Cobb waged an active campaign, having stressed that he was born in Arkansas, whereas the Missouri-born Bailey was a "northern man".

This reinforced my conviction that it was absolutely necessary for the rights of the minority party to be protected in elections through the appointment of precinct judges and clerks.

Without such a measure, it was speculated that Republicans could never have overcome the obstacles they faced in an attempt to establish a two-party system in Arkansas.

The Bailey administration developed a library and retirement system and established the state's first agricultural experiment station at Batesville.

During Bailey's term, the Arkansas State Police was created and the first civil service laws in the American South were enacted.

By a margin of 91.4 to 8.6 percent, Bailey won his second term as governor in the 1938 general election over the Republican Charles F. Cole of Batesville.

In 1940, Bailey sought a third consecutive term as governor but lost to intraparty rival Homer Martin Adkins.

In 1942, he founded the Carl Bailey Company, an International Harvester franchise, which sold innovative farming machinery.

The Carl Bailey Company Building on Broadway in Little Rock is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance.