Republican Party Chairman
In 1982, Arnold was elected chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party with the support of defeated Governor Frank D. White. Earlier, Arnold had considered opposing White in the gubernatorial primary on grounds that the governor had alienated too many moderate Republicans and African Americans to be able to win another general election. Arnold succeeded the temporary chairman Robert "Bob" Cohee, who had taken the party helm in March 1982, on the death of Harlan H. "Bo" Holleman of Wynne in Cross County in eastern Arkansas. White was defeated in the fall campaign by former Governor Bill Clinton, a favorite of Judge Richard Arnold.
In a secret ballot on December 4, 1982, the Republican State Central Committee chose Arnold over Cohee. Arnold gained the support not only of outgoing Governor White but sitting U.S. Representatives John Paul Hammerschmidt and Edwin Bethune. Cohee had resigned a position as deputy director of the Arkansas Housing Development Agency in Little Rock to serve as a full-time unpaid chairman during the election. The exact vote of the 119 delegates was not released. Cohee said that he would have not sought a full term as chairman had he known that White, Hammerschmidt, and Bethune preferred Arnold. State Representative Carolyn Pollan of Fort Smith nominated Arnold, whom she called a "bringer-together, a unifier" who would offer "strong leadership". Arnold said that he would "like to be the guy that calls Bill Clinton out if he fails to keep his promises." Arnold retained his professorship and was a part-time chairman. He vowed to seek black support for the Arkansas GOP, much as the late Governor Winthrop Rockefeller had done in the 1960s, but he admitted that it would be difficult to draw African Americans from Clinton. At any rate, Pollan and other Republicans hoped that Arnold could bridge the gulf in the party between the former Rockefeller backers, such as herself, and the more active Reagan people, such as White and former gubernatorial candidate Ken Coon.
Read more about this topic: Morris S. Arnold
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