Wayne H. Babbitt
Encyclopedia
Wayne H. Babbitt was a Republican
politician
in the U.S. state
of Arkansas
, who in 1972 became the only member of his party ever to oppose the reelection of entrenched Democratic
U.S. Senator John L. McClellan.
, Nebraska
, and they married in 1946. The couple had three children, Mark Randall Babbitt of Little Rock; Holly Babbitt Longtin and husband Joey and Maureen Babbitt Watson, formerly Maureen Beldin, and her second husband, Gary Watson, both couples of Hot Springs
, and two grandchildren. Wayne and Eleanor Babbitt were Episcopaliand.
; others cite Iowa
. He moved to Arkansas in 1957 to practice veterinary medicine and thereafter became involved in GOP
politics. In 1963, Babbitt became the chairman of the Pulaski County (Little Rock) Republican Committee, The next year he ran for the Arkansas State Senate but lost to the Democrat Dan Sprick. He was also a delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco
, which nominated Barry Goldwater
for the presidency. He was vice chairman of the Arkansas GOP in 1966 and reluctantly withdrew from consideration as chairman to support Odell Pollard
, the party's general counsel who carried the backing of then Governor-elect Winthrop Rockefeller
, the state's first Republican chief executive since Reconstruction.
Governor Rockefeller first appointed Babbitt chairman of the state Livestock and Poultry Commission and then elevated him to state director for the Federal Housing Administration. U.S. President Richard M. Nixon then named Babbitt to head the Housing and Urban Development office in Little Rock. At HUD, Babbitt tried to extricate families from substandard housing and into clean homes at a time when urban renewal
was not a uniform policy.
John McClellan, meanwhile, ran into strong opposition in the 1972 Democratic primary. McClellan only narrowly won his party's nomination, 52-48 percent, over the determined opposition of then U.S. Representative (and later Governor
and U.S. Senator) David Hampton Pryor
. Both McClellan and Pryor lived at the time in Camden
, the seat of Ouachita County in southern Arkansas. Pryor had the support of organized labor and among many African American
in the runoff election, but more conservative voters in small towns and rural
areas throughout Arkansas managed to renominate McClellan for his last term in the Senate, a term that he did not live to complete.
As a Senate candidate, Babbitt vowed to tackle the lingering Vietnam War
issue, the economy, and fight for better-paying jobs. Babbitt tried to appeal to Pryor supporters in the primary, but many were Democratic party loyalists even though they had rejected McClellan in the primary. Babbitt ran full-page "open letter" to Senator McClellan in various Arkansas newspapers. He questioned why McClellan did not retire in 1972, when the veteran senator turned seventy-six. He cited McClellan's attendance record in the Senate, where he had cast votes only half the time on Senate roll calls in 1972 alone. McClellan missed the vote when his Arkansas colleague, James William Fulbright, brought forth a proposal to bring the Amtrak
passenger train line into Arkansas. "Maybe at seventy-six years of age, you have grown tired of putting your votes on the record," declared Babbitt in one of the letters. He declared McClellan to have been "a nineteenth century leader" misusing the advantages of Senate seniority
.
In the summer of 1972, McClellan suddenly became chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the death of neighboring senator, Allen J. Ellender
of Louisiana
. McClellan seemed to resent the need to campaign against a Republican—something he had never previously done—to win his sixth term. Babbitt erred when he tried to tie McClellan to Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern
of South Dakota
when trying at the same time to appeal to Pryor supporters, many of whom also favored McGovern. Babbitt tended to dwell on certain minor issues. He even called a press conference with two Little Rock
housewives to accuse McClellan of failure to alleviate drainage
problems from Rock Creek in the southwestern part of the capital city.
Babbitt waged an active race, while McClellan refused to take part in the general election campaign. Babbitt spent less than $20,000 on his race. He campaigned in all Arkansas cities of at least a modest population.
Though Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew were coasting to reelection at the head of the national GOP ticket, the party practically abandoned Babbitt and senatorial nominees Gil Carmichael of Mississippi
and Winton Blount of Alabama
. Nixon decided not to alienate Senators McClellan, James O. Eastland, or John Sparkman
by stumping hard for Babbitt, Carmichael, and Blount. His inaction left the southern GOP Senate choices with little chance of victory. An exception was in North Carolina
, where Jesse Helms
won the first of his five terms as a Republican, but there the Democratic candidate was not a Senate incumbent.
The Arkansas statewide Republican candidates fared poorly across the board. McClellan defeated Babbitt, 386,398 (60.9 percent) to 248,238 (39.1percent). Babbitt won only two of the seventy-five counties, Searcy, in the northwestern part of the state, with 58.3 percent, and Garland, which includes Hot Springs
, with 52.8 percent. In twenty-six other counties, Babbitt polled at least 40 percent of the ballots. Babbit also ran 14.5 percentage points ahead of his gubernatorial ticket mate, Len E. Blaylock
of Perry County, also a Rockefeller associate who was defeated by the incumbent Governor Dale Bumpers
.
and throughout Pulaski County. At the time of his death he and his wife were residing in Heber Springs
in Cleburne County near Little Rock.
The Babbitts are interred at Rest Hills Memorial Garden in North Little Rock.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, who in 1972 became the only member of his party ever to oppose the reelection of entrenched Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
U.S. Senator John L. McClellan.
Family
Babbitt met the former Eleanor Joan Timmerman (March 1, 1926 – April 29, 2005), in OmahaOmaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, and they married in 1946. The couple had three children, Mark Randall Babbitt of Little Rock; Holly Babbitt Longtin and husband Joey and Maureen Babbitt Watson, formerly Maureen Beldin, and her second husband, Gary Watson, both couples of Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, and two grandchildren. Wayne and Eleanor Babbitt were Episcopaliand.
Republican activist
Some sources say that Babbitt was born in Nebraska, where he obtained his Social Security numberSocial Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
; others cite Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. He moved to Arkansas in 1957 to practice veterinary medicine and thereafter became involved in GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politics. In 1963, Babbitt became the chairman of the Pulaski County (Little Rock) Republican Committee, The next year he ran for the Arkansas State Senate but lost to the Democrat Dan Sprick. He was also a delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, which nominated Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
for the presidency. He was vice chairman of the Arkansas GOP in 1966 and reluctantly withdrew from consideration as chairman to support Odell Pollard
Odell Pollard
Odell Pollard is a retired attorney in Searcy, the seat of White County in central Arkansas, who was a pioneer in the revitalization of the Republican Party in his state.-Early years:...
, the party's general counsel who carried the backing of then Governor-elect Winthrop Rockefeller
Winthrop Rockefeller
Winthrop Rockefeller was a politician and philanthropist who served as the first Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He was a third-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Early life:...
, the state's first Republican chief executive since Reconstruction.
Governor Rockefeller first appointed Babbitt chairman of the state Livestock and Poultry Commission and then elevated him to state director for the Federal Housing Administration. U.S. President Richard M. Nixon then named Babbitt to head the Housing and Urban Development office in Little Rock. At HUD, Babbitt tried to extricate families from substandard housing and into clean homes at a time when urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
was not a uniform policy.
1972 Senate campaign
Babbitt resigned from HUD to run for the U.S. Senate. He declared his candidacy at the Sam Peck Hotel in Little Rock in April 1972.John McClellan, meanwhile, ran into strong opposition in the 1972 Democratic primary. McClellan only narrowly won his party's nomination, 52-48 percent, over the determined opposition of then U.S. Representative (and later Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
and U.S. Senator) David Hampton Pryor
David Pryor
David Hampton Pryor is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966...
. Both McClellan and Pryor lived at the time in Camden
Camden, Arkansas
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the southern part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Long an area of American Indians villages, the French also made a permanent settlement here because of its advantageous location above the Ouachita River. According to 2007 Census...
, the seat of Ouachita County in southern Arkansas. Pryor had the support of organized labor and among many African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
in the runoff election, but more conservative voters in small towns and rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas throughout Arkansas managed to renominate McClellan for his last term in the Senate, a term that he did not live to complete.
As a Senate candidate, Babbitt vowed to tackle the lingering Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
issue, the economy, and fight for better-paying jobs. Babbitt tried to appeal to Pryor supporters in the primary, but many were Democratic party loyalists even though they had rejected McClellan in the primary. Babbitt ran full-page "open letter" to Senator McClellan in various Arkansas newspapers. He questioned why McClellan did not retire in 1972, when the veteran senator turned seventy-six. He cited McClellan's attendance record in the Senate, where he had cast votes only half the time on Senate roll calls in 1972 alone. McClellan missed the vote when his Arkansas colleague, James William Fulbright, brought forth a proposal to bring the Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
passenger train line into Arkansas. "Maybe at seventy-six years of age, you have grown tired of putting your votes on the record," declared Babbitt in one of the letters. He declared McClellan to have been "a nineteenth century leader" misusing the advantages of Senate seniority
Seniority
Seniority is the concept of a person or group of people being in charge or in command of another person or group. This control is often granted to the senior person due to experience or length of service in a given position, but it is not uncommon for a senior person to have less experience or...
.
In the summer of 1972, McClellan suddenly became chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the death of neighboring senator, Allen J. Ellender
Allen J. Ellender
Allen Joseph Ellender was a popular U.S. senator from Houma, Louisiana , who served from 1937 until his death. He was a Democrat who was originally allied with the legendary Huey Pierce Long, Jr.. As Senator he compiled a generally conservative record, voting 77% of the time with the Conservative...
of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. McClellan seemed to resent the need to campaign against a Republican—something he had never previously done—to win his sixth term. Babbitt erred when he tried to tie McClellan to Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
when trying at the same time to appeal to Pryor supporters, many of whom also favored McGovern. Babbitt tended to dwell on certain minor issues. He even called a press conference with two Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
housewives to accuse McClellan of failure to alleviate drainage
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
problems from Rock Creek in the southwestern part of the capital city.
Babbitt waged an active race, while McClellan refused to take part in the general election campaign. Babbitt spent less than $20,000 on his race. He campaigned in all Arkansas cities of at least a modest population.
Though Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew were coasting to reelection at the head of the national GOP ticket, the party practically abandoned Babbitt and senatorial nominees Gil Carmichael of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and Winton Blount of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Nixon decided not to alienate Senators McClellan, James O. Eastland, or John Sparkman
John Sparkman
John Jackson Sparkman was an American politician from the state of Alabama. A conservative Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate from 1937 until 1979. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President as Adlai Stevenson's running mate in...
by stumping hard for Babbitt, Carmichael, and Blount. His inaction left the southern GOP Senate choices with little chance of victory. An exception was in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, where Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
won the first of his five terms as a Republican, but there the Democratic candidate was not a Senate incumbent.
The Arkansas statewide Republican candidates fared poorly across the board. McClellan defeated Babbitt, 386,398 (60.9 percent) to 248,238 (39.1percent). Babbitt won only two of the seventy-five counties, Searcy, in the northwestern part of the state, with 58.3 percent, and Garland, which includes Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, with 52.8 percent. In twenty-six other counties, Babbitt polled at least 40 percent of the ballots. Babbit also ran 14.5 percentage points ahead of his gubernatorial ticket mate, Len E. Blaylock
Len E. Blaylock
Len Everette Blaylock, Sr. , is a retired farmer, educator, small businessman, and Republican politician from tiny Nimrod in Perry County in northwestern Arkansas. He was state welfare commissioner under Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, the GOP gubernatorial nominee , the U.S...
of Perry County, also a Rockefeller associate who was defeated by the incumbent Governor Dale Bumpers
Dale Bumpers
Dale Leon Bumpers is an American politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975; and then in the United States Senate from 1975 until his retirement in January 1999. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Bumpers is currently counsel at the Washington, D.C...
.
Post-politics
After his political career ended, Babbitt purchased the Bush Caldwell Company and then creasted the companion National Custom Hollow Metal in Little Rock. He also practiced veterinary medicine in North Little RockNorth Little Rock, Arkansas
the city was 62.55% White, 33.98% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.18% from other races, and 1.26% from two or more races...
and throughout Pulaski County. At the time of his death he and his wife were residing in Heber Springs
Heber Springs, Arkansas
Heber Springs is a city in Cleburne County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,432 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Cleburne County.-Geography:Heber Springs is located at ....
in Cleburne County near Little Rock.
The Babbitts are interred at Rest Hills Memorial Garden in North Little Rock.