Huckabee

by Scott Lamb

  When asked whether he thinks he would have won the election without Morris’s help, Huckabee said, “Probably not. . . . I mean, he wasn’t the only factor. It was a grassroots effort by many people. But we were able to stop the Democratic machine somehow. But probably not without Dick.”10

  Now that he was elected, it was time to show up for work. Huckabee put on his suit and headed to the office of the lieutenant governor—his new office. But when he reached the door and pulled on the handle, nothing happened. The door “seemed to be jammed or blocked,” Huckabee said.11

  “Oh, we’ve designated that room for a committee meeting,” Huckabee was told. But a few minutes later the story was something different. What was going on? Huckabee discovered that the door had been nailed shut from the inside, and not just with one or two nails, but all around the entire door frame. This wasn’t a random act of vandalism or a prank gone too far. The secretary of state for Arkansas controlled the use of that building, and he had allowed (or requested) the door to be nailed shut.

  Apparently, the idea of a Republican crashing in on the government was more than some people could handle. After all, Huckabee was only the fourth Republican since Reconstruction to be elected to a statewide constitutional office. His very presence in the capitol represented something the Democrats were not yet prepared to accept. For the next fifty-nine days, Huckabee pulled a table and chair into the hallway outside his door and used the makeshift office to conduct his business. The nails eventually came out and the door was opened. But once inside, Huckabee discovered that all the office furniture was gone. And before Huckabee had taken over the position, the staff had spent the entire remaining budget for the year. What was worse, the ornery behavior was systemic throughout Little Rock. It took him four months to get letterhead made because the requisitions office kept rejecting his request. Finally, he just took out his wallet and paid for some to be made at his own expense, bypassing the blockage.

  As for Gov. Jim Tucker, Huckabee said that they got along well with each other. “In fact, I had a much better working relationship with Tucker than he had experienced with Governor Clinton. The two of them had been rivals for years.”12

  When it came time for reelection one year later, Huckabee had a much easier time securing a victory. He earned 58 percent of the vote over his Democratic challenger, Charlie Cole Chaffin. Though the Clintons had once again assisted Huckabee’s opponent, the help failed to secure a victory for the second election in a row. Dick Morris again gave campaign strategy to Huckabee, even as he was also coaching Clinton on his messaging in support of the midterm elections. This was 1994, the first midterm election since Clinton was elected. Newt Gingrich had offered his “Contract with America” as a campaign promise from the Republicans, and the national results of the election would reveal a backlash against the Clintons. Plus, there had already been scandals in the White House, and some Arkansans felt that the Clintons were embarrassing them. None of the three Hope, Arkansas, friends who came to Washington with Clinton to serve in the White House (McLarty, Watkins, and Foster) had made it to the midterm elections. The point being, 1994 was a good year for Republicans due to Clinton’s miscues and policies.

  As for the effects of the rough treatment Huckabee received from Democrats, he believes the incidents helped him in his 1994 bid for reelection. “The Democrats unintentionally transformed me from a vile Republican to a friend of the common folk. People in Arkansas . . . may be yellow dog Democrats, but deep down there were a lot of people who seemed to say, ‘I didn’t vote for him, and I don’t like Republicans, but he won the election—so let’s treat him right.’ They were embarrassed for their own party at the kind of treatment I was receiving, and the sympathy worked in our favor.”13

  Huckabee settled into the duties of being lieutenant governor, although those tasks did not provide a full sense of achievement for someone who longed to make a real difference in the world. So, when Senator Mark Pryor announced, in the early months of 1996, that he would be vacating his seat in the U.S. Senate, Huckabee decided to enter the race. He was leading in the polls in the spring and appeared to have a good chance of winning in the fall. Having been in the statewide spotlight for four years, certainly his chances would be better this time around than they were in 1992.

  But becoming a United States senator would not be in Huckabee’s future. In May 1996, Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud in a Whitewater-related case. The Arkansas Constitution forbids a convicted felon from holding office, so Tucker stated he would be resigning his office on July 15. Both the conviction and Tucker’s decision to resign surprised many people, including Huckabee. It was at this time that Huckabee turned away from the idea of running for the Senate. He told World magazine, “Putting that aside has been very difficult. When you’ve worked so hard for something, you funnel every ounce of your energy toward it, and your fingers are all but touching the prize, then abruptly something changes the whole structure of the world for you: Do you keep reaching or do you withdraw your hand?”14

  Tim Hutchinson stepped into Huckabee’s spot on the Republican ticket and won the election, becoming Arkansas’s first Republican senator in more than one hundred years. Hutchinson had less name recognition than Huckabee, yet still won—giving every evidence that Huckabee himself would have won.

  Instead, with forty-five days to prepare for becoming the forty-fourth governor of Arkansas, Huckabee began to assemble his staff and prepare his vision of governance. The press said he would be an “accidental governor,” and people predicted his tenure would be short. It was still assumed that Arkansans didn’t want Republicans in Little Rock. In the Arkansas House, eighty-eight out of the one hundred representatives came from the Democratic Party. In the Arkansas Senate, twenty-eight out of thirty-five were Democrats. Little Rock was the domain of the Democrats.

  It is fascinating to consider how close Huckabee came to never making it into statewide elected office. Nick Coulter should have won that 1993 campaign, and probably would have had anyone taken Huckabee seriously. Dick Morris should have been working for Democrats alone, except that was not his economic style. He had Arkansas-specific skills for hire, and Huckabee was a willing buyer. Morris’s working both sides of the aisle led to Huckabee’s 1993 win. Had Huckabee lost, that would have been his second defeat in nine months. Who can say what would have happened to his political career after a second loss? For certain, he would not have been in a position to take over for Tucker and become the governor. So, in a very real sense, all events in Huckabee’s life after the 1993 election victory came about because of that 51–49 vote. Had 2,500 voters marked their ballots differently and voted for Coulter, Huckabee’s ascent to the governor’s office and candidacy for the president of the United States would have never happened.

  After the campaign loss in 1992, Sitzes told Huckabee “something good will come of all this.” And something good did happen. Had Huckabee not run for the Senate, he would not have earned statewide name recognition or built up a grassroots organization of support. In other words, Huckabee’s victory over Coulter in 1993 sat on the foundation of the failed 1992 campaign against Bumpers. The loss bought the win. As the title of Tom Petty’s song declares, “Even the losers get lucky sometimes.”

  Furthermore, it must be noted that Jim Tucker’s conviction may never have happened had it not been for the national political scene. Because of the desire to discover and convict the Clintons of crime in the Whitewater investigation, a significant amount of time and resources were spent on the investigation. And part of that effort led to peripheral convictions—like that of Jim Tucker. If not for the Clinton-related scandals, Tucker would have served out the remainder of his term of office, and then Lieutenant Governor Huckabee would have run and likely won a seat in the U.S. Senate. Huckabee would have missed his opportunity to be used where his executive skills were best put to use—in the
pressure-filled work of the executive branch of Arkansas government.

  Under pressure, indeed, from the very first day.

  CHAPTER 24

  UNDER PRESSURE

  July 15, 1996–November 1998

  It was a bombshell. Everyone was stunned. There was a moment when no one really knew who the governor was.

  —RICK CALDWELL, MIKE HUCKABEE’S FRIEND FROM BOYS STATE AND OBU

  WHEN MIKE HUCKABEE BECAME ONLY THE THIRD REPUBLICAN since Reconstruction to take the oath of office as governor, he faced a hostile legislature composed of 80 to 90 percent Democrats. Further, the media in Little Rock were neither unbiased nor Republican. It is no surprise, therefore, that he had plenty of critics from the left that no amount of winsomeness and personal charm could overcome. But he also regularly found himself in battle with colleagues from the right who disagreed with Huckabee’s pragmatic approach to governance.

  The next three chapters cover Huckabee’s three terms of office from 1996 through 2007. No attempt is made to cover every policy, program, and event in the state of Arkansas over the course of that decade. Instead, we will focus on some broad themes, initiatives, and events that aid in our understanding of the principles that led Huckabee in his duties as the chief executive officer of the state. In doing so, one may discern how Huckabee would also lead the United States of America. The particulars change from year to year, but the principles remain the same in a person led by conviction rather than politics or party.

  Queen’s song “Under Pressure” ends with a passionate appeal for people to slow down from the pressure of modern life long enough to notice and care for those who are going under. Tornado survivors, school shooting victims and their families, impoverished kids, murderers and relatives of the murdered: being a state governor brought Huckabee into contact with a never-ending stream of people affected by tragedy and trial. The pressure on them created pressure on him to govern well. How would he hold up?

  One thing is for sure: the stress of governance hardly ever stripped Huckabee of his sense of humor. His philosophy, both in life generally and politics specifically, is “Take God seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.” Huckabee attributes this way of looking at life as an inheritance from his father.1 It served Dorsey well as a fireman in stressful situations, and it would serve his son well while governing the state.

  Since Huckabee was polling 20 percentage points higher than the Democratic candidate was in his 1996 campaign for U.S. Senate, he seemed headed to Washington. Of course, as things turned out, Huckabee changed course and wound up as the governor. Either way, his father did not live to see the outcome of all the political motion surrounding his son that spring. “As he was dying,” recalls Pat Harris, “Dad said, ‘I know I’m not gonna make it, but I sure wish I could.’ ”2 Dorsey died on March 31; Huckabee was sworn into office on July 15.

  Rick Caldwell describes the events in Little Rock on July 15 as both the “darkest and brightest hour” for the state of Arkansas.3 Outgoing governor Jim Tucker, forced by the Arkansas Constitution to resign due to his Whitewater-related conviction, had set his resignation to be effective at noon that day.4

  That morning, Huckabee’s friends and family all arrived in Little Rock for the inauguration. Many people had already taken jobs with his administration and were in the process of moving to the city. But unbeknownst to anyone, Tucker came to the decision that it was in his best interest to hold on to his office, at least until he appealed the original conviction. After all, Arkansans voted him into office. He figured they would stand by him through this setback. Meanwhile, Huckabee was under the assumption that he would become the acting governor as of noon.

  At 11:55, just five minutes before Huckabee planned to walk to the legislative chambers and be sworn in, Tucker called and told Huckabee of his decision to forgo the resignation. “It was a bombshell,” Caldwell recalled. “Everyone was stunned. There was a moment when no one really knew who the governor was.”5

  That’s when Huckabee took a strong stand of leadership and communicated to Tucker that this was unacceptable. “I would strongly disagree with the actions that you are taking today,” Huckabee said to Tucker. “You are now going back on what you told the people, and it seems to me that your actions are being done in your interests, not in the interests of the people of Arkansas.”6

  Tucker’s idea was to hold back the resignation but relinquish his duties to Huckabee for a temporary period until he had a chance to appeal his conviction. The state would be in leadership limbo until then, but Tucker would not lose his governorship.

  Huckabee rallied the state legislature. Though a predominantly Democratic assembly, they sided with Huckabee against Tucker. The New York Times was on hand and wrote that the “Arkansas Capitol was enveloped by barely contained confusion and undisguised bipartisan outrage.”7 The legislature agreed that either Tucker must resubmit his resignation immediately or they would begin the process of impeaching him. An aide later described Huckabee as having “an incredible ability to focus” amid all the confusion, and another aide said “he had a very firm grasp of the Constitution” on that day.8 Both of these characteristics served Huckabee well during the tense hours.

  Huckabee had been scheduled to go on television at 5:15 p.m. and give a speech as the new governor, but his prepared, polished speech sat unused on his desk. Instead, after all the adrenaline rush, politicking, confusion, bewilderment, and stress put on everyone who had gathered that day, Huckabee stood in front of the camera and calmly spoke to the citizens of the state he was to govern for the next decade.

  Without notes or preparation, Huckabee said, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I fully expected to address you as the governor of the state of Arkansas.” He then explained what had transpired and how he and the legislators would begin impeachment procedures against Tucker in the morning. Huckabee concluded, “Let me simply express to you we want America to see the best we are and come to understand Arkansas is truly a small but wonderful state with wonderful, wonderful people. God bless, and good night.”9

  Eyewitnesses to the speech were amazed at Huckabee’s repose and off-the-cuff polish displayed in the speech. “I was astounded at his ability in such a crisis situation to display calm and to calm the whole state through that,” said someone who was next to Huckabee. Another said, “All day long he had a right to be the most frazzled, but he was the calmest person in the building.”10

  In response to the united resolve to impeach him, Tucker relented and resigned. Huckabee was sworn in at 6:45 p.m.

  I, Mike Huckabee, do solemnly swear, will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the state of Arkansas, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor of the state of Arkansas upon which I am about now to enter, so help me God.11

  The “so help me God” may be boilerplate language for some politicians, but when Huckabee spoke those words, he had his favorite Bible verse in mind, Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV). Huckabee said he has depended on that verse since he was fifteen. “I really do look at it that anything that I have been thrust into, I’ll be able to handle because I believe that I have a source that is beyond me that will be able to make it work. The day of my swearing-in as governor when I gave that speech, it was ‘Cameras on . . . Go’—and I did it. People ask how and I tell them it was as if I was lifted out of my body and God said, ‘You’re kind of over your head, kid, but don’t worry. I’m God. I got this.’ ”12

  Huckabee has seen Tucker a few times since that day and says they have a cordial relationship. “I don’t have any harsh things to say about him or what he went through because I don’t walk in his skin,” Huckabee said. “I think there was plenty of deep pain and trouble for him a
nd his family. . . . not something that any of us could celebrate.”13

  The chaos surrounding his inauguration had made the New York Times, and his administration continued to draw the paper’s attention over the first few months of his being in office.

  First, Huckabee refused to authorize a Medicaid payment for an abortion, stating that his first obligation was to obey the constitution of Arkansas, not the federal law. “The State Constitution includes an amendment banning the use of public money for abortion except when a mother’s life is endangered,” explained the New York Times. “The Federal statute requires that Medicaid pay for abortions that are performed on poor women in cases of rape or incest or threat to the mother’s life.” This situation involved a case of incest between a stepfather and his fifteen-year-old daughter who an official said was “likely developmentally disabled.”14 Huckabee said that neither the amount of the money involved ($430) nor the fact that he was pro-life determined his response. Rather, the state was currently involved in a lawsuit filed by an abortion opponent, and Huckabee’s administration believed paying the Medicaid payment for this abortion would jeopardize their case.

  In a New York Times story a few days later, he said, “This isn’t the 1957 school crisis . . . This is the 1973 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. We were perfectly free not to lower our speed limit as Congress directed. But we were also free to lose every last dollar of Federal highway aid as a result.” That article closed with this: “Ms. Brownstein [the attorney for the teen’s abortion provider] said the supremacy clause does require Arkansas to yield to the Federal law.”15 This “state versus federal” dialogue should sound familiar, because Huckabee continues to have the same dialogue two decades later—though the precise items have changed.