NOTABLE ARKANSANS
STEVE STEPHENS AND CLYDE SNIDER
Special to the Democrat-Gazette
He was born and educated in Little Rock. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he dropped out of school and joined the Marine Corps. While serving in the South Pacific he was severely injured as he led his rifle squad in an assault of a Japanese machine gun emplacement. He was hospitalized for more than a year, had one eye removed, and eventually lost sight in the other. For the rest of his life he wore a trademark eye patch.
After the war he was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives for two terms. Under the GI Bill he attended the University of Arkansas, earning bachelor and masters degrees, and later a Doctorate of Education. For four years he served as a teacher at then-Little Rock University (now UALR), then became a longtime teacher at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, becoming the chairman of the political science department.
In 1970 he was elected lieutenant governor, serving four years while Dale Bumpers was governor. In 1974 he was defeated in a race for governor, but Bumpers won his bid for the U.S. Senate. Because Bumpers' Senate term began before his term as governor ended, the lieutenant governor finished the term, thus serving an 11-day period as governor of Arkansas.
He immediately returned to OBU and finished his career teaching. After retiring in 1980 due to failing health, he died in 1994.
Notable Arkansans is written by Steve Stephens and produced by Clyde Snider.
Who was this Marine hero, educator, and Arkansas lieutenant governor and governor?
See NOTABLE ARKANSANS--answer
Style on 06/16/2019