The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982

Abstract

Throughout the twentieth century, Arkansas, like other southern states, has been dominated by the Democratic party. By 1952, however, Republicanism began to emerge in the South, especially in areas with relatively few blacks and in cities and suburbs. Arkansas was the last southern state to support a Republican presidential candidate, not joining the GOP resurgence at the national level until Richard Nixon's 1972 triumph. Yet, the state broke party ranks in 1966 and 1968, electing transplanted New Yorker Winthrop Rockefeller as the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt also captured the Third District congressional seat in northwestern Arkansas and has held the position without interruption since 1967. In 1978, Republican Edwin R. Bethune won the Second District seat held earlier by the legendary Wilbur Mills. Bethune was re-elected in 1980 and 1982. In 1980, Ronald Reagan carried Arkansas by a 5,123-vote plurality but lost Bethune's district. Moreover, Republican Frank White, spurred by cracks in the Democratic armor, toppled the heavily-favored Democratic Governor William "Bill" Clinton. Clinton became the second Arkansas governor in twenty-six years to be denied re-election, but he regained the position from White in 1982. Until the Rockefeller era, the Arkansas GOP remained in the hands of a small cadre of conservatives, such as veteran National Committeeman Wallace Townsend. After Rockefeller became national committeeman in 1961, he gradually gained control of the party and began molding it into a more moderate political organization. In formulating his successful coalition, Rockefeller, almost alone among southern Republicans, turned to black and moderate white voters. This study traces the development of the Arkansas GOP through the twentieth century, with emphasis on the last sixty-two years. The study focuses on political and related aspects of the two-party movement in a previously one-party bastion. The study accents personality and style in Arkansas campaigns, explains the relationship between national and state issues and analyzes the past and current political complexion of the state.