Jim Guy Tucker

Born on June 14, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Jim Guy Tucker and his family moved to Arkansas not long after his birth. After attending public school in Little Rock, Jim Guy went to Harvard University and graduated with a bachelor of arts in government in 1964. While attending the University of Arkansas Law School, he also served as a civilian correspondent in the Marine Corps Reserves, which he wrote about in his 1968 book Arkansans at War. After graduating in 1968, he became a member of the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock until 1970, when he won the position of prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District, and following this, Jim Guy found himself elected as Arkansas Attorney General in 1972. As success followed success for Jim Guy, he married Betty Allen in 1975 and won election to represent the Second Congressional District in 1976. However, when he decided to run for the Senate against David Pryor, he lost in the primaries.

After this defeat, he went into private law practice as a partner in the Tucker and Stafford firm. After losing in another race against Bill Clinton as governor in 1982, he stayed in law practice until 1990, when he won the position of Lieutenant Governor; however, Bill Clinton campaigned for presidency in 1991, and Jim Guy became the acting governor, and when Clinton resigned in 1992, Jim Guy officially became governor. It wasn't long into his governorship before he began experiencing controversy, though. When he attended Clinton's inauguration in 1993, acting governor Jerry Jewell pardoned two convicts and extend executive clemency to three others. When he returned to this news, he set forth to limiting the powers of an acting governor. In 1994, Jim Guy was officially elected into the position of governor to a four-year term, but this term was quickly marred by the Whitewater investigation involving Clinton. In 1996, he was convicted of misapplying a $150,000 loan, and since a felon cannot serve as governor, he was forced to resign from office, and Mike Huckabee was his replacement.