page_title: Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor)
section_title: Education and early career
hierarchical_section_title: Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor) / Education and early career
caption_attribution_description: English: An early view of Kirkland Hall prior to fire
context_page_description: Jeff Davis was a Democratic politician who served as the 20th Governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907 and in the US Senate from 1907 to 1913. He took office as one of Arkansas's first New South governors and proved to be one of the state's most polarizing figures. Davis used his silver tongue and aptitude for demagoguery to exploit existing feelings of agrarian frustration among poor white farmers and thus built a large populist appeal. However, since Davis often blamed city-dwellers, blacks, and Yankees for problems on the farm, the state was quickly and ardently split into "pro-Davis" or "anti-Davis" factions.
  Davis began his political career as Arkansas Attorney General, where he immediately began making political waves. His office challenged the legality of the Kimball State House Act and made an extremely-controversial extraterritorial interpretation of the Rector Antitrust Act. His fight to prevent trusts from doing business in Arkansas and the extreme lengths that he went to enforce his opinion would be a common theme throughout his political career. He gained credibility among the poor white farmers, who would become his base.
context_section_description: Davis attended public schools in Russellville, Arkansas. After being rejected by West Point in 1878, Davis enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he studied until 1880. He transferred to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Although he completed the two-year law curriculum in one year, the Vanderbilt University Law School withheld his diploma for failure to satisfy their residency requirement.
  With the help of his father's influence, Davis returned to Russellville in the summer of 1881 and was accepted to the Arkansas Bar Association despite being underaged. In the fall of 1881, Davis enrolled at Cumberland University, which granted his law degree in May 1882.
  Now twenty years old, Davis joined his father's law firm, L.W. Davis and Son, Attorneys, in Russellville as a junior law partner. Focusing on homestead cases, the law practice had become rather successful. The elder Davis, buoyed by a growing law practice while also working as a newspaper editor, real estate broker, and local booster, had become one of the county's most successful citizens. The elder Davis won election to the Arkansas General Assembly in 1877. Jeff Davis became deeply involved in political campaigns as early as 1884.
  After supporting Grover Cleveland in the 1888 presidential election, Davis decided to run for district prosecuting attorney in the Fifth Judicial District the following cycle.
caption: Main Building as it would've appeared when Davis attended Vanderbilt Law School in 1880
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