James D. Johnson

James Douglas Johnson, known as Justice Jim Johnson (August 20, 1924 – February 13, 2010), was a former associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, a two-time candidate for governor of Arkansas in 1956 and 1966, and in 1968 an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Early years

Johnson was a native of Crossett, the seat of Ashley County in southern Arkansas, near the Louisiana line. Johnson was said to have admired the political style of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., but was to Long's political right. In 1950. Johnson was elected to the Arkansas State Senate and served until January 1957. In 1956, he did not run again for the legislature because he challenged Governor Orval Eugene Faubus in the Democratic Party primary. Johnson accused the segregationist Faubus of working behind the scenes for racial integration. Johnson finished second in the pivotal Democratic primary with 83,856 votes (26.9 percent). Faubus then defeated the Republican Roy Mitchell to win a second consecutive two-year term as governor.

Being a lifelong staunch segregationist Johnson also played a role in the Little Rock Nine crisis. He was elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1958 and served until 1966, when he resigned to run again for governor. During his legal career, his wife, Virginia Lillian Morris Johnson (January 21, 1928 – June 27, 2007), a Conway native whom he married in 1947, served as his legal secretary.

Campaigns of 1966......

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