He graduated as class president in 1964 from Caldwell Parish High School, the same month in which his father was inaugurated as governor of Louisiana.

McKeithen attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish to obtain a bachelor's degree in history and social studies.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech, McKeithen returned to Caldwell Parish High School, located off U.S. Route 165, as a civics teacher and coach.

His folksy manner meant that he was generally popular with voters despite adopting such unpopular positions as raising the pay of elected state officials.

[citation needed] In 2006, McKeithen was inducted posthumously into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, an honor that his father had procured in 1993, having been among the first thirteen honorees.