Excerpt from TURN AWAY THY SON

CHAPTER SIX - Orval Faubus

Beads of sweat trickled down the governor's neck and back, causing his shirt to stick to his skin in uncomfortable patches that shifted as he moved.   A mountaineer, he had never grown accustomed to the suffocating humidity of an August on the flatlands of central Arkansas, and he doubted he ever would.   Even in his shirtsleeves, with his tie loose and askew, Orval Faubus could not escape the relentless, paralyzing heat that rose in dizzying waves from the scorching pavement and the parched earth.   But late summer was also the season for campaigning in Arkansas, a time for barbeques, fish fries, water carnivals, and speeches.   Most important, it was a time for meeting the people, his people, the little people he felt he understood and wanted to serve.   Despite the heat, the gifted politician loved an Arkansas August. 1

Orval Faubus had been born in a log cabin.   A frail and quiet child, he had grown into a man of slight build and undistinguished features - except for the crooked nose, which became the centerpiece of many a political cartoon.   Sensitive from childhood, he carried about himself an aura of sadness and a great dignity.   He had clawed his way out of the mountain barrenness of his youth and had achieved distinction in both his nation's Army and his state's government.   He had come through heavy fighting in World War II unscathed, although a majority of his unit had been killed, and he believed "Providence had spared him for some great purpose."   He had come to the governor's office filled with a passion to improve the lives of people who needed better schools, better healthcare, better highways, and with extraordinary political courage and skill he had conceived and sponsored a legislative package that made these improvements possible.   His political advisors had told him that the property reassessment at the heart of his three percent tax hike would alienate every tax assessor in the state, and that the taxpayers would abandon him in droves when they began to feel the pinch in their pocketbooks.   Faubus had persisted and prevailed, and after his success in the legislative session in February of 1957, the Executive Secretary of the Arkansas Education Association, Forrest Rozzell came to the governor and asked him to consider running for a third term in the statehouse. 2 

Faubus had his eye on bigger game.   He had been touted as a possible Vice Presidential candidate in 1956, with both Adlai Stevenson and Averill   Harriman floating the suggestion they might consider him as a running mate.   The United States Congressman in his district had been in poor health, but until Jim Trimble decided to step aside, Faubus' strong sense of loyalty prevented him from running against his old political mentor.   He seems to have had his heart set on the Senate seat held by J. William Fulbright, but that seat would not come available again until 1962.   In the murky interim until the governor's political prospects clarified, Orval Faubus' first concern in the spring of 1957 was to remain politically viable.   He thought initially he might be able to accomplish this by naming his successor and retaining control of certain patronage appointments.   But as the year unfolded and the segregationist resistance intensified, Faubus, the savvy navigator and strategist, could see only danger in the troubled waters ahead. 3

1 Orval Faubus interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, May 12, 1994, p. 41, in the possession of the author; Orval Faubus interview with John Luter, August 18, 1971, p. 127, Eisenhower Administration Project, (hereinafter cited as EAP), Columbia University Oral History Program, Dwight David Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas.

2 For a sensitive, compelling treatment of Orval Faubus' childhood and life see Roy Reed, Faubus:   The Life and Times of An American Prodigal (Fayetteville:   University of Arkansas Press, 1997). Nat R. Griswold, "The Second Reconstruction in Little Rock," Book Two, Chapter 3, p. 4, unpublished manuscript in the possession of the author;   see also, Orval Eugene Faubus, In This Faraway Land (Conway, Arkansas:   River Road Press, 1971).   Jim Johnson interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, June 17, 2002, pp. 31-32, in the possession of the author.   Orval Faubus interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, May 12, 1994, p. 31; Orval Faubus interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, July 11, 1978, p. 38, in the possession of the author.   Irving Spitzberg, Racial Politics in Little Rock, 1954-1964   (New York:   Garland Publishing, 1987), p. 60.   

3 Henry Woods interview with T. Harri Baker, December 8, 1972, pp. 23-24, Eisenhower Administration Project, Columbia University Oral History Program.    Nathania K. Sawyer, "Harry S. Ashmore:   On the Way to Everywhere," (M.A. Thesis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2001), p. 65.   Reed, Faubus , pp. 80, 84.   Alta Haskins Faubus interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, April 9, 1996, p. 7, in the possession of the author; Claude Carpenter interview with Elizabeth Jacoway, November 13, 2001, in the possession of the author.    Hugh B. Patterson interview with John Luter, August 12, 1970, p.5, Eisenhower Administration Project.   Orval Faubus, Down From the Hills ; Faubus interview with John Luter, p. 30, Eisenhower Administration Project; Faubus interview with Jacoway, May 12, 1994, p. 32.