After fleeing communist uprisings in China as a missionary, Benson became an anticommunist and conservative activist, taking stances against the New Deal, and later, racial integration.
[2]: 4 His parents, Stuart and Emma, were devout Christians, never missing the meetings in the Taloga schoolhouse church held by the various itinerant preachers who passed through.
[4]: 2 George completed eight grades in nearby Bonto and a year of high school each in Seiling and in Claremore, where his janitor job paid the rent for the shack he lived in.
[5]: 101 Following masters studies that improved his understanding of Chinese history and culture,[5]: 102–103 [6]: 24 the Bensons returned to Canton in April 1932.
[6]: 22–23, 29–32, 40 Lowell Davis and Roy Whitfield had been in a missionary methods class at Harding that George taught winter 1931-1932 while on furlough.
He discusses preparation and attitude for effectively sharing the Gospel, drawing on his and others' experiences in China, the Philippines, Korea, and Zambia as well as his "preparatory years" growing up in Oklahoma and in college.
[5]: 116-126 [4]: 18-19 Benson traveled around the country raising money to pay the $70,000 debt and on Thanksgiving Day of 1939, Armstrong was able to toss the cancelled mortgage into a fire.
[5]: 144 [9]: 57 From 1941-1948 he "significantly strengthened faculty qualifications, increased the institution's financial resources and endowments, and undertook a costly building program.
[3]: 137 Continuing to engage with knowledgeable contacts, Benson learned that he could win over most of the Review Board by separating the NEP from the college.
One of the first things he did upon assuming the presidency was to establish a firm salary schedule that would be paid each month rather than paying "whatever the school could afford".
[1][9]: 58 [10]: 93 [12] Benson's stated reasons for opposing desegregation in 1956 were that the "community is not yet ready" and that time was required for the South to absorb the "great shock" of the Supreme Court decision.
"[12][13] He expressed his belief that segregation was the natural order of creation, stating "the blackbirds and bluebirds, the blue jays and mockingbirds, they don't mix and mingle together, young people!
[10]: 94 In 1963, Benson directed Harding to grant an honorary doctorate to Senator John McClellan for his work opposing the integration of Central High School in Little Rock.
[12][11]: 166–168 The following day, students posted an ironic "whites only" sign in the lily pool, a decorative pond that serves as the central gathering place on the Searcy campus.
[9]: 58 Integration proceeded slowly at Harding, with blacks comprising less than 2% of the student body in 1970, and challenges in areas like roommate assignments, dating and athletics continued beyond Benson's presidency.
[12] Key concurs, noting that "Congress was already considering what would become the Civil Rights act of 1964", and cites the "similarly pragmatic" Seventh-day Adventist decision to desegregate in 1965, as well as observing that the Freed–Hardeman University president attributed his own school's 1964 policy change "to the mistake of accepting federal funds".
[4]: 87 The Gazette further reported that Harding was the first private college in Arkansas to integrate and editorialized "they and Dr. Benson deserve an ovation...for the grace with which they have undertaken this social change".
[12] The student newspaper article about the announcement stated: "Benson's leadership in the movement for equal opportunity makes us proud, even boastful".
Brown's summary cautions against oversimplification: Benson "was marked by the segregated society in which he was raised", "feared the loss of conservative donations that would have followed early desegregation", dreaded interracial marriage, and it is unclear if he ever "acknowledged his mistakes and racial myopia".
'"[13] In early 1955, Central Christian College president Baird met with Benson and expressed that the school's situation in Bartlesville, OK was hopeless.
[5]: 242–243 [20] At both Harper College and Oklahoma A&M, Benson displayed an interest in the mistakes that had felled great civilizations of past, taking as his debate theme "The Seventh Nation" in which America was compared with Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Syria, Greece and Rome.
He was the 147th speaker at public hearings about how to fund the Lend Lease Act, anticipated to require a 44% increase in the federal budget.
[5] : 7–9 Previous speakers had urged "economy", but Benson was specific in recommending shuttering the "make-work" Civilian Conservation Corps and National Youth Administration because many jobs were available as defense industries ramped up.
[4]: 22 The NEP produced a variety of materials intended to advance "the facts about our economic system, our constitutional government, and our spiritual heritage".
[21] These animated films were produced by John Sutherland, a former Disney executive and funded by The Sloan Foundation and included "Make Mine Freedom", "Going Places", "Meet King Joe", "Why Play Leapfrog", "Albert in Blunderland", "Adventures in Economics".
[5]: 238 [4]: 78 [24] In 1949, the NEP conducted its first "Freedom Forum" to help reach Americans with "the facts about our economic system, our constitutional government, and our spiritual heritage".
[5]: 189 1961 articles in the New York Times, Newsweek, and Arkansas Gazette labelled the NEP as "far right" and linked it to the widely discredited John Birch society.
[5]: 184–198 That June, Arkansas senator J. William Fulbright sent a memo to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara raising concerns about use of NEP materials in the armed forces, which resulted in immediate restrictions on its use.
[29] Benson was the Arkansas Democrat "Outstanding Arkansan" of the year in 1954, and received a Freedoms Foundation George Washington Medal from General Eisenhower in 1949.
There was formerly a building named for Benson at Oklahoma Christian University, where a student-led civil rights event in 1969 ultimately led to 18 students being arrested and expelled.