| The Young Democrats of Arkansas was started in 1945, by young Arkansans returning from WW II. One of these men, William J. Smith, paid a visit to Robert E. Hannegan, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to ask for assistance in forming a Young Democrats group in Arkansas. Chairman Hannegan informed Smith that the National YD office had been closed and there was no national assistance available. However, he encouraged Smith to return to Arkansas and go to work on starting Young Democrats on his own.
Smith (later a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court) rounded up several friends, including future Governor Sid McMath and future Lt. Governor and Congressional Medal of Honor winner Nathan Gordon, and commenced to organizing. Within one year, the Young Democrats of Arkansas had a chapter in every Arkansas county. Subsequently, the Young Democrats invited Hannegan to a banquet in Little Rock and presented him with a check to reopen the Young Democrats of America office in Washington.
SidMcMath
Nathan Gordon
Currently there are more than 50 Young Democrats chapters across Arkansas with almost 4500 members. The Young Democrats are involved in political campaigns, sponsor voter registration drives and are active in community affairs. Young Democrat Shane Broadway was elected Speaker of the House for the 2000 legislative session. In 2006 Arkansas Young Democrat Dustin McDaniel was elected the youngest Attorney General in the nation at 34. The Young Democrats are active in the day to day operations of the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Alums
Arkansas Young Democrats Ed Fry and Mark Stodola(now Little Rock Mayor) went on to become National YD Presidents in the 1980's. Other prominent alums are former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater, and the late White House Legal Counsel Vince Foster.
|
Young Democrats of Arkansas Presidents
|
| '45-'46 |
|
John Mosby |
|
'72-'73 |
|
Ron Oliver
|
| '46-'47 |
|
Sid McMath |
|
'73-'74 |
|
Kirby Smith III |
| '47-'48 |
|
Henry Woods |
|
'74-'76 |
|
Greg Brown |
| '48-'51 |
|
Frank H. Cox, Jr. |
|
'76-'78 |
|
Jerry Webster |
| '51-'53 |
|
Doug Bradley |
|
'78-'81 |
|
Mark Stodola |
| '53-'57 |
|
Dan Stevens |
|
'81-'83 |
|
Vincent Insalaco |
| '57-'58 |
|
Harold Gwatney |
|
'83-'85 |
|
Ann Henderson Gilbert |
| '58-'60 |
|
Milas Hale |
|
'85-'87 |
|
R. Greg Reep |
| '61-'62 |
|
Jimmy Patton |
|
'87-'89 |
|
D. Grant Carwile |
| '62-'63 |
|
Gerald Kieth |
|
'89-'91 |
|
Dina C. Wood |
| '63-'64 |
|
John Hale |
|
'93-'95 |
|
Roby Brock |
| '64-'65 |
|
John Browning |
|
'95-'97 |
|
Pat O'Brien |
| '65-'66 |
|
Sam Boyce |
|
'97-'98 |
|
Glen Hooks |
| '66-'67 |
|
Marjorie Malin |
|
'98-'99 |
|
Chris May |
| '67-'68 |
|
Roy Lee Hight |
|
'99-'01 |
|
Justin Mitchell |
| '68-'69 |
|
John Trumbo |
|
'01-'03 |
|
Laura Beth Corless |
| '69-'70 |
|
Jerry Jackson |
|
'03-'05 |
|
John Wilkerson |
| '70-'71 |
|
Bob L. Gibson |
|
'05-'07 |
|
Josh Blevins |
| '71-'72 |
|
Herby Branscum |
|
'07-'09
|
|
Will Gruber |
|
|
|
|
'09-
|
|
Chris Burks |
|
