U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina was the keynote speaker for the Winthrop Paul Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series on April 20 in Fort Smith. But the night before, Lisenne Rockefeller welcomed a contingency of Republican office holders and others for a reception at her home in Hillcrest.
The three-part lecture series is made possible by a grant from Rockefeller in honor of her late husband, Lt. Gov. Winthrop P. Rockefeller in 2014. Leaders from the executive, judicial and legislative branches of the federal government are invited to Fort Smith to speak about the corresponding branch's history with the U.S. Marshals Service. The late U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was the first speaker.
Gowdy was elected to Congress in 2010. He's best known as the former chairman of the select committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. He is a nationally known speaker on subjects relating to the Constitution and the rule of law. Attendees at the Rockefeller reception included U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman and U.S. Reps. Bruce Westerman and Steve Womack plus a handful of museum officials and others associated with the U.S. Marshals Service.
The planned U.S. Marshals Museum will be a national museum located on the riverfront in Fort Smith containing the 225-year story of the U.S. Marshals Service, the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States.
-- Story and photos by Cyd King
High Profile on 04/30/2017