David Pryor, former Arkansas governor, U.S. congressman and senator, dies at 89

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A long-time figure in Arkansas politics has died.

David Pryor, former governor, U.S. congressman and senator, and former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, has died. He was 89 years old.

He was born Aug. 29, 1934, in Camden, in Ouachita County, to William Edgar and Susan Pryor. His father and grandfather were county sheriffs; his mother was the first woman in Arkansas to run for elective office as county circuit clerk.

Pryor graduated from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville in 1957 with a degree in government. He went on to get a law degree in 1964, the same year he was admitted to the bar. His law career was brief before entering elected office.

He married Barbara Jean Lunsford on Nov. 8, 1957.

In the interim between undergraduate and law school studies, Pryor was the founder and publisher of the Ouachita Citizen newspaper. The Citizen was a progressive voice in the state’s southeast corner, speaking out during the Orval Faubus era in Arkansas.

He continued to oppose the Faubus machine after being elected to the state House of Representatives at 26 in 1960 and reelected in 1962 and 1964. While holding this office, he completed his law studies.

In 1966, Pryor ran for the south Arkansas U.S. Congressional seat against five Democrats and one Republican. He won, and he was then reelected for a second term. In 1972 he ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Sen. John L. McClellan and was defeated, his last political defeat.

Pryor ran for Arkansas governor In 1974, with Orval Faubus as his strongest opponent in the primary. He prevailed and also won the general election, becoming the state’s 39th governor in 1975.

His final political office was as a U.S. Senator. He ran for that seat and won in 1978. In 1984, he won 57% of the vote, and ran again in 1990 with no opponents. He retired from that seat in 1996 after his third full term.

Pryor was known for his highly personal style of connecting with voters and was very popular throughout his tenure. Political scientist Diane Blair named him one of the “Big Three” of Arkansas politics, alongside Bill Clinton and Dale Bumpers.

In Arkansas, he is remembered for calling the constitutional convention that updated the state’s constitution and creating the Arkansas Heritage Department.

While in Congress, he worked on controlling prescription drug costs and preventing the IRS from harassing taxpayers, which led to the 1988 Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

After leaving politics, Pryor became the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2000. In 2004, he was the inaugural dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.