Dale Alford

Dale Alford
Dale Alford
U.S. RepresentativefromArkansas's 5th congressional district
In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1963
Preceded by	Brooks Hays
Succeeded by	Position eliminated byreapportionment
Little Rock School Board
In office 1955–1958
Personal details
Born	Thomas Dale Alford (1916-01-28)January 28, 1916 Newhope, Arkansas,U.S.
Died	January 25, 2000(2000-01-25)(aged 83) Little Rock, Arkansas,U.S.
Resting place	Mount Holly Cemeteryin Little Rock
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	L'Moore Smith Alford (married 1940; deceased)
Children	Thomas D. Alford, Jr. (died 1989) L'Moore Fontaine Alford (died 2001) Anne Maury Alford Winans
Alma mater	Arkansas State University University of Central Arkansas University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Occupation	Ophthalmologist
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army United States Army Medical Corps
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	World War II

Thomas Dale Alford Sr.(January 28, 1916 – January 25, 2000)was an Americanophthalmologistandpoliticianfrom theU.S. stateofArkansaswho served as aconservative Democratin theUnited States House of RepresentativesfromLittle Rockfrom 1959 to 1963.

Early years and education

Alford was born to Thomas H. Alford and the former Ida Womack in the small community ofNewhopenearMurfreesboroinPike Countyin southwestern Arkansas. He attendedpublic schoolsatRectorinClay Countyin far northeastern Arkansas. He graduated fromhigh schoolin 1932, a year ahead of schedule.

Alford first attendedArkansas State CollegeinJonesboroin eastern Arkansas, followed by theArkansas State Teachers CollegeinConway,and received his medical degree in 1939 from theUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciencesat Little Rock.

Military service and medical practice

Alford served as acaptainduringWorld War IIin theUnited States Army Medical Corpsfrom 1940 to 1946. He was on active duty as a surgeon in theEuropean Theaterof operations. Afterwards, from 1947 to 1948, he was anassistant professoratMethodist-affiliatedEmory University School of MedicineinAtlanta,Georgia.

Elections to Congress, 1958 and 1960

Alford was elected as awrite-in candidatein the 1958general electionthat occurred in the aftermath of theLittle Rock Crisis.He was only the second write-in candidate ever to have been elected to the House. (TheRepublicanJoe Skeenwas thereafter elected to the House fromNew Mexicoas a write-in candidate in 1980.) Alford jumped into the election againstincumbentU.S. RepresentativeBrooks Hayswho had endorsed theintegrationofLittle Rock Central High School.Alford supporters printed thousands of stickers with his name on them and handed them out at polling places. Hays maintained a lead during the counting until an extra twenty boxes arrived bearing ballots with Alford stickers. Ultimately, Alford prevailed, 30,739 (51 percent) to Hays' 29,483 (49 percent).

Osro Cobb,theUnited States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas,recalled that:

There were loud protests and allegations of irregularities and fraud from Hays supporters. Because it was a federal election, I had agrand juryimpaneled, and an order was obtained from the U.S. District Court that impounded all of the ballots cast for review by the grand jury. When the grand jury completed its minute review of all the votes cast, it was established that the count had been unusually accurate for each candidate [Alford and Hays], and the grand jury was so outraged by the allegations made and the lack of evidence to support them that it seriously considered indicting those who had made the accusations. I was surprised by Hays' defeat because I did not realize the extent and commitment of the majority of the voters in the Fifth Congressional District to separate-but-equal schools in lieu of integration, which they feared would destroy their schools.

In 1960, Alford won his second term in the House with 57,617 votes (82.7 percent) to Republican L. J. Churchill (1902–1987) ofDoverinPope Countyin northwestern Arkansas, who received 12,054 ballots (17.3 percent).Churchill was a highly regarded civic and political figure in Dover. A CumberlandPresbyterianand aMason,Churchill served asmayorof Dover and on the municipal school board, both nonpartisan positions. He had been state chairman of theAgricultural Stabilization and Conservation Serviceof theUnited States Department of Agriculture.He operated L.J. Churchill's General Merchandise Store and was a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Dover.

Two gubernatorial races

Alford's Little Rock-based district was merged withArkansas's 2nd congressional district,represented by the chairman of theHouse Ways and Means Committee,Wilbur D. Mills,after the 1960censusrevealed that Arkansas had grown at less than the national average during the 1950s. Rather than face certain defeat in the 1962 Democratic primary against Mills, at the time an icon in Arkansas politics, Alford instead chose to enter the primary againstincumbentGovernor Orval Faubus. In an active campaign, Faubus polled a narrow majority over Alford, former GovernorSidney Sanders McMath,Vernon H. Whitten, and two other candidates. Faubus received 208,996 ballots (51.6 percent) to McMath's 83,437 (20.6 percent), Alford's 82,815 (20.4 percent), and Whitten's 22,377 (5.5 percent). Faubus then prevailed with ease over the Republican nominee,FayettevillepharmacistWillis Ricketts.

Alford ran for governor again in 1966 and finished fourth with 53,531 votes (12.7 percent). He received fewer voters than his old nemesisBrooks Hays,who with 64,814 (15.4 percent) finished third in the primary balloting. Therunoffpositions went to formerArkansas Supreme CourtJusticesJames D. Johnson,a segregationist, andFrank Holt.Johnson narrowly defeated Holt in the Democratic runoff but then lost to RepublicanWinthrop Rockefellerin the general election. In 1984, Alford entered the Democratic primary election for Congress in Central Arkansas's Second District for the open seat being vacated by RepublicanEd Bethune.Appearing to many voters as a throwback to another era, Alford ran a distant fifth in a race ultimately won by Pulaski County SheriffTommy Robinson.Alford, was far outpolled by African-American Thedford Collins, a Little Rock banker and former aide to U.S. SenatorDavid Pryor.

Alford's death

Alford died in Little Rock ofcongestive heart failureon January 25, 2000, three days shy of his eighty-third birthday.

References

Adapted from the articleDale Alford,fromWikinfo,licensed under theGNU Free Documentation License.