Sid McMath: Encyclopedia II - Sid McMath - Governor of Arkansas

Sid McMath - Governor of Arkansas

After success as a prosecutor, McMath was elected Governor of Arkansas in 1948 in a close election. His Democratic run-off opponent, a former attorney general, accused him of "selling out to the Negro vote." He entered office January 11, 1949 as the nation's youngest governor. He was reelected in 1950 by a wide margin over his immediate predecessor, former governor Ben Laney, who attacked McMath for supporting Truman in 1948, when Laney and a number of other southern governors bolted the Democratic party over its civil rights plank. The walk-outs switched their allegiance to Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who ran as a "Dixiecrat". McMath wrested control of the Arkansas party from Laney. He campaigned vigorously across the region and was credited by Truman with helping to save most of the South for the Democratic column, providing the electoral margin for a stunning upset victory. The two developed a lifelong friendship; McMath was mentioned early as a possible vice-presidential choice in 1952.

McMath's administration focused on infrastructure improvements, including the extensive paving of farm-to-market and primary roads "to get Arkansas out of the mud and the dust", rural electrification, and the construction of a medical center in the capital city. McMath supported anti-lynching statutes and appointed African Americans to state boards for the first time. His administration consolidated hundreds of small school districts and built the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (financed with a two-cent tax on cigarettes – a significant innovation). McMath worked tirelessly, often clandestinely, with Dr. Lawrence Davis, Sr. to save the state's all-black college, Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, & Normal, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. McMath also reformed the state's mental health system and increased the minimum wage.

McMath was elected by other governors of petroleum producing states to chair the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, which improved pricing structures and broadened federal support for exploration. He was elected chairman of the Southern Governor's Conference. McMath invited muckraking Arkansas Gazette editor Harry Ashmore to speak to the governors. His topic was the waste of scarce public funds in maintaining separate school systems for white and black pupils.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Governor of Arkansas", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki