Sixty Rayburn

{{Short description|American politician (1916–2008)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Sixty Rayburn

| birth_name = Benjamin Burras Rayburn

| birth_date = {{birth date|1916|08|11}}

| birth_place = Sumrall, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|03|05|1916|08|11}}

| death_place = Covington, Louisiana, U.S.

| office1 = Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives

| term_start1 = 1948

| term_end1 = 1951

| preceded1 = Murphy R. Williams

| succeeded1 = N. L. Smith

| office2 = Member of the Louisiana State Senate from the 12th district

| term_start2 = 1951

| term_end2 = 1996

| preceded2 = H. H. Richardson

| succeeded2 = Phil Short

| party = Democratic

| children = 1

}}

Benjamin Burras Rayburn (August 11, 1916 – March 5, 2008) was an American politician.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/227414436/|title=Sen. 'Sixty' Rayburn Political Complexity Says Hometown Paper|work=Daily World|location=Opelousas, Louisiana|date=March 27, 1963|access-date=September 5, 2022|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/217269558/|title='Sixty' Vindicates the Long Boys and Sen. Rayburn's Cynical Candor Tells Story of 'Greenback Politics'|work=The Times|location=Shreveport, Louisiana|date=August 30, 1973|access-date=September 5, 2022|page=6|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/215178587/|title='Sixty' Rayburn: He Didn't Stay Accidentally|work=The Town Talk|location=Alexandria, Louisiana|date=June 8, 1977|access-date=September 5, 2022|page=30|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He served as a Democratic member for the 12nd district of the Louisiana State Senate{{Cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/Documents/SenateMembership1880ForwardRevisedMar2011.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana Senate: 1880 - Present|first=Arthur|last=McEnany|work=Louisiana State Senate|date=January 2008|access-date=September 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225225646/http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/Documents/SenateMembership1880ForwardRevisedMar2011.pdf|archive-date=December 25, 2015|url-status=live|via=Wayback Machine}} and as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.{{Cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov:80/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembers1812_2008.pdf|title=Membership In The Louisiana House Of Representatives 1812 - 2012|work=David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library|access-date=September 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331104823/http://house.louisiana.gov:80/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembers1812_2008.pdf|archive-date=March 31, 2010|url-status=live|via=Wayback Machine}}

Rayburn was born in Sumrall northwest of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He attended Sumrall High School in Sumrall and Sullivan Memorial Trade School in Bogalusa not far from Covington, Louisiana.{{Cite web|url=https://obits.theadvocate.com/us/obituaries/theadvocate/name/b-b-rayburn-obituary?id=25256357|title=B. B. Rayburn Obituary (1916-2008)|work=The Advocate|date=March 7, 2008|access-date=September 5, 2022}} He was a member and vice president of the Washington Parish Police Jury from 1944 to 1948, at the time being the youngest member of a police jury in Louisiana. In 1948 he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. In 1951 he was elected for the 12nd district of the Louisiana State Senate, serving until 1996 when he was succeeded by Phil Short.

Honors Rayburn received included an honorary doctorate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1959 and he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in 1993.{{Cite web|url=https://lapoliticalmuseum.com/inductee/bj-sixty-rayburn/|title=BJ "Sixty" Rayburn|work=Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame|access-date=September 5, 2022}} In 2006 the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections renamed the Washington Correctional Institute as the B.B. Rayburn Correctional Center.{{Cite web|url=http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/rcc/missionstmnt.htm|title=Mission Statement|work=Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections|access-date=September 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127111811/http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/rcc/missionstmnt.htm|archive-date=January 27, 2011|url-status=live|via=Wayback Machine}}

Rayburn died in March 2008 from complications of lung cancer at the St. Tammany Hospital in Covington at the age of 91.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wafb.com/story/7968140/former-state-senator-bb-sixty-rayburn-dead-at-91/|title=Former State Senator B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn Dead at 91|work=WAFB|date=March 5, 2008|access-date=September 5, 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wafb.com/story/7986936/former-state-senator-bb-sixty-rayburn-laid-to-rest/?outputType=amp|title=Former State Senator B.B. "Sixty" Rayburn Laid to Rest|work=WAFB|date=March 8, 2008|access-date=September 5, 2022}}