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1974: Dale Bumpers successfully challenges J. William Fulbright in the Democratic primary and wins election to the U.S. Senate. David Pryor of Camden is elected Governor. University of Arkansas Law School professor William J. Clinton loses his race for the Third District Congressional seat.
1975: Following the end of the Vietnam conflict, significant numbers of Vietnamese immigrants are relocated to Camp Chaffee, near Fort Smith, where many eventually settle. On October 11, Professor William Clinton marries Hillary Rodham.
1976: Professor Clinton is elected attorney-general, advocating victim compensation, the rights of the elderly, tough ethics laws for public officials, tighter oversight of utilities and opposing the twenty-five-cent pay phone call.
1978: Attorney-General Bill Clinton is elected governor.
1980: Arkansas is ranked in the top five states in percentage of population over the age of 65, due to the “Retiree Movement.” In May, the Federal government informs Governor Clinton that Camp Chaffee will house 120,000 Cuban “Freedom flotilla” refugees. Bill Clinton is defeated by Frank White, once a Democrat, in his bid for a second term as governor.
1982: Arkansas’ “creation science” law is overturned in Federal District Court; Bill Clinton is re-elected governor.
1986: Clinton again is re-elected, this time for a four-year term.
1990: Governor Clinton wins a fifth term as governor. Latinos are Arkansas’ the fastest-growing minority population. Tyson Foods of Springdale is the largest broiler chicken processor in the nation.
1991: On October 3, Governor Clinton announces he will run for the presidency of the United States. Lt. Governor Jim Guy Tucker becomes acting Governor in Clinton’s absence. October 18 sees the last issue of the Arkansas Gazette, the “oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi.”
1992: Bill Clinton is elected the 42nd President of the United States. Lieutenant Governor Jim Guy Tucker becomes governor.
1996: Republican Tim Hutchinson is elected to the U.S. Senate, the first of his party in over 100 years to represent the state in Washington. Governor Tucker resigns his office in July and is succeeded by Republican Lieutenant Governor Mike Huckabee. In November, Bill Clinton wins re-election to the Presidency.
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