Representation in the House is based on the most recent census report. Thus, a delegation can grow or shrink, depending upon what the state's population did in the preceding decade. Arkansas is 32nd in population, so its delegation is one of the smallest. Its delegation was larger in the decades before I was born, but it has remained constant since the 1960 Census.In spite of the fact that Arkansas' congressional representation was small, the state accumulated legislative power through seniority in the middle of the 20th century. The same two men, John McClellan and Bill Fulbright, represented the state in the Senate from the 1940s until the 1970s and served as chairmen of powerful Senate committees (McClellan in Appropriations, Fulbright in Foreign Relations) near the end of their careers.
And, for nearly four decades, from the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt until the election of Jimmy Carter, the central Arkansas district where I grew up was represented by Wilbur Mills, who would have been 100 years old today. He rose to become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, wielding considerable power — which may have prevented him from recognizing certain facts that might have spared him some embarrassment in his later years.
In 1972, for example, Mills was persuaded by many of his supporters in Arkansas and his colleagues in Washington to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Mills did enter a few primaries that year and tried to position himself as the friend of the senior citizens by supporting the automatic Cost Of Living Adjustment to Social Security.
But Mills wasn't a very effective vote–getter, which may have been due to his experience — or absence of it. He had a lot of experience as a lawmaker, of course, but he seldom faced opposition back home so his electoral experience was lacking. That was a handicap in a field that included several charismatic candidates like Hubert Humphrey, Ed Muskie, eventual nominee George McGovern and, for a time, George Wallace.
Two years later, in what turned out to be his final campaign, Mills had to fight for his seat against a little–known Republican named Judy Petty. His dismal performance in presidential politics had nothing to do with it, but, again, his lack of experience as a campaigner may have played a role in the outcome.
Until about a month before the election, Mills seemed invincible — but then he was found, cut and bleeding, in the Washington Tidal Basin with a stripper named Annabelle Battistella, better known by her stage name of Fanne Fox ("the Argentine Firecracker").Mills came back to Arkansas and, for the first time in voters' memories, really had to campaign to keep his seat. He won re–election — but, in the decidedly Democratic year of 1974, he could only manage 59% of the vote. Not long after the election, Mills announced that he was an alcoholic and would seek treatment. He gave up his chairmanship, and his congressional career was, effectively, over.
I guess Mills' story is a cautionary tale about the arrogance of power. It is a story that powerful people still need to learn, although I have heard it argued that the mindset that led to Mills' downfall was an aberration, a peculiarity of his generation.
But I believe it is a human flaw that is not confined to a generation.
And political success can be so seductive that some still fail to recognize when the waves of history have left them high and dry (Dick Cheney comes to mind), and present recipients of its largesse must be sensitive to shifts in the electorate, whether it is a call to increase support for same–sex marriage or legalize marijuana or anything else, if they wish to remain in its good graces (take note, Barack Obama).
While she did not defeat Mills, Petty's words during the 1974 campaign are worth remembering: "The most beautiful words in the Constitution are not 'he's the chairman' or 'he's the powerful,' " she said. "It's 'we the people.' "
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