High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Arthur Thomas "Tom" Colten (October 21, 1922 ? December 6, 2004) was a Louisiana politician from the 1960s to the 1990s who rose from a small-town mayoralty position to head his state's Department of Transportation and Development under three governors from both parties. A former newspaperman, Colten was also active in the slow process of establishing a viable Republican Party in Louisiana.Colten was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, with service from 1942 to 1946. After the war, he received his bachelor's degree from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon social fraternity.