Interviewer: Looking back on your political career, what stands out the most in your mind?
Bob Riley: I think those 11 and a half days that I was serving the governor's office. It never happened before and probably will never happen again.
Kyle Kellams: Randy Dixon with the Pryor Center.
Randy Dixon: Hi, Kyle.
Kellams: Hi, Randy. Who did we just hear?
Dixon: That was Bob Riley.
Kellams: Okay, now we're in the middle of a series of governors in Arkansas modern era.
Dixon: Yes. Now, and people are going to say, what?
Kellams: But now, wait a minute. I don't remember Bob being elected governor. Well, he was an elected...
Dixon: Right. But he was governor for 11 days.
Kellams: Yes he was.
Dixon: He fell in between Dale Bumpers, who was number 38, and David Pryor, who was number 39. So I guess he didn't get a number.
Kellams: He's 38A?
Dixon: 38.5. How about that? He was elected, though, lieutenant governor twice and served with Bumpers that whole time from '71 to '75. But who was Bob Riley? Our friend Rex Nelson with the Democrat-Gazette knows. He grew up as a neighbor of Riley's and was a student of his, a political science student at OBU. So I talked to Rex the other day, and this is what he had to say.
Rex Nelson: Bob Riley was a brilliant individual. He was a longtime political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University. But more than that, he was heavily involved in issues in Arkansas politics and public policy that he thought were important. And so he decided, rather than just working on those issues, "I ought to be involved in government," and ran in 1970 for lieutenant governor and was elected.
And what was interesting is that Riley had been a war hero. He had lost an eye during World War II. Thus the distinctive black patch that he wore.
Dixon: So the black patch, as he said, was a trademark. Riley unfortunately got that when he was almost killed in World War II. In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Riley dropped out of high school and joined the Marines.
Kellams: Wow.
Dixon: Yeah, and he was in the Pacific. So he was Cpl. Bob Riley, and he led a rifle squad attack, a Japanese machine gun emplacement on Guam.
Kellams: Wow.
Dixon: Yeah. And was severely wounded, which resulted in, well, he was in the hospital for more than a year. He was blinded in his left eye and severely impaired in his right, so he was considered legally blind. He had damaged limbs. He lived the rest of his life in almost constant pain.
But as lieutenant governor, he was always sure to address veterans and their families on patriotic holidays. Now, these are excerpts from two of his Veterans Day speeches, part of it from 1973 and part of it from 1974.
Riley: No one who has been in a time of peril with other men in combat, no one but those people can fully understand that purity of thought when you're trying to help each other survive. But this does not mean that we cannot be empathic to others and let them know how important their lives were to us. We are their only connecting file to be able to communicate to them that it was an important sacrifice. And if we have been timid and reluctant to discuss that, we must overcome that.
And so really, we meet here today not only to perpetuate their memory, but to undertake to demonstrate that our fidelity to this country and its great purposes is strong, and that we will rededicate ourselves to those purposes and to those sense of freedoms that has made this country great.
We all made our contribution, but like so many other things, life doesn't just stop at one moment, it goes on. These women and relatives out here who have been a part of this, you have to remember that God has no need of man's work or his own gifts. His yoke is for those who bear it best.
Kellams: Bob Riley elected lieutenant governor twice, both times when Dale Bumpers was elected. And of course, in Arkansas you don't elect tickets. You elect individuals. He sought the governorship.
Dixon: He did. He always wanted to be governor, and in 1974, he decided to announce. And here's a clip from March of '74 from the KATV collection.
Riley: I've asked you here today to disclose to you my intention to seek the nomination for the office of governor of the state of Arkansas in the forthcoming Democratic primary. I did this after much soul-searching and understand very carefully the amount of importance attached to this announcement. And I expect to be taking the campaign to the people from this time on.
Dixon: Now, he was not running against the man who was governor because Dale Bumpers had shifted to running against J. William Fulbright for the Senate.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: So in the '74 campaign, Bumpers was running for Senate. But Riley in this Democratic primary was facing former Gov. Orval Faubus.
Kellams: Time out. When do we get to the year when we're not talking about Orval Faubus running for governor?
Dixon: We're well into the '80s before that happens.
Kellams: So Orval Faubus is running again.
Dixon: Again. And there's also a U.S. congressman, former U.S. Congressman David Pryor, right, who is running. So during the campaign, Riley offered his leadership without what had become known for years as a political machine, I guess, in the Democratic Party.
Riley: The day is long past when you can have a group of willful men dominate Arkansas politics and seek to choose and corrupt candidates by offering them money and power. I think that the day is, it's a welcome day that it's come to that. And so I do not choose to follow that kind of politics. And I'm going to take my case to the people.
Dixon: Shortly after his announcement, he got some really bad health news and had to drop his campaign temporarily for open-heart surgery. Here's Steve Barnes.
Steve Barnes: Surgery Riley will undergo is designed to correct what is described as a slight blockage in a heart artery. A segment of vein from the lieutenant governor's leg will be grafted to the artery to bypass the obstruction and ease the flow of blood to the left side of the heart. Riley is described by his physicians as being in good physical condition, an excellent candidate for open-heart surgery.
But even if his health is good, what happens to his political stock? Linda Newkirk is Riley's administrative assistant. She read a statement by Riley that suggested he wasn't out of the race.
Linda Newkirk: I assure those persons who are interested in our behalf that we are preparing for a political presentation which will provide for the people of Arkansas a real and honest choice of a fair-minded person for governor.
Barnes: At least chances of winning a primary against Orval Faubus and David Pryor have not been rated highly by political oddsmakers, and the lieutenant governor himself is well aware of the strength of his opposition. When the surgery is completed, few would be surprised to see Riley withdraw from the race. Steve Barnes, KATV News, at the State Capitol.
Kellams: He dropped it for the surgery, but he came back into the race.
Dixon: Oh, he did.
He did not withdraw, but he did not win either. I think part of the problem was he was out of commission for a while during the campaign, but he came in third in the Democratic primary. And David Pryor, of course, won the governor's seat.
Now here's where the complicated part begins. There was a whole timing thing. Bumpers had to be in Washington to be a senator on a certain date, but he had to resign as governor. But Pryor couldn't come in until a certain date. So there was a gap.
Kellams: And you have to have a governor.
Dixon: Well, you do. So who's the next in line? The lieutenant governor. So let's let John Hudgens from KATV explain this.
John Hudgens: Gov. Bumpers today announced that he would resign effective at noon January 3 and be sworn in as U.S. senator in Washington January 14 with other freshman senators. Lt. Gov. Bob Riley will assume the duties of governor sometime on the afternoon of the third and hold office until January 14, at which time David Pryor will take office.
Gov. Bumpers talked with reporters at what may have been his last news conference as governor. He said yesterday's meeting with Lt. Gov. Riley dealt with the things that needed to be done during the interim while Riley is governor for two weeks, and what needed to be done appeared to be minimal. Bumpers said he anticipated a smooth transition between he and Riley. He said he would walk out and Riley would walk in.
Dale Bumpers: The decision and all of the considerations that went into it were basically technical and not subjective. I felt that by assuming the office on the date that the federal Constitution assumes you will assume it would be in the best interest of the people of the state. As you know, the federal Constitution provides that Sen. Fulbright's term, for example, would normally expire on January 3. He's resigned, but in any event, his term would expire on noon January 3.
There is some question as to whether or not I would automatically assume that job, even though I had not been sworn in, simply because my credentials have already been received and accepted in the secretary of the Senate's office. This could conceivably cast some cloud over any official acts on my part between noon January 3 and January 14, when my term as governor would expire.
Kellams: So Bob Riley is going to be governor for 11 days.
Dixon: Soon to be acting governor.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: And he had a plan. The plan was simple. Don't do anything controversial or anything that could upset the apple cart.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: So to speak. So this was his plan.
Riley: Gov.-elect Pryor and I have been friends for many years. And inasmuch as I will have this opportunity, which I did not seek, to be in this position, I would coordinate everything with him. I will seek to make no appointments whatever. If such appointments are even suggested, all will be cleared with him. We plan to coordinate everything, the orderly assimilation of all personnel and everything through his office and through his people. And we will be in daily contact and have conversations about how this will be done.
Dixon: And so he is sworn in.
Kellams: Yeah.
Dixon: January 3, 1975, Bob Riley is sworn in as governor of Arkansas, and John Hudgens was there again. And here's his report.
Hudgens: Bob Riley had wanted to be governor in the last election but was defeated. However, fate played in his favor, and for the next 11 days he will be governor. Family, friends, politicians, a choral group and a band packed the Senate chambers today for the swearing-in. Never billed as a large ceremony, but turning into that. Riley himself emotional as the band played the national anthem. Then state Supreme Court Justice Carleton Harris administered the oath of office.
Carleton Harris: I, Bob Riley, do solemnly swear...
Riley: Do solemnly swear...
Harris: That I will support the Constitution of the United States...
Riley: That I will support the Constitution of the United States...
Harris: The Constitution of the state of Arkansas...
Riley: The Constitution of the state of Arkansas...
Harris: That I will faithfully discharge the duties...
Riley: And I will faithfully discharge the duties...
Harris: Of the office of governor of Arkansas.
Riley: Of the office of governor of Arkansas.
Hudgens: In brief remarks following the swearing-in, Riley again pledged no major decisions during his two weeks as governor.
Riley: My main thrust and my main promise is to help to get the David H. Pryor group and his personnel into the governor's office as quickly as possible, with the greatest facility and with the highest degree of performance that can be accomplished. That is my first mission and my only mission.
Hudgens: Riley will serve until the 14th, at which time Gov.-elect David Pryor will finally be inaugurated into office, and Arkansas history will record Lt. Gov. Bob Riley as Gov. Bob Riley. John Hudgens reporting for News Scene 7.
Kellams: Now, we've heard Jim Pitcock. He found Orval Faubus on Faubus' last day. As he was leaving, he found Dale Bumpers on his last day.
Dixon: Yes.
Kellams: Probably didn't wait around 11 days to talk to Bob Riley on his last day.
Dixon: Well, but he was there for his first day. So here's Jim's report on Bob Riley's first full day on the job.
Jim Pitcock: The new governor arrived at the Capitol shortly before 8 o'clock this morning. There are about a half dozen people working in the office, including an aide to former Sen. Fulbright.
Riley: Up to this time, it's just merely getting the personnel adjusted to the fact that we're here and to getting Pryor's people down into their counterpart places here in the office. And by tomorrow, we expect to have most of those people in place. A good amount of today has been devoted to people coming in and wishing us well. And we have been just generally trying to carry on the everyday duties of the office.
Pitcock: After serving as governor for another week, Riley will return to the campus of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. This is Jim Pitcock reporting for News Scene 7.
Kellams: So Bumpers and Riley served in an administration for four years together, right? Were they allies? I mean, were they...
Dixon: Yes, they were. They were friends and had mutual respect for each other. And years later, in an interview, KATV talked to Dale Bumpers about Riley, and I think Bumpers was struck so much by Riley's positive outlook on life. Maybe, although he had seen so much strife and challenges.
Bumpers: I tell you, Bob was a consummate optimist, despite his near blindness from his terrible World War II injury. I never heard him down. He was always up. And I think he found as much joy as if he had never had that terrible injury.
Dixon: Okay, let's check in with Rex Nelson one more time about his thoughts on Bob Riley, the man.
Nelson: He would have been a great governor for a full two-year term, for four years, for whatever. I have no doubt he would have been one of our greatest governors. It was his goal. And so I'm glad he achieved it, did, even if for only 11 days. And it was a great memory of his. And he could tell great stories about those 11 days, about his four years before that as lieutenant governor.
So in addition to being a war hero, an intellectual, he was also a wonderful storyteller. And those of us, I grew up about a block from his house in Arkadelphia. And there was nothing quite as good as ending up in the den of the Riley house and listening to Bob Riley tell Arkansas political stories.
I think he will be remembered as a colorful character. I mean, the patch alone made him colorful, but the storytelling ability made him even more colorful, but a colorful character who was also an intellectual and a person who deeply loved Arkansas and its people. And rarely do you get the combination of war hero, intellectual, great storyteller and colorful character all in one person. And you got all of those in Bob Riley.
Kellams: I had an experience with Bob Riley.
Dixon: You did? I never met the man.
Kellams: When I was 9 years old. So this is 1972, I think. Maybe even earlier than that. I was mesmerized by all things politics.
Dixon: Mhm.
Kellams: It was obviously a far different time. Everyone came to Mountain Home who was running for something. And my mom would take me out of school. So I met Dale Bumpers, John McClellan, J. William Fulbright, Marion Crank, Orval Faubus, all of them. Vada Sheid, who was the first woman elected to the Arkansas Legislature? She was from Mountain Home. She kind of thought it was charming that I was interested in politics. And she took me kind of under her wing.
Well, a friend of a friend's father took me to the Capitol one day. One summer day, he just said, "You want to come see the Capitol?" We went down there and he's showing me around. We're in there. And lo and behold, Bob Riley is in the Capitol. Now I know who Bob Riley is because I have all the campaign paraphernalia.
Dixon:And by the way, he had the coolest button, campaign button.
Kellams: And the coolest business card or campaign card, which I still have.
Dixon: Well, we'll talk about that in a second. Finish your story.
Kellams: Okay. Yeah. So my friend's father said, "Let's go meet him." And I was, "No, I don't want to meet eye patch." And he was famous, and he-
Dixon: A little intimidating.
Kellams: That's what I thought. And then I was introduced. And I think my friend's dad said something like, "Well, this guy's going to be governor one day," or something like that.
I remember he knelt down and he talked to me and he talked to me and he talked to me. And it was as if I was the only person in the world. He took out a card. He signed it for me. I still have it. And he didn't have to do that. I mean, I was 9, so it was maybe only two or three minutes, but it seemed like forever. And I was walking on cloud nine. So Bob Riley, for me, was just something else.
Dixon: Wow. So did the card have the smiley face on?
Kellams: Yeah.
Dixon: So that was the coolest, probably, campaign logo ever. It was, back then in the early '70s, the big thing was the yellow smiley face.
Kellams: Which is now ubiquitous, but was new then.
Dixon: And it was a smiley face with a patch on it. And I mean, it was perfect. The other thing I remember about that patch is the portrait that hangs in the state Capitol to this day.
Kellams: Yeah.
Dixon: If you get a chance, Google it. And if you're driving, don't try that. But when you get to a place, you can Google Bob Riley and his portrait particularly. But as Rex Nelson said, he was quite the colorful character. And there he is in this portrait. He's leaning forward in a rocking chair, and it's either a blue suit or a denim suit, I'm not sure, but kind of very relaxed, leaning forward with his head in his hands. And I mean, it's classic. He looks like John Wayne from "True Grit."
Kellams: He does.
Dixon: Yeah. He's Rooster Cogburn.
Kellams: Which of course had only been out a couple of years before the portrait was made.
Dixon: Yeah, yeah, he was a big deal.
Kellams: Yeah. Can we hear anything else from him?
Dixon: Yeah. He was, of course, dedicated to public service. He loved politics, of course, taught political science. But here he is. I want to close with him talking about the importance of public service.
Riley: There is a deep sense of satisfaction that goes along with the idea that you are the spokesman from those people. You have been chosen by them from among themselves. This is the highest accomplishment of representative democracy. That is, that you speak for them and they speak through you.
And this gives you a lot of satisfaction when you think that somehow their wants, which are competing against all the other wants, are somehow made. And that as you do your job as competently and as efficiently and with the greatest amount of zeal, you're going to get your portion of your wants for your people.
Kellams: All right. Next week, we get back to an elected governor.
Dixon: That would be David Pryor.
Kellams: Yes. Heard of him?
Dixon: Yes.
Kellams: Randy Dixon is with the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. We'll talk again next week.
Dixon: Dude, see you next week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
