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What was the reaction of Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to Eisenhower's federalization of the National Guard?
Executive Summary
Governor Orval Faubus reacted to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s federalization of the Arkansas National Guard with sustained opposition and defiance, having earlier used the state Guard to block Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School and then resisting federal court orders until federal troops enforced desegregation [1] [2] [3]. Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10730, the federalization of the Guard, and the deployment of the 101st Airborne forced Faubus to yield operational control but did not erase his political posture against integration; his actions and communications at the time demonstrate a conflict between state resistance and federal authority [4] [5] [3]. This episode escalated the Little Rock Crisis into a direct confrontation between state and federal power with clear legal and political implications [6] [7].
1. A Governor Who Defied Federal Law — The Immediate Confrontation That Shocked Washington
Orval Faubus initially mobilized the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School, framing his action as maintaining order even as it directly contravened a federal court desegregation order; this use of state military force provoked a presidential response [4] [5]. President Eisenhower responded by federalizing the Arkansas National Guard and subsequently deploying 1,200 U.S. Army paratroopers to ensure the students’ safe entry and enforce Brown v. Board of Education. The federalization did more than change uniforms; it legally removed state control over the Guard and transformed a state blockade into a federal enforcement action, highlighting a constitutional clash over supremacy and civil rights [2] [7].
2. Faubus’s Public Resistance and Private Communications — Evidence of Continued Opposition
Despite the transfer of Guard authority to the federal government, Faubus’s reaction was not conciliatory: he maintained a posture of continued resistance to desegregation, both in public rhetoric and in documented communications, including a telegram to Eisenhower dated September 12, 1957, expressing his displeasure with federal intervention and reiterating his stance [3]. Sources indicate Faubus had previously promised to preserve order and even gave assurances to federal officials at points, but those assurances proved fragile, and his subsequent withdrawal of the Guard earlier in the crisis precipitated a riot that then justified stronger federal action [7]. The arc of Faubus’s behavior shows political calculation as well as a legal refusal to accept federal mandates.
3. Federalization as a Legal and Tactical Counterpunch — What Eisenhower Did and Why
Eisenhower’s decision to federalize the Arkansas National Guard and send the 101st Airborne was a legal assertion of federal supremacy and an operational measure to enforce a court order when state authorities had obstructed it. Contemporary and retrospective accounts describe this as a necessary step to uphold the Supreme Court’s Brown ruling and to protect the Little Rock Nine, converting a state-level obstruction into a matter of national constitutional enforcement [4] [2]. The federal move underscored that state personnel acting to subvert federal court orders could be overridden, and it signaled to other states that the federal government would act when judicial decrees were openly flouted [6].
4. Interpretations Diverge — Political Theater Versus Constitutional Duty
Analyses vary in their framing: some sources stress Faubus’s actions as political grandstanding intended to bolster segregationist credentials, while others emphasize his stated concern for public order as the ostensible rationale for deploying the Guard [8] [7]. The documents and timelines show both elements: Faubus used law-enforcement language to justify the Guard’s presence and simultaneously engaged in political maneuvers that inflamed tensions. Eisenhower’s intervention can be read as compelled constitutional duty to enforce court orders, but critics at the time painted it as federal overreach; the historical record records both the legal necessity and the intense political theater surrounding the crisis [1] [9].
5. Consequences — Who Yielded, Who Won, and What Was Left Unresolved
Operationally, Faubus was compelled to relinquish control of the Arkansas National Guard when federal authority superseded state command, and the Little Rock Nine ultimately attended classes under federal protection, marking a tactical victory for desegregation enforcement [2] [6]. Politically, Faubus retained influence in Arkansas and leveraged the episode in later campaigns, illustrating that yield on the field did not equate to immediate political defeat. The crisis left unresolved questions about long-term enforcement mechanisms, local resistance strategies, and the broader pace of desegregation, ensuring that the federalization episode became a crucial precedent rather than a final solution [9] [5].