Oral History interview with Dale Bumpers, June 17, 1974
Subtitle: interview A-0026, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: De Vries, Walter, interviewer; Bass, Jack, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Governors; Legislators; Political campaigns; Politics and government; Democratic Party (Ark.); Democratic Party (U.S.)
Other titles: Interview A-0026. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Dale Bumpers, June 17, 1974; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Dale Bumpers was elected governor of Arkansas in 1970, before his election to the United States Senate in 1974. Bumpers begins the interview by offering an assessment of his administration as governor of Arkansas. Emphasizing such accomplishments as tax reform and reorganization of state government, Bumpers describes how his election and administration helped to demystify political myths in the South. In particular, Bumpers explains that his successful elections in 1970 and 1974 demonstrated that political power could be wrested from those who had a larger financial backing, and that it was not necessary to be highly visible in the state to garner enough support. On the contrary, Bumpers was a virtual unknown on the political landscape when he defeated Governor Winthrop Rockefeller in 1970. Rockefeller was the first Republican governor to serve in Arkansas since Reconstruction. According to Bumpers, Rockefeller's election demonstrated a shifting political landscape that ultimately foretold the crumbling political power structure that had dominated Southern politics for decades. It was the weakening of this power base that, in part, allowed Bumpers to defeat Rockefeller in 1970 and incumbent senator William Fulbright (who had served in the U.S. Senate for thirty years) in 1974. In describing his successful campaign strategies, Bumper explains how he sought to appeal to Arkansas pride and a tendency of citizens to feel defensive about their rural roots. Bumpers had just been elected when the interview was conducted, and he offers his predictions for Southern politics in coming years. Namely, Bumpers expresses his hope that Southern Democrats would rejoin the national Democratic Party. Bumpers concludes the interview by offering his thoughts on the changing political landscape of the South, arguing that the term "emerging South" was more appropriate than "New South" in describing the region's economic growth and social developments.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on July 24, 2008).

Interview participants: Dale Bumpers, interviewee; Walter DeVries, interviewer; Jack Bass, interviewer.

Duration: 01:00:54.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 106.9 kilobytes, 111 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series A, Southern politics, interview A-0026, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Linda Killen. Original transcript: 28 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.