Arkansas

From Conservapedia

**Arkansas**
Capital	Little Rock
Nickname	The Natural State
Official Language	English
Governor	Sarah Huckabee Sanders, R
Senator	Tom Cotton, R (202) 224-2353 Contact
Senator	John Boozman, R (202) 224 4843 Contact
Population	3,030,303 (2020)
Ratification of Constitution/or statehood	June 15, 1836 (25th)
	Motto: Regnat Populus (The People Rule)

Arkansas became the twenty-fifth state of the Union on June 15, 1836. The capital of Arkansas is Little Rock.

The state Constitution of Arkansas, like all of the other 50 states, acknowledges God or our Creator or the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. It says:

We, the People of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government; for our civil and religious liberty; and desiring to perpetuate its blessings, and secure the same to our selves and posterity; do ordain and establish this Constitution.

In 2019, Arkansas became the fifth state to enact a law to automatically make abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade is reversed.^[1]

1 History
2 Politics of Arkansas
3 Economy
4 Famous Natives
5 Elected officials
- 5.1 Federal
- 5.2 Statewide
6 List of Governors
7 See also
8 References

History[edit]

Bill Clinton with Orval Faubus, 1991.

While Arkansas was originally a slave state, they did not secede from the Union until May 6, 1861 after Abraham Lincoln called on troops to respond to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter.

Arkansas would again make headlines after the Supreme Court case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1957. Then Governor Orval Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African Americans from entering Little Rock's Central High School. President Eisenhower sent troops to help escort the students into the school.

Politics of Arkansas[edit]

Arkansas typically votes Republican in presidential elections; George W. Bush won the state 51%-46% in 2000, 54%-45% in 2004 and John McCain 59%-39% in 2008.^[2]

Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat who was handley defeated for reelection in 2010, lost favor with the voters, according to polls. Lincoln won the approval of only 36% for the job she did as senator, with 44% disapproving, according to an Aug. 21-24 survey. Her support fell 13 points since March. The poll showed Lincoln running even or even slightly trailing, when matched up against three potential Republican challengers—even though none of them were known statewide. She was dragged down by Obama's falling popularity, as only 30% of Arkansans supported Obama on health care.^[3]

Although Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state 37% to 29%, the 33% who are independent are quite conservative—more so than independents in any other state.

Arkansas has historically been a Democrat-controlled state, a part of "The Solid South". However, starting in 2010, there was a massive shift towards the Republican Party. After the 2014 election, Arkansas was completely controlled by the Republican Party, with every statewide office, large majorities in the legislature, both U.S. Senate seats, and all four U.S. House seats for the first time in 141 years.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Economy[edit]

Arkansas is home to the major retailers Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart and J.B. Hunt.

Famous Natives[edit]

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Sen. Hillary Clinton are from Arkansas (although Hillary did not grow up in the state). Bill was the 50th governor of the state prior to his run for presidency in 1992. Two time Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is also a former two-term governor of Arkansas; his daughter Sarah won election as Governor in 2022, making her the first female Governor and first child of a former Governor to hold the office.

Elected officials[edit]

Federal[edit]

Senator John Boozman (R)
Senator Tom Cotton (R)
Rep. Rick Crawford [R, AR–1]
Rep. French Hill [R, AR–2]
Rep. Steve Womack [R, AR–3]
Rep. Bruce Westerman [R, AR–4]

Statewide[edit]

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)
Lt. Governor Tim Griffin (R)
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R)
Secretary of State Mark Martin (R)
State Auditor Andrea Lea (R)
State Treasurer Dennis Milligan (R)
Land Commissioner John Thurston (R)

List of Governors[edit]

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor	Major events in term	Oversaw which historical period
1	James Sevier Conway	September 13, 1836	November 4, 1840	Democrat			American Slavery
2	Archibald Yell	November 4, 1840	April 29, 1844	Democrat		Resigned office; won seat in United States House of Representatives	Slavery
—	Samuel Adams	April 29, 1844	November 5, 1844	Democrat		President of the state senate; served remainder of Yell's term	Slavery
3	Thomas Stevenson Drew	November 5, 1844	January 10, 1849	Democrat		Resigned office	Slavery
—	Richard C. Byrd	January 10, 1849	April 19, 1849	Democrat		President of the state senate; served portion of Drew's term until special election	Slavery
4	John Selden Roane	April 19, 1849	November 15, 1852	Democrat		Special election to serve Drew's unexpired term.	Slavery
5	Elias Nelson Conway	November 15, 1852	November 16, 1860	Democrat			Slavery
6	Henry Massey Rector	November 16, 1860	November 4, 1862	Democrat		Oversaw the secession of Arkansas from the Union prior to the American Civil War	Slavery
7	Harris Flanagin	November 4, 1862	April 18, 1864	Democrat		Flanagin fled Little Rock for Washington, Arkansas to run a government-in-exile during American Civil War, September 10, 1863	Slavery ended by Union force
8	Isaac Murphy	April 18, 1864	July 2, 1868	Republican		Elected provisional governor by pro-Union loyalists, assuming office April 18, 1864	Ratification of 13th, 14th Amemendments to U.S. Constitution
9	Powell Clayton	July 2, 1868	March 17, 1871	Republican		Resigned for seat in the United States Senate	Reconstruction
—	Ozra Amander Hadley	March 17, 1871	January 6, 1873	Republican		President of the state senate; served remainder of Clayton's term	Reconstruction
10	Elisha Baxter	January 6, 1873	November 12, 1874	Republican		Removed from office; Brooks-Baxter War.	Reconstruction
11	Augustus Hill Garland	November 12, 1874	January 11, 1877	Democrat		Implementation of Jim Crow laws
12	William Read Miller	January 11, 1877	January 11, 1881	Democrat			Jim Crow
13	Thomas James Churchill	January 11, 1881	January 13, 1883	Democrat			Jim Crow
14	James Henderson Berry	January 13, 1883	January 17, 1885	Democrat			Jim Crow
15	Simon Pollard Hughes, Jr.	January 17, 1885	January 8, 1889	Democrat			Jim Crow
16	James Philip Eagle	January 8, 1889	January 10, 1893	Democrat			Jim Crow
17	William Meade Fishback	January 10, 1893	January 8, 1895	Democrat			Jim Crow
18	James Paul Clarke	January 8, 1895	January 12, 1897	Democrat			Jim Crow
19	Daniel Webster Jones	January 12, 1897	January 8, 1901	Democrat			Jim Crow
20	Jeff Davis	January 8, 1901	January 8, 1907	Democrat			Jim Crow
21	John Sebastian Little	January 8, 1907	February 15, 1907	Democrat		Resigned; nervous breakdown	Jim Crow
—	John Isaac Moore	February 15, 1907	May 14, 1907	Democrat		President of the state senate; served portion of Clayton's term until legislature adjurned	Jim Crow
—	Xenophon Overton Pindall	May 14, 1907	January 11, 1909	Democrat		New president of the state senate; acted as governor until expiration of his senate term	Jim Crow
—	Jesse M. Martin	January 11, 1909	January 14, 1909	Democrat		Acting governor for three days between end of Pindall's senate term and next elected governor	Jim Crow
22	George Washington Donaghey	January 14, 1909	January 16, 1913	Democrat			Jim Crow
23	Joseph Taylor Robinson	January 16, 1913	March 8, 1913	Democrat			Jim Crow
—	William Kavanaugh Oldham	March 8, 1913	March 13, 1913	Democrat		President of the state senate; acting governor for six days until election of new senate president	Jim Crow
—	Junius Marion Futrell	March 13, 1913	July 23, 1913	Democrat		President of the senate; acting governor until special election	Jim Crow
24	George Washington Hays	July 23, 1913	January 10, 1917	Democrat	Office created; left vacant	Elected in special election to fill remainder of term.	Jim Crow
25	Charles Hillman Brough	January 10, 1917	January 11, 1921	Democrat	vacant		Jim Crow; World War I
26	Thomas Chipman McRae	January 11, 1921	January 13, 1925	Democrat	vacant		Jim Crow
27	Tom Jefferson Terral	January 13, 1925	January 11, 1927	Democrat	vacant		Jim Crow
28	John Ellis Martineau	January 11, 1927	March 4, 1928	Democrat	Harvey Parnell (1st Lt. Gov)	Resigned; Appointed federal judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas	Jim Crow
29	Harvey Parnell	March 4, 1928	January 10, 1933	Democrat	William Lee Cazort	Became first Lt. Governor to act as governor	Jim Crow; beginning of Great Depression
30	Junius Marion Futrell	January 10, 1933	January 12, 1937	Democrat	William Lee Cazort		Jim Crow
31	Carl Edward Bailey	January 12, 1937	January 14, 1941	Democrat	Robert L. Bailey		Jim Crow
32	Homer Martin Adkins	January 14, 1941	January 9, 1945	Democrat	Robert L. Bailey, James L. Shaver		Jim Crow
33	Benjamin Travis Laney	January 9, 1945	January 11, 1949	Democrat	James L. Shaver, Nathan Green Gordon		Jim Crow
34	Sid McMath	January 11, 1949	January 13, 1953	Democrat	Nathan Green Gordon		Jim Crow
35	Francis Cherry	January 13, 1953	January 11, 1955	Democrat	Nathan Green Gordon		Jim Crow
36	Orval Faubus	January 11, 1955	January 10, 1967	Democrat	Nathan Green Gordon	Prevented Little Rock Nine from entering Central High School, Little Rock; his segregation policies prompted President Eisenhower to send in 101st Airborne to ensure the Nine's safety	Jim Crow (ends late 1960's); beginnings of Civil Rights Movement in state
37	Winthrop Rockefeller	January 10, 1967	January 12, 1971	Republican	Maurice Britt	First Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. Liberal Republican and a member of the Reckefeller family.	"New South"
38	Dale Bumpers	January 12, 1971	January 3, 1975	Democrat	Bob C. Riley		"New South"
—	Bob C. Riley	January 3, 1975	January 14, 1975	Democrat		Acting governor for unexpired term.	"New South"
39	David Pryor	January 14, 1975	January 3, 1979	Democrat	Joe Purcell		"New South"
—	Joe Purcell	January 3, 1979	January 9, 1979	Democrat		Acting as governor for six days	"New South"
40	Bill Clinton	January 9, 1979	January 19, 1981	Democrat	Joe Purcell		"New South"
41	Frank D. White	January 19, 1981	January 11, 1983	Republican	Winston Bryant	Conservative, Christian governor. Known for signing a bill into law that mandated the teaching of creation science (alongside evolution) in public schools, which was eventually overturned in a secular-minded court.	"New South"
42	Bill Clinton	January 11, 1983	December 12, 1992	Democrat	Winston Bryant, Jim Guy Tucker	Resigned; elected President of the United States	"New South"
43	Jim Guy Tucker	December 12, 1992	July 15, 1996	Democrat	Mike Huckabee	Resigned; felony conviction (mail fraud) in the Whitewater scandal	"New South"
44	Mike Huckabee	July 15, 1996	January 9, 2007	Republican	Winthrop Paul Rockefeller	Created "Tax-Me-More" fund to highlight Democrat/liberal hypocrisy on tax contributions	"New South"
45	Mike Beebe	January 9, 2007	January 13, 2015	Democrat	Bill Halter
46	Asa Hutchinson	January 13, 2015	January 10, 2023	Republican	Tim Griffen
47	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	January 10, 2023	Current	Republican	Leslie Rutledge