Bob C. Riley
Bob C. Riley | |
---|---|
Governor of Arkansas | |
In office January 3, 1975 – January 12, 1975 | |
Preceded by | Dale Bumpers |
Succeeded by | David Pryor |
12th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas | |
In office January 12, 1971 – January 3, 1975 | |
Governor | Dale Bumpers |
Preceded by | Maurice Britt |
Succeeded by | Joe Purcell |
Mayor of Arkadelphia, Arkansas | |
In office 1966–1967 | |
Preceded by | Charles L. Smith |
Succeeded by | Wayne Pollard |
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives | |
In office 1947–1951 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Corporal | September 18, 1924
Unit | Company L, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment |
Wars | World War II |
Bob Cowley Riley
Early life
Riley was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 18, 1924, the son of Columbus Allen and Winnie (Craig) Riley.[2] He attended the Pulaski County Rural School and Little Rock Central High School; attracted to politics from an early age, as a teenager he was a page for the Arkansas General Assembly during its 1937 session.[2]
Military service
After the December 7, 1941
While serving in the military, Riley had a minor role in the 1943 film Salute to the Marines.[4] He played the part of a hidden Japanese soldier who surprises the main characters, which required him to wear heavy camouflage makeup.[4]
Career
In 1945, Riley enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he earned his BA in 1950, his MA in 1951, and his EdD in 1957.[2] While pursuing his education, he worked as an insurance broker and became active in Democratic Party politics.[2] He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1947 to 1951.[2] In 1950, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Arkansas Senate.[2]
Beginning in 1951, Riley taught courses in economics and political science at Little Rock University.[2] In 1957, he was appointed associate professor of history and political science at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.[2] Under his leadership, the political science faculty were organized as a separate department, of which he was appointed chairman.[2] A highly regarded instructor, Riley was promoted to full professor in 1958 and chaired the university's social science division from 1960 to 1974.[2]
Riley was elected to the Arkadelphia City Council in 1960, and he served until 1967; during his last two years, he was the city's mayor.[2] In 1968, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.[2] In 1970, Riley was elected lieutenant governor.[5] He was reelected in 1972 and served from 1971 to 1975.[2] In 1974, Riley was a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for governor; he was suffering from ill health and finished third in the primary, while the general election was won by David Pryor.[2] In January 1975, Governor Dale Bumpers resigned to accept the U.S. Senate seat to which he was elected in 1974; Riley served the last nine days of Bumpers' gubernatorial term, and was the nation's first blind governor.[6][7]
Personal
Riley continued to teach at Ouachita Baptist University until retiring in 1980.[2] He died in Arkadelphia on February 16, 1994.[2] He was buried at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Arkadelphia.[2]
Riley married Claudia Zimmerman in 1956.[2] Their daughter Megen was born in 1959.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Chan, Sewell (March 14, 2008). "First Legally Blind Governor? Not Quite". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Bass, Harold F. (June 16, 2023). "Biography, Bob Cowley Riley (1924–1994)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, AR: Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- GenealogyBank.com.
- ^ GenealogyBank.com.
- ISBN 9780982272190 – via Google Books.
- ^ "History of Office". Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas Website. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ Politics in America, Congressional Quarterly, 1979