Junius Futrell

Junius Marion Futrell (born August 14, 1870 in Greene County (Arkansas) , † June 20, 1955 in Little Rock , Arkansas ) was an American politician and 1913 and 1933-1937 Governor of Arkansas.

Early years

Junius Futrell attended the University of Arkansas between 1892 and 1893 , after which he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1913. Before he became politically active, he worked as a teacher, farmer and in the timber business.

Political rise

Futrell was a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1896 . In 1900 and 1902 he made the jump to this body again. Between 1906 and 1910 he was a clerk at a district court. From 1913 to 1917 he was a member of the State Senate and became its President in 1913. In this capacity, he briefly fell to the office of governor of Arkansas. Joseph Taylor Robinson was originally elected governor for the legislative period from 1913 to 1915 . He resigned in March 1913 and the previous Senate President William Kavanaugh Oldham represented him for a few days until his term as Senate President was up. He was succeeded on March 13th by Junius Futrell, who thus became President of the Senate and incumbent governor. Futrell held this office until July 23, 1913. In the meantime new gubernatorial elections had taken place and with George Washington Hays a new governor was elected. Futrell remained in the State Senate. From 1917 to 1918 Futrell was a member of the Arkansas Defense Committee. Then he worked as a lawyer. In 1922 he was appointed judge in the country's second judicial district. Between 1923 and 1933 he was head (Chancellor) of the Twelfth District Court. On November 8, 1932, he was elected as the Democratic Party candidate for the new governor of Arkansas.

Arkansas Governor

Junius Futrell took up his new office on January 10, 1933. After a successful re-election in 1934, he was able to rule for a total of four years. The main problem of his time was overcoming the consequences of the great economic crisis . In order to relieve the budget, the governor stopped or cut some government programs. Schools were also affected. He wanted to eliminate unemployment by eliminating machines. A utopian plan that was not feasible. Savings were also made in the area of ​​health care. All these measures were unsuccessful and Futrell drew criticism from the federal government. Meanwhile, Arkansas was close to national bankruptcy. There were civil unrest and protests. At the same time, however, he benefited from federal politics under President Franklin D. Roosevelt . The federal programs also helped Arkansas out of the crisis, though Futrell temporarily resisted some measures. Finally, Futrell also raised some taxes in Arkansas to get out of the crisis. Despite these problems, he managed to be re-elected in 1934. At that time, the prohibition law was also revoked nationwide. In addition, a Department of Public Welfare was established, in which the first steps towards social insurance were taken. The Department of Police was also established in those years.

Another résumé

After his tenure ended, Futrell returned to practice as a lawyer. He died in 1955. Junius Futrell was married to Tera Ann Smith, with whom he had six children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Junius Futrell in the National Governor Association (English)
• Online biography of Governors of Arkansas (English)
• Online biography in Arkansas Encyclopedia (English)
• Junius Futrell in the database of Find a Grave (English)