A former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Cobb carried the support of Democratic United States Senators John Little McClellan and J. William Fulbright.
Attorney General of the United States Herbert Brownell Jr., had also promised to support Cobb for the judicial opening.
Cobb later said that his oil investments began to multiply and paid far more than he would have earned as a federal judge had he gotten the appointment that he sought.
[1] Henley was nominated by President Gerald Ford on January 28, 1975, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Pat Mehaffy.
On April 28, 1999, Representative Asa Hutchinson introduced H.R.1605 - To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 402 North Walnut Street in Harrison, Arkansas, as the `J. Smith Henley Federal Building and United States Courthouse'.