In 1958, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in general studies from the Church of Christ-affiliated Harding College in Searcy in White County, Arkansas.
"[3] In 1969, Caldwell joined two other senators who defended the right of Muhammad Ali, the African American boxer who converted to Islam and avoided military service in the Vietnam War, to speak at the student forum at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
[4] In his speech Ali stunned many when he spoke highly of former Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama, who the year before had won forty-six electoral votes, including the six from Arkansas, as the nominee of the American Independent Party, only to lose the 1968 presidential election to Richard M. Nixon.
[5] In the 1969 legislative session, Caldwell followed Rockefeller's lead in supporting the legalization of the sale of mixed drinks when approved through local option.
[9] In March 1973, a month after Rockefeller's death, Caldwell was elected as chairman to succeed Charles T. Bernard of Earle in Crittenden County in eastern Arkansas.
Bass/DeVries speculated that the GOP could be revived: "Continued urbanization and economic growth should enable the Republicans to remain viable as an alternative if the Democrats drift from moderation.
"[12] A defender of the embattled President Nixon, Caldwell questioned whether the Watergate disclosures would have much impact on the Arkansas GOP because of the lack of political opportunities then available within the state.
Caldwell called upon Republicans to continue to recruit African-American voters and Independents, something Rockefeller had pursued with considerable success in the short term.
Sitting Governor Jim Guy Tucker delivered the main address as Faubus' body lay in state at the Arkansas capitol.
From 1987 to 1988, Caldwell served as chief of staff in the Tulsa office of James M. Inhofe who at that time had been elected to his first term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district.
[19] After Rockefeller's defeat in 1970 and death barely two years later, the state GOP apparatus returned to the control of the mostly unknown partisans, a few of whom had previously been active in the party.
As time passed, one might conclude that the state GOP made only minimal progress in its political mission though some of the programs were adopted under Rockefeller and in subsequent administrations beginning with his immediate successor, Dale Bumpers, and then David Pryor.