Arkansas: Colorful Politics

Arkansas politics are an engaging mixture of Old South primitivism and self-conscious moderation. One of these elements usually prevails in given area: the agricultural east ("the Delta") is mainly religionist and extreme right wing, while the west and the area around Little Rock is more liberal.

However, in many parts of the state, apparently incongruous views flourish side by side. In Northern Arkansas, for example, they consider themselves progressive: a great deal of new industry has settled there recently (to escape creeping unionism in St. Louis), and they boast that they have no Negro problem. But the fact is that there hasn't been a Negro in the area since 1942--and he was found hanging from a tree the next morning.

Moreover, religious diversity adds to the complexity. The two largest religious groups in the state, the Baptists and a dissident Baptist sect called the Church of Christ, are conservative and segregationist no matter where they are found; the Jews, on the other hand, although numerically small, are very powerful economically, and their influence is almost always enlightened by Northern standards.

There are exceptions even to these rules, however: Arkansas' most prominent millionaire, Winthrop Rockefeller, is of course a Baptist, and he has been unrelenting in his efforts to liberalize the state's policies and image, in order to attract industry. Likewise, the Jewish community in the east (in Hot Springs, for example, whose gambling industry is largely Jewish-run), is far to the right: such prominent families as the Levys out-Walker General Walker (they are the source of his mysterious income).

Only one man has even been able to appeal to all these groups and find support almost everywhere in the state--Orvil Faubus. Even a sharp critic admits that he is "the most successful politician who has ever come out of the state of Arkansas"; and with his retirement, announced two weeks ago, a real power vacuum has been created.

Faubus' success was due both to his political genius and to the vast economic resources of W. R. ("Witt") Stevens, one of the all-time great back-room boys, and Arkansas' political eminence grise. Both Faubus and Stevens are masters of the possible--Faubus slipped only once, on the issue that made his national reputation, and Stevens has never slipped (not even in the bath-tub, they say). Like Faubus, Stevens rose to power from backwoods obscurity, and the two men were influential in making each other's fortunes. Stevens has financed Faubus' career, while Faubus has consistently done all his all to smooth the path of the Witt Stevens Company, the Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Corporation (ArkLa), which Stevens controls, and the man's many other far-flung enterprises. Like many of his ilk, Stevens desires to keep in the background; and since nothing of the sort could be further from Faubus' mind, they are hand and glove.

Faubus' political genius is in the best American tradition--he is a great reconciler of conflicting interests. He won the support of businessmen by policies designed to encourage an influx of industry (keeping unions weak, and taxes low); he attracted the state's labor force, by increasing the minimum wage (from 50 to 75 cents); and his brief performance as a stemmer of the "black tide" gained him the hearts and votes of the right wing.

But Faubus is no segregationist--or any other "ist," except when it's opportune. At one time or another, he has sought to convince almost everybody that what was nearest their hearts was nearest his. He has succeeded brilliantly but his success will not out-live him. He has already lost favor with the business community, which took a heavy loss in the three years after "Little Rock." There will be no Faubus "dynasty," to rival the Talmadges and the Longs.

It is not clear who the candidates will be to succeed Faubus. Persistent rumors that he will run again himself have frightened all but one man out of the race: the brave exception is "Uncle Sid" McMath, who was governor from 1946 to 1952. "Uncle Sid" was perhaps the most popular and the most corrupt governor the state has ever had. They say that when he moved out of the governor's mansion ten years ago, a policeman, making a routine check of the vans carrying the governor's property, discovered one filled with nothing but toilet paper--15,000 rolls of it--and perhaps as many bars of soap, all taken from the mansion. One observer remarked that "he--if not his administration--was sure clean as a hound's tooth."

Except for these eccentricities, McMath has a fine record: he was one of the first to oppose Faubus' school policies in 1957, and, as governor, established Arkansas' minimum wage. He could probably beat anybody other than Faubus handily; and should Faubus run, "Uncle Sid" might give him a fight.

Republicans are optimistic this year; with Faubus out of the way, they think their candidate, whomever Winthrop Rockefeller decides he's going to be, may make a good showing. Pratt Rummell, who was Little Rock's first, and only, Republican mayor, and who got 44 per cent of the vote against Faubus in the 1954 gubernatorial race, is likely to be Rockefeller's choice.

Rockefeller's control of the Republican party is absolute. Originally an independent, anxious only to attract industry to Arkansas, he has thrown his lot in with Arkansas’s small, but growing party. His position of power is still used in the service of his ideas about Arkansas' economic needs.

For this reason, Republicans will not put up any kind of a fight in the other election this year, for Senator Fulbright's seat. Fulbright has the unqualified support of almost the whole state. "Arkansas needed Fulbright," one observer says; "he's respectable. That's good for business. And this state needs someone who's important and respected in Washington."

His only serious opponent will be the president of Harding College, a right-wing institution of lower learning run by the Church of Christ. The College is best-known to Northerners as the birth-place of Operation Abolition, but it is an important political force in Arkansas. Twenty-five per cent of Arkansas' population belongs to the Church of Christ, and will back its candidate. If he can find some support among other fundamentalists, Fulbright could be in trouble. And Arkansas would be in trouble along with him.

Editor's Note: Mr. Schwartz wishes to thank Mr. T. L. Stebbins '63, without whose Invaluable assistance this article could never-have been written.