His solution: to win votes in conservative eastern Arkansas by setting himself up as a segregationist hero. Last Aug. Government would do to prevent violence in Little Rock. Caldwell, a native Arkansan, explained the law, outlined federal injunctive powers, asked Faubus why he thought there might be violence in Little Rock.
District Judge Ronald Davies. Then, the Sunday before Little Rock schools were to open, word came to adopted Arkansan Winthrop Rockefeller, chairman of the highly successful Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, that Faubus was going to call out the National Guard to stop integration. Rockefeller rushed to the executive mansion, pleaded against the move for more than two hours, argued that it would give the state a bad name with industry.
It was no use. An hour later Orval Faubus appeared on television, explained that he had called out the militia to prevent violence. Neither then nor thereafter did Governor Faubus consult with the man charged by the Arkansas constitution with keeping law and order in Little Rock: Mayor Woodrow Wilson Mann. Even so, to be on the safe side, Mann and his man police force had made carefully detailed plans to keep order. His words and actions echo another tragic period in our history when irresponsible men plunged this nation into a Civil War.
Order from the Court. He was holed up in his executive mansion, protected from intrusion by the National Guard, enjoying congratulatory telegrams, listening to piped music, watching Kinescopes of himself on television he liked them , preparing to reap new publicity benefits. Even as Orval was basking in his new fame, pressures against him were building up.
Across town from the executive mansion, U. The report read, Judge Davies issued a summons commanding Faubus to appear in his court this week to show cause why an injunction should not be issued against him. Marshal Beal Kidd, an old friend of Faubus, passed through the National Guard lines and handed Faubus the summons on the executive lawn.
The summons genuinely worried Faubus: the man who hated to be looked down upon began to fret about the trouble his new prominence might bring him.
More Than He Could Handle. Faubus had other qualms. The political effect of his stand was not quite what he had expected. His old boss, Sid McMath, was busy rounding up liberals to denounce what Orval had wrought. Hays started to move: first he called the White House, talked to his old congressional friend, Presidential Assistant Sherman Adams. He suggested that Governor Faubus and President Eisenhower meet. The tactic backfired; Faubus defeated Cherry by almost 7, votes.
Hundreds of miles of highways were paved during his tenure. The defining moment of his political life was a constitutional crisis over school desegregation. The Little Rock School Board made cautious plans to place the first black pupils in all-white Central High School in September , three years after the Supreme Court had ruled segregated schools unconstitutional. But growing resistance by segregationists caught the attention of Faubus. He was known as a racial moderate.
He calculated, however, that a moderate would stand small chance of reelection in against a determined white supremacist. His justification was that violence threatened and he had to preserve the peace. A federal judge ordered the guardsmen removed.
The students, known as the Little Rock Nine , returned to the school but were met by a mob of enraged segregationists. The local police, unable to control the crowd, spirited the Nine out of the building. President Dwight D. The troops stayed through the school year. Little Rock voted to close its high schools the following year in a vain attempt to thwart further integration. Then, stung by bad publicity and facing economic decline, the city voted to reopen them with token integration.
Faubus lost the battle with Eisenhower, but his actions ensured his election as governor four more times. He left office undefeated in after knocking off one opponent after another, including former governor Sid McMath, the millionaire Winthrop Rockefeller , and Congressman Dale Alford —all one-time allies who had turned against him. He accumulated unprecedented power over Arkansas politics. His followers remained loyal even after the race conflict subsided.
He was opposed by a substantial coalition of African Americans and white liberals and moderates, led by the Arkansas Gazette , from until he left office.
During his later years in office, he reached out to black voters and won substantial support there. He habitually responded to his critics by sounding shocked and aggrieved. Referring to one of his challengers, the Reverend H.
Catering to the clamors of white supremacists seemed out of character for Faubus, a figure of pronounced country dignity and unusual public reserve. His personal convictions at the time were not virulently racist; indeed, his administration had favored the black minority in several instances. For example, he hired a number of black people in state government and saw to it that historically black colleges and other institutions received financial support.
December 12, - July 15, January 11, - December 12, January 9, - January 19, January 19, - January 11, January 14, - January 3, January 12, - January 3, January 10, - January 12, January 11, - January 10, It will not be deciding the question of segregation versus limited integration.
In the ultimate, there can be no such thing as limited integration, so far as the public schools of Little Rock are concerned. The choice you make on Saturday, September 27th, is whether to continue to fight for our constitutional rights, and the opportunity to find an acceptable solution to this problem, or you vote for the beginning of complete and total integration. And if the latter be your decision, it will come sooner than you think….
Some people dread, shrink from, and grow weary of the struggle in which we are now engaged. I grow weary, also, but is there any choice? Once integration is effected totally and completely, will the peace and harmony you desire be attained? If we are to judge by the results elsewhere, anywhere, once total, or near total integration is effected, the peace, the quiet, the harmony, the pride in our schools, and even the good relations that existed heretofore between the races here, will be gone forever….
In conclusion, to you citizens of Little Rock, I must warn that you will be subjected to a terrific propaganda campaign from now until September 27th.
This barrage of slanted, distorted, and even false versions, will emanate—yes, is already emanating, from the same sources as before—both inside and outside the city and the state. I know you, the people, will understand. Skip to content. The federal government has no authority to require any state to operate public schools.
This issue is now where all public issues belong—in your hands, the hands of the people. The decision is yours to make. Your decision will be my decision, as I am your public servant. Public sentiment is with you in this struggle to preserve our legal and time-honored rights. If you stand fast, we can win!
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