technology Reform and then served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development from March 2019 to 2020.

In March 2020, he was appointed to a position in the White House as Assistant to the President for Planning and Implementation.