John Willis Menard (April 3, 1838 – October 8, 1893) was the first African American elected to the United States Congress.

In an 1868 special election to fill the unexpired term of James Mann (who had died in office), Menard, a Republican, was elected to represent Louisiana's 2nd congressional district. He was denied the seat on the basis of an election challenge by the loser, Caleb S. Hunt. After hearing the arguments from both candidates, the House decided to seat neither man, but in the process Menard became the first African American to address the chamber from the lectern.

Menard was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, to parents of Louisiana Creole descent from New Orleans who were free people of color. One of his ancestors was Michel Branamour Menard, a French fur trader and a founder of Galveston, Texas. John Menard attended school in Sparta, Illinois, and Iberia College in Iberia, Ohio.

Menard moved to Florida, where he served in the Florida House of Representatives in 1874. That same year he was he was elected as justice of the peace for Duval County and again in 1877.

He was a poet, the author of Lays in Summer Lands (1879). Menard was also the editor of the Florida News and the Southern Leader from 1882 to 1888. He died in the District of Columbia. His daughter, Alice Menard, married Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs, the son of Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs.