University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

Page 30 text:

GOVERNOR SIDNEY McMATH The State of Arkansas ' first citizen is a 1936 graduate of the university. He virtually, in one long stride, stepped from the presidency of As¬ sociated Students in 1936 to Governor of the state in 1948. Governor McMath was elected in 1948 as the youngest governor in the history of the State of Arkansas. He was reelected in 1950 for his sec¬ ond term. During his energetic administration as gover¬ nor a multi-million dollar highway building pro¬ gram has been instituted, a new governor ' s man¬ sion has been built and much nationwide public¬ ity has been brought to the state through the governor ' s out-of-state addresses. While still in school at the university, the gov¬ ernor was very active in campus organizations and in 1935 he was business manager of the Razorback. Upon his graduation, he carried with him his interest in the goings-on on the Fayette¬ ville campus even while serving as an officer with the United States Marines on Guadalcanal and throughout the Pacific. Having returned home at the end of the war, Governor McMath, on a veteran ' s ticket, ran for Prosecuting Attorney in his home town of Hot Springs and unseated an old, established political organization there. From this post he was elected Governor.