Orval Eugene Faubus (/ˈfɔːbəs/ FAW-bəs; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party.

In 1957, he refused to comply with a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, and ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent black students from attending Little Rock Central High School.

[citation needed] In the 1954 campaign, Faubus was compelled to defend his attendance at the defunct Commonwealth College in Mena, as well as his early political upbringing.

Commonwealth College had been formed by leftist academic and social activists, some of whom later were revealed to have had close ties with the Communist Party USA.

[4] In the 1954 general election campaign against Little Rock Mayor Pratt Remmel, Faubus secured the endorsement of the previous 1950 and 1952 Republican gubernatorial nominee, Jefferson W. Speck, a planter from Mississippi County in eastern Arkansas.

Many observers argued that Faubus's fight in Little Rock against the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that separate schools were inherently unequal was motivated by considerations of political gain.

Journalist Harry Ashmore (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his columns on the subject) portrayed the fight over Central High as a crisis manufactured by Faubus.

Ashmore said that Faubus used the Guard to keep blacks out of Central High School because he was frustrated by the success his political opponents were having in using segregationist rhetoric to arouse white voters.

On September 5, 1957, Eisenhower sent a telegram to Faubus in which he wrote "The only assurance I can give you is that the Federal Constitution will be upheld by me by every legal means at my command."

The quoted "friendly and constructive discussion" led to Faubus claiming his desire to comply with his duty to the Constitution, personal opinions aside.

[10] He did stay true to his word and on September 21, President Eisenhower released a statement which announced that Faubus had withdrawn his troops, the Little Rock School Board was carrying out desegregation plans, and local law was ready to keep order.

[11] On September 23, however, Little Rock Mayor Woodrow W. Mann sent a telegram to Eisenhower stating a mob had formed at Central High School.

[12] In October 1957, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and ordered them to return to their armories which effectively removed them from Faubus's control.

[citation needed] The State knew forced integration by the federal government was going to meet with unfavorable results from the Little Rock public.

He maintained a defiant, populist image, while he shifted toward a less confrontational stance with the federal government, particularly during the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, with each of whom he remained cordial, and both of whom carried Arkansas.

In 1962, Faubus broke with the White Citizens' Councils and other groups, who preferred, but did not officially endorse, U.S. Representative Dale Alford in that year's gubernatorial primary.

[15] Faubus cast himself as a moderate, he completely ignored the race issue during the 1962 election campaign, and barely secured a majority over Alford, McMath, and three other candidates.

During the 1969 season, Faubus was hired by new owner Jess Odom to be general manager of his Li'l Abner theme park in the Ozark Mountains, Dogpatch USA.