Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor)
| Jeff Davis | |
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United States Senator from Arkansas |
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In office March 4, 1907 – January 3, 1913 |
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| Preceded by | James H. Berry |
| Succeeded by | John N. Heiskell |
| 20th Governor of Arkansas | |
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In office January 8, 1901 – January 8, 1907 |
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| Preceded by | Daniel Webster Jones |
| Succeeded by | John Sebastian Little |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jefferson Davis May 6, 1862 Rocky Comfort, Arkansas |
| Died | January 3, 1913 (aged 50) Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Resting place |
Mount Holly Cemetery Little Rock, Arkansas 34°44′16.5″N 92°16′38.6″W / 34.737917°N 92.277389°W |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Ina MacKenzie (1882–1910) Leila Carter (1911–1913) |
| Education | University of Arkansas Vanderbilt University Cumberland University (J.D.) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Baptist |
Jefferson Davis (May 6, 1862 – January 3, 1913), commonly known as Jeff Davis, was a Democratic politician who served as the 20th Governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907 and in the United States 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 utilized his silver tongue and ability to demagogue to exploit existing feelings of agrarian frustration among poor rural whites and thus build 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 he went to enforce his opinion would be a common theme throughout his political career and provided him with credibility among the poor rural whites that would become his base.
Davis' three two-year terms as Arkansas Governor "produced more politics than government", but succeeded in building a new state house and reforming the penal system. An almost-constant series of scandals and outrageous behavior characterized his time in office, which followed him when he won election to the United States Senate in 1906. Davis is often put in the same class as Benjamin Tillman, Robert Love Taylor, Thomas E. Watson, James K. Vardaman, Coleman Livingston Blease, and later Huey Long, controversial figures known as part-Southern demagogues, part-populists and part-political bosses.
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