Powell Clayton was born on August 7, 1833 and died on August 25, 1914. He was a great father of five children; however, it was not his greatest accomplishment. Powell Clayton served as a governor in Arkansas in the period July 2, 1868 – March 17, 1871. During the Civil War, he entered the Union army and managed to rise to the rank of brigadier general. After the end of Civil War, he relocated to Arkansas and promoted the adoption of the state constitution. According to this constitution, Arkansas was readmitted to the Union. The period of his service was marked with the severe violence escalating due to the active operations of the Ku Klux Klan. The major accomplishment of Powell Clayton was the proclamation of martial law in 11 counties and organization of black militia to catch member of Ku Klux Klan and to restore peace and order in the state. However, Powell Clayton has many enemies in politics who tried to impugn his reputation. Even after he resigned, he continued working on improvement of living conditions in the state. He became the director of North Arkansas Railroad. For the years to come, the achievements of Powell Clayton will be remembered. The start of Clayton’s career can be traced to the year when he joined the Union army. When he came to Arkansas in 1863, he got involved into speculating in cotton and purchased a plantation (Donovan, p. 68). He was interested in democratic movements, however, being repeatedly rebuffed he decided to found the Republican Party. His military connections empowered him to gain influence over the soldiers and sutlers. These two groups became the main electorate for his party in Arkansas. In addition, Clayton was in close relations with Alexander McDonald and Benjamin Rice who were the richest people in the state (Donovan, p. 69) and provided significant financial support to his campaigns. Clayton’s political activities are referred to as radical because of militant approach to reconstruction of the state after the war. Moreover, Clayton contributed to the isolation of abolitionists and blacks within his party. Despite of criticism, Clayton passed the civil rights acts in July 1868. While the rest of the party member allied themselves away from blacks, Clayton viewed alliance with African Americans as beneficial and he was right (Donovan, p. 70). He managed to gain the loyalty and trust of blacks within a short period of time. Clayton was a wise politician and even though he was elected in March, he did not assume office until July when the state has been already readmitted to the Union and martial law was limited. At the time Clayton assumed the office of governor, the state was in the middle of violence – people were openly assaulted, deputes were forced to resign to save their lives, blacks were beaten and threatened to be killed, and numerous people were murdered. Most of the crimes were organized by Ku Klux Klan members and were targeting black population. The political and social violence was very widespread, and Clayton has become the person who managed to restore the stability and security. As William Shea has noted, Powell Clayton deserves respect for creating education system in the state, founding the Univers