Ouachita County Governors

Benjamin Travis Laney, Jr.

Ben Laney was born on a small farm in the Cooterneck community in Ouachita County. His father was Benajmin Travis Laney, Sr.; his mother was Martha Ella Soxon Laney. They had eleven children; six of those eleven children received college degrees. Laney himself actually did not finish high school, but his talents were abundant enough to land a teaching job and admission to Hendrix College in 1915. He left Hendrix and joined the Navy in 1918. He returned once again to college, this time attending Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) and received the A.B. degree in 1924. Laney married Lucile Kirtley, a student at ASTC. They had three sons: Benjamin Travis III, William David, and Phillip.

During 1922, oil was discovered on the Laney farm. Laney moved back to Camden and entered the oil business. Other interests were farming, banking, cotton gins, feed, and grocery and hardware stores. He was the mayor of Camden from 1935-1939.

He announced his candidacy for governor of Arkansas in 1944 on the Democratic ticket. He launched his campaign by saying "I am not a politician." His opponent in the primary, J. Bryan Sims withdrew his nomination, and Laney handily defeated his Republican opponent in the general election. In 1946 Laney was elected to a second term with an 84% margin over Republican W. T. Mills.

During Laney's first term as governor, he submitted the revenue stabilization plan to the legislature. He had announced during his campaign to make all state appropriations from a single general fund. This bill passed, and the law's essential features have remained intact to this day. This became Laney's greatest achievement, a monument to fiscal responsibility.

In 1947 Laney obtained appropriations to build an official residence for the governor of Arkansas, stating that the lack of a residence was an embarrassment to Arkansas. War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock was also built during Laney's administratrion. This project had his full support despite strong opposition from some that it would be an "institution of debauchery."

Laney declined to run for a third term in 1948, but was active in politics as the Dixiecrat's chairman. State's rights had come to the fore at this time, and the southern Governors aligned themselves against Harry Truman's call for several measures to abolish racial discrimination. Laney supported the racial segregation, but admitted that the blacks in the South had not been given equal opportunities.

In 1950 Laney challenged Sid McMath, a popular governor of the state of Arkansas. McMath was seeking his second term, and Laney was seeking a third term after the McMath interim. His campaign slogan was "Let's Re-Elect Ben Laney Governor for a Second Time."

After his 1950 campaign loss, Laney remained active and interested in politics. He disapproved of the handling of the integration matter by Orval Faubus, but continued to be a state's rights champion. Following a long illness, Laney died of a heart attack in January of 1977 and was buried in Camden in Memorial Cemetery.