William Lee Cazort

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William Lee Cazort (born December 3, 1887 in Lamar , Arkansas , † October 6, 1969 in Little Rock , Arkansas) was an American politician and lawyer. He was Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1929 to 1931 and from 1933 to 1937 .

Cazort was born in Lamar, Johnson County in 1888 to John Robert Cazort and Belle Cazort (nee Gardner ). He grew up in a household with seven siblings and attended public schools in Lamar. Cazort later attended Hendrix College and studied law at the University of Arkansas and then at Washington and Lee University , where he graduated in 1910. He then returned to Arkansas and practiced in Fort Smith. On December 1, 1916, he married Rachel Cline. The couple had four children. Cazort's political career began in 1915 when he was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 1917 he became its speaker as the successor to Lewis E. Sawyer . In 1919 he was elected to the Arkansas Senate. After a successful re-election, he became President of the Senate in 1921. At the time, Cazort was the youngest speaker and Senate President in Arkansas history.

Cazort ran for nomination of Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1924. As a politician close to the Ku Klux Klan , he had the support of James A. Comer, the Exalted Cyclops and Grand Dragon of the Klan in Arkansas. However, since other candidates also claimed the support of the Klan for themselves, the votes of the electorate close to the Klan were split up and Cazort was only able to achieve second place behind Tom Terral . His defeat weakened Comer's leadership position and heralded the clan's dwindling political influence in Arkansas in the late 1920s.

In 1928, Cazort was elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas. His predecessor Harvey Parnell was replaced by the resigned Governor John Martineau in his office. Cazort and Parnell didn't get along well. This was mainly due to their respective competing political ambitions. In 1930, Parnell refused to leave Arkansas in order not to leave office to Cazort as deputy governor. Cazort, in turn, did not run for lieutenant governor in 1930, but instead tried to be nominated as a Democratic candidate for governorship instead of Parnell. In the course of the nomination process, however, he withdrew his candidacy and supported Brooks Hays . Subsequently, Cazort withdrew briefly from politics and practiced again as a lawyer in Little Rock. He had previously moved to this city in 1929. He specialized in the claims of veterans of the First World War .

In 1932 Cazort was elected lieutenant governor for the second time and was also able to win the next election in 1934. In the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1936, Cazort tried to be nominated again, but three weeks before the final nomination he waived in favor of Carl Edward Bailey . This was the last time Cazort sought political office.

In 1937, Governor Junius Futrell appointed Cazort to the newly formed Public Welfare Commission . This commission later came under fire and Cazort resigned.

He died on October 6, 1969 in a Little Rock hospital. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Lee Cazort. In: Encyclopedia of Arkansas , accessed January 2, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Cazort, William Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Lamar , Arkansas
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 1969
Place of death Little Rock , Arkansas