Orval Eugene Faubus was a six-term Democratic Governor of Arkansas
he cultivated ties with leaders of Arkansas's Democratic Party, particularly with progressive reform Governor Sid McMath
In the 1954 campaign Faubus was compelled to defend his attendance at the defunct northwest Arkansas Commonwealth College in Mena, as well as his early political upbringing. Commonwealth College had been formed by leftist academic and social activists, some of whom later were revealed to have had close ties with the Communist Party United States of America.
The 1954 election made Faubus sensitive to attacks from the political right. It has been suggested that this sensitivity contributed to his later stance against integration (YEAH, RIGHT!) when he was challenged by segregationist elements within his own party.
Though Faubus later lost general popularity as a result of his stand against desegregation, at the time he was included among the "Ten Men in the World Most Admired by Americans", according to the Gallup Poll for 1958.
Beyond initial matters of racial integration, Faubus always was regarded as a progressive.
While he was still an outcast from black leaders, Faubus nevertheless won a large percent of the black vote. In 1964, when he easily defeated the Republican Winthrop Rockefeller, Faubus secured 81 percent of the black vote.