Governor Orval Faubus

Governor Orval Faubus
Name	Orval Eugene Faubus
Birth date	1910-01-07
Birth place	Yell County, Arkansas
Death date	1994-12-14
Death place	Little Rock, Arkansas
Office	36th Governor of Arkansas
Term start	1955
Term end	1967
Party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Alta C. Cook

Governor Orval Faubus

Orval Eugene Faubus was an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967. His tenure intersected with landmark events and figures in 1952 politics, Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Movement, and Cold War-era state and federal conflicts. Faubus's actions during the 1957 Little Rock Crisis made him a central figure alongside actors such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ernest Green, Daisy Bates, and the Arkansas National Guard.

Early life and education

Faubus was born in rural Yell County, Arkansas and raised in a family connected to Ozark Mountains agrarian life, attending local schools in Fossil Rock, Arkansas before moving to Misener. He studied at University of Arkansas at Little Rock and later served in the United States Army during World War II, where he encountered fellow servicemen from Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Oklahoma. After military service he worked at the Arkansas Highway Department, gaining familiarity with Little Rock infrastructure and ties to Pulaski County civic leaders.

Political rise and gubernatorial campaigns

Faubus entered elective politics in the postwar era, aligning with the Democratic Party networks that included figures such as Sid McMath, E. H. McMillan, and county judges in Pulaski County. He won statewide attention through campaigns that appealed to rural constituencies in Arkansas Delta, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, and Fayetteville. Faubus defeated prominent opponents like Sidney McMath and later Winthrop Rockefeller in political contests shaped by issues roiling the 1950s, including debates involving NAACP litigation, labor politics tied to UMWA organizing, and national pressure from Harry S. Truman–era civil rights initiatives. His electoral coalitions drew support from Southern Democrats, local county judges, and business leaders in Little Rock and rural parishes.

The Little Rock Crisis and school desegregation

Faubus is best known for his role in the 1957 Little Rock Crisis when nine African American students, later known as the Little Rock Nine, attempted to attend Little Rock Central High School following Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decisions enforced by the Supreme Court of the United States. Confrontations involved leaders and organizations such as Daisy Bates, Ernest Green, Melba Pattillo Beals, and the NAACP working with federal authorities including President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Attorney General William P. Rogers. Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to blockade entry to the school, prompting a constitutional standoff with Eisenhower who later invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 and deployed elements of the 101st Airborne Division and federalized the Arkansas National Guard. The Crisis heightened interactions with national actors such as Thurgood Marshall, the United States Department of Justice, and civil rights organizations including SNCC and the SCLC. It also produced intense media scrutiny from outlets including the New York Times, Associated Press, and television networks that publicized clashes in Little Rock Central High School.

Domestic policies and governance (1955–1967)

As governor Faubus managed state programs involving Arkansas Highway Commission, public works in Little Rock, and rural electrification efforts with ties to federal agencies like the Rural Electrification Administration. He presided over budgetary decisions affecting institutions such as the University of Arkansas System, Arkansas State University, and state hospitals in Pulaski County. Faubus engaged with labor disputes involving International Brotherhood of Teamsters, agricultural policy affecting Delta sharecroppers, and infrastructure initiatives that intersected with federal programs from President Dwight D. Eisenhower and later President John F. Kennedy. His administration navigated tensions with business leaders in Little Rock and philanthropic actors like the Rockefeller family as well as legal challenges brought by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Civil rights opposition and segregationist legacy

Faubus cultivated a segregationist posture that aligned him with Southern political figures such as Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, and elements of the States' Rights Democratic Party while contrasting with moderates like Winthrop Rockefeller and national figures like President Lyndon B. Johnson who advanced civil rights legislation in the 1960s. He opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 through rhetoric and state policies that drew scrutiny from Department of Justice lawyers and civil rights litigators including Thurgood Marshall and Fred D. Gray. Faubus's legacy influenced later debates in Arkansas politics and remains a focal point in historiography by scholars at institutions such as University of Arkansas and archives like the Pulaski County Special School District records.

Later life, post-governorship activities, and death

After leaving the governorship Faubus remained active in Arkansas politics, engaging with figures such as Winthrop Rockefeller in electoral contests and aligning periodically with national Democrats including Hubert Humphrey and Jimmy Carter. He ran for governor again and participated in civic affairs associated with Little Rock Central High School reunions, historical commissions, and historical writers documenting the Little Rock Crisis. In later decades Faubus's public statements and interviews intersected with historians at Arkansas State Archives and journalists from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He died in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1994 and his papers are held by archival collections associated with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and regional repositories documenting Civil Rights Movement history.

Category:Governors of Arkansas Category:People from Yell County, Arkansas Category:1910 births Category:1994 deaths