| Defining
Moments
Historic Decisions by Arkansas Governors from McMath through
Huckabee
Robert L. Brown
Foreword by Mack McLarty
Ten Arkansas governors at pivotal
moments in history
"All will come to know, and understand, more about contemporary
Arkansas politics than they did before. And that is no small
thing."
—Janine Parry, Arkansas Historical Quarterly,
Summer 2011
“Bob
Brown’s thorough research allows him to strike the right
tone in giving readers an inside view of life in the governor’s
office. Defining Moments combines informed historical
content with a nuanced writing style that draws the reader
into the work.”
—Governor Mike Beebe
“With these profiles and vignettes, Justice Brown has
assembled a lesson-book on leadership, and the difficulties
of decision-making in the moments it matters most.”
—Mack McLarty, from the Foreword
Defining Moments explores how all Arkansas governors
since Sid McMath (a group that has produced a president, two
U.S. senators, and two presidential contenders) acted in times
of crisis. These ten exceptional leaders stand out in Arkansas
history and politics for having had their personal and political
mettle tested by issues concerning education, the environment,
social justice, the conduct of politics, race, and more of
the nation’s defining debates.
The governors and situations covered include Sid McMath’s
bout with the Dixiecrats; Francis Cherry’s ploy to label
his opponent a Communist; Orval Faubus’s decision to
block integration at Little Rock Central High; Winthrop Rockefeller’s
tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the State Capitol steps;
Dale Bumpers’s battle against political corruption;
David Pryor’s veto of the U.S. Corps of Engineers’s
Bell Folley Dam; Frank White’s endorsement of Creationism;
Bill Clinton’s decision to test public school teachers;
Jim Guy Tucker’s bold solution for the Medicaid program
and his resignation; and Mike Huckabee’s quest to consolidate
the state’s high school districts.
Robert Brown, who knew nine of the ten governors personally
and worked as an aide for Dale Bumpers and Jim Guy Tucker,
tells these stories with an unusual combination of historical
research and personal familiarity. He crystallizes the difficult
choices faced by these memorable leaders, showing how their
decisions at crucial points shaped their tenures, molded their
legacies for good or bad, and changed the course of history.
Robert L. Brown
is an Arkansas Supreme Court justice and has been involved
with Arkansas politics for over forty years.
Mack McLarty
has a distinguished record of business leadership and public
service, having served as advisor to three Presidents of both
parties, including as President Bill Clinton’s White
House Chief of Staff. He is currently President of the Washington
DC-based international strategic advisory firm McLarty Associates,
and Chairman of The McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation
family transportation business based in Little Rock.
November
6 x 9, 105 pages, 26 photographs
$19.95 (s) paper
ISBN 978-1-55728-944-5
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