Opening the Century
During the first elections of the 20th century, Arkansans voted overwhelmingly Democratic, thus keeping in tradition with the pattern of voting from the 1800s. Governors, representatives to U.S. Congress, and the Arkansas legislature contained mostly members of the Democratic party. Traditional Republican strongholds were still evident in the voting patterns of people residing in Searcy, Van Buren, Newton and Madison counties.
For the most part, it is unclear who did and did not vote throughout the early 1900s. African-Americans were reeling from segregation and disenfranchisement, women were given the right to vote in Arkansas in 1918, and for poor white people, the poll tax made it almost impossible to vote. Other Arkansans were just not interested in voting, found the campaigns issueless and full of fraudulent practices, and state government ineffective.
One positive aspect of 20th century politics and voting practices was that the voters had turned away from the violent confrontations of the 1800s and resorted to verbal arguments over issues and voting rights. Traditional elections in Arkansas had relied on courthouse gatherings and county voting bosses. Elections in the 20th century were trying to become genuine contests.
George DonagheyServed as governor of Arkansas from 1909 to 1913. Born in Louisiana, Donaghey and his family settled in Conway. He began his career as a carpenter where he made furniture and then expanded into the construction business. A wealthy man, Donaghey donated funds to several colleges and was placed on the board that oversaw the construction of the new state capitol building in Little Rock.
In 1908, Donaghey ran for governor on the platform that he would have the new seat of government completed. His other contributions while in office included the creation of several universities including Arkansas Tech, Arkansas State, Southern State and the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Donaghey advocated public health programs including the creation of Booneville's TB sanitarium, eradication of hookworm, smallpox vaccinations for schoolchildren and a mosquito campaign in Crossett. His largest contribution was against the convict-lease system. Exposing the corrupt system of leasing convicts out for use on construction projects, he called it a violation of human rights and listed corrupt penitentiary officials.
He served two terms as governor before retiring in 1913. In his public life, Donaghey served on various boards and commissions before dying in Little Rock of heart disease.
Joseph Taylor RobinsonOne of the most important figures of 20th century politics in Arkansas was Joseph Taylor Robinson. Born and raised near Lonoke, he was known as "Scrappy Joe" because of his tendency to fight. After attending the University of Arkansas, Robinson went on to receive a law degree and serve in the Arkansas General Assembly in 1894. From 1903 to 1913, Robinson served five terms as a Democrat from Arkansas in the U.S. Congress during a period of Republican domination. He was moderately progressive and supported child-labor laws and women's suffrage. In 1913, Robinson was elected governor of Arkansas.
As governor, he authorized the building of dams across navigable streams for hydroelectric use and adopted the state flag of Arkansas. Only 13 days into his gubernatorial tenure, Robinson joined the U.S. Senate once more after the death of ex-governor Jefferson Davis. He was re-elected four times and was an ally of President Woodrow Wilson, supporter of World War I and the League of Nations. He was briefly considered as a candidate for president in 1924 and in 1928 was listed as vice-presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket with Alfred Smith of New York. They lost to Herbert Hoover.
In the 1930s, Robinson served as Senate majority leader and supported the public policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He died in 1937, a beloved political figure. Today, his Little Rock home stands as a National Historic Landmark to his virtue.
Hattie Caraway The first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Arkansas. Like Joseph Taylor Robinson, she was progressive in her political thought. A number of other political figures including Sen. J. William Fulbright, namesake of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Program, and was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, and Rep. Wilbur D. Mills, was chairman of the powerful House, Ways, and Means Committee, have taken their place in the national limelight.
Orval Faubus Arkansas's politics began to modernize with the collapse of the Faubus political machine in the late 1960s. For the first time, African-Americans began to play an important role in state politics following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, was from Combs in the Ozark Mountains. Faubus served in World War II and attended Commonwealth College, a school that was known for its communist-based curriculum. This caused him great embarrassment during his race for governor in 1954, but he still won with a small majority.
Best known for opposing court-ordered desegregation in Little Rock in 1957 and precipitating the Central High School crisis, Faubus was thought to be a moderate in his political leanings. He had appointed several African-Americans to the Democratic State Committee, but was not likely to commit himself to any program where race was an issue, including desegregation. Faubus can be credited with bringing Winthrop Rockefeller to Arkansas to head up the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission and creating the children's colony in Conway to assist the mentally retarded.
After being re-elected in 1956, Faubus had to face a desegregation issue. He did not enforce the desegregation laws set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. He hoped to delay segregation as a plan of political survival, but had to take action. He called on the Arkansas National Guard to keep the nine African-American stude
nts from entering Central High School in September of 1957. The troops remained at the school for three weeks before President Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock to allow the students to enter. Rather than having a negative effect on his political career, Faubus was elected to a third term in 1958 and he became an ardent supporter of desegregation. In 1964, the threat to his power came from Winthrop Rockefeller, whom he narrowly beat after attempting to spread rumors about the millionaire's personal life. He left office in 1966 and died in 1994.
His behavior during the Central High crisis overshadowed many positive aspects of his administrations including teacher salary increases, increased monthly welfare payments to the elderly, thousands of new jobs created by Rockefeller's industrialization program, and the rebuilding of the Arkansas State Mental Hospital. In addition, only nine of 410 school districts were desegregated during his administration.
Winthrop Rockefeller An expatriate New Yorker named Winthrop Rockefeller came to Arkansas in the 1950s. He was from one of the wealthiest families in America and was elected governor in 1966. He became the first Republican governor since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s (Powell Clayton was the first) and he made a positive impact on Arkansas from 1967 to 1971. It is said that Rockefeller "exerted a greater - and more beneficial - influence on a single state than any figure of his generation."
Throughout his tenure as governor, Rockefeller's political reforms and progressive politics made a significant and positive contribution to the lives of all Arkansans. He tightened insurance regulations, created a minimum wage act, a freedom of information act, and created a governmental efficiency study commission in order to control the growing state government. He also championed prison reform and was instrumental in getting the Arkansas State Police to stop illegal gambling in Hot Springs. Additionally, Rockefeller brought African-Americans into the government system in public welfare, pardon and parole, corrections board, and commissions.
During his second administration, Rockefeller faced an obstinate Democrat-controlled state legislature. By the end of his term, he could look back on many beneficial changes for the state. He was defeated in his bid for a third term by Dale Bumpers of Charleston. Today, his son, Winthrop Rockefeller, serves as lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
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