Sid McMath

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Sidney McMath (1951)

Sidney Sanders McMath (born June 14, 1912 in Columbia County , Arkansas , † October 4, 2003 in Little Rock , Arkansas) was an American politician and between 1949 and 1953 Governor of Arkansas.

Early years and political advancement

Sidney McMath attended public schools in his home country. He then attended Henderson College before studying law at the University of Arkansas . There he took his law exam in 1936. During the Second World War he served in the US Marine Corps. He was honored several times for his bravery. After the war he remained in the reserves of the Marine Corps and made it there to major general. McMath has been politically active since 1947. That year he became a district attorney in Garland and Montgomery Counties . On November 2, 1948, he was elected as his Democratic Party candidate for the new governor of Arkansas.

Arkansas Governor

McMath's tenure began on January 11, 1949 and ended, after re-election in 1950, on January 13, 1953. During these four years, General Obligation Bonds were issued to finance bridges and highways. Many side roads have now been paved and electrification has reached the last corner of the countryside. A new medical center was planned in Little Rock. Care for the mentally handicapped was improved, medical schools in the country's universities in general were better equipped and the minimum wage in Arkansas was raised. On the racial issue, too, McMath was more liberal than most of his predecessors. He supported laws against lynching, and he appointed some African-Americans to government bodies that were previously reserved for whites only. The election tax law, according to which eligibility to vote depended on the financial circumstances of the voter, was abolished so that more blacks could vote. Even in the years after his term in office, he maintained this liberal course, which earned him many opponents in the conservative camp. McMath was also a supporter of President Harry S. Truman and an opponent of the conservative so-called "Dixiecrat" Democrats. In 1952, Governor McMath ran unsuccessfully for a third term. At that time he was severely attacked by his opponents, which was one of the reasons for his election defeat. He was accused of irregularities in some areas. The allegations could never be proven.

Another résumé

In 1954, McMath ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate. In 1962 he made an unsuccessful attempt to be re-elected to the governorship. Instead, Sidney McMath became a successful lawyer. He worked in this profession until the 1990s. He won some spectacular lawsuits and gained a certain degree of notoriety in American legal circles. In 1976 he became President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers . Sidney McMath died in October 2003 at the age of 91. He was married twice and had a total of five 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.

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