Edwin Ruthvin Bethune Jr. (born December 19, 1935), known as Ed Bethune, is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and novelist in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, who was a Republican member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

from 1979–1985.

Early years, education, military, legal practice

Bethune was born to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Bethune Sr. in

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

. He graduated in 1953 from Pocahontas High School. He was a

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

from 1954–1957, with service in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. After military service, Bethune obtained his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1961 from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

at Fayetteville, where he was a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. He received the

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1963 and was admitted to the Arkansas bar that same year.

Career

That year he began his practice in Pocahontas. In 1972, while he was living in Searcy north of

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, he practiced with former

Arkansas Republican Party The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), headquartered at 1201 West 6th Street in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Arkansas. It is currently the dominant p ...

chairman Odell Pollard, who served as his political mentor. Bethune also was admitted to practice before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. He was a prosecuting attorney for the First Judicial District of Arkansas from 1970–1971. He was chairman of the Ninth District

Federal Home Loan Bank Board The Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) was a U.S. board created by the Federal Home Loan Bank Act in 1932 that governed the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB or FHLBanks), also created by the act; the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporatio ...

from 1973–1976.

Political career

Campaign for state attorney general, 1972

In 1972, Bethune was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Arkansas

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

against the Democrat James Guy Tucker Jr. Tucker defeated Bethune, 370,647 (60 percent) to 247,404 (40 percent).

Election to the U.S. House, 1978

Bethune was chosen in 1979 as the president of the U.S. House Republican freshman class. He was reelected with ease in 1980—he polled 159,148 votes (78.9 percent) to 42,278 (21 percent) for his Democratic opponent,

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

James G. Reid. Once in the House, Bethune made federal taxes and spending his chief concern. Bethune opposed Reagan's proposal to sell AWACS fighter planes to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, which was against the advice of Israel. Bethune joined Senators Bumpers and Pryor to veto a proposal to override Arkansas' 10 percent interest ceiling for retail loans.

Election of 1982

In 1982, a year of widespread election of Democrats, Bethune had a harder race. He did not begin campaigning until the final three weeks of the contest, as he had been confident of winning a third term. His opponent was the Democratic former

state Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Charles Lindbergh George Sr. (born ca. 1929), from Cabot. George was not the Democrats' first choice; party leaders failed to persuade Little Rock attorney Sandy Sidney McMath (born ca. 1942), the son of the former governor, Sidney Sanders McMath, to challenge Bethune. Bethune survived the challenge and gained re-election: 96,775 (53.9 percent) to George's 82,913 (46.1 percent). It was his last election victory.

U.S. Senate campaign, 1984

In 1984, Bethune sought the Senate seat against the incumbent Senator Pryor. He was decisively defeated, with Pryor receiving 502,341 votes (57.3 percent) to Bethune's 373,615 (42.7 percent). After leaving Congress, Bethune served from 1986–1988 as the Arkansas Republican Party state Chairman. He resisted suggestions that he run for governor in 1986, and the nomination went to Frank White.

References

Retrieved on 2008-04-01 *''Arkansas Gazette'', November 5, 1972; October 23, 1981; November 29, 1981; March 31, 1982; May 9, 1982; July 31, 1982; August 1, 1982; October 24, 1982 *''Arkansas Democrat'', August 10, 18, 20, 1982 *''Arkansas Outlook'', Republican Party newspaper, September 1972; July 1978 *John C. Topping Jr., ed., "1978 Election Preview"', ''Ripon Forum'', September/October 1978, p. 11 *''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report'', February 15, 1978, p. 424; February 27, 1982, p. 362; October 14, 1978, p. 2804 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930135721/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/firmsum.asp?txtname=Ed+Bethune+&+Assoc&year=1999 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930121642/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/firmsum.asp?txtname=Ed+Bethune+&+Assoc&year=1998 *http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/10tran.html *http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/01/10/gingrich.ethics/excerpts.shtml *https://archive.today/20130209115128/http://wired-vig.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1997/01/1397 *http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/10/09/delay_assails_panel_accusers/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+National+News *''Election Statistics'', 1972, 1978, 1980, 1982, and 1984, Little Rock: Secretary of State *http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethune, Edwin 1935 births People from Pocahontas, Arkansas United States Marines Arkansas lawyers University of Arkansas alumni Arkansas Republican state chairmen Living people Candidates in the 1984 United States elections American United Methodists 2020 United States presidential electors Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas Members of Congress who became lobbyists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives