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Ray Thornton | |
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| Associate Justice of theArkansas Supreme Court | |
| In office 1997–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Robert H. Dudley |
| Succeeded by | Jim Gunter |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1991 – January 1, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Tommy F. Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Vic Snyder |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | David Pryor |
| Succeeded by | Beryl Anthony Jr. |
| 48thAttorney General of Arkansas | |
| In office January 12, 1971 – January 9, 1973 | |
| Governor | Dale Bumpers |
| Preceded by | Joe Purcell |
| Succeeded by | Jim Guy Tucker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Raymond Hoyt Thornton Jr. (1928-07-16)July 16, 1928 Conway, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Died | April 13, 2016(2016-04-13) (aged 87) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
Raymond Hoyt Thornton Jr. (July 16, 1928 – April 13, 2016)[1][2][3] was an American attorney and politician. He was aDemocraticU.S. Representative forArkansas's 4th congressional district from 1973 to 1979 and the2nd district from 1991 to 1997.[2] He served as an associate justice on theArkansas Supreme Court from 1997 to 2004.[4]
Thornton was born in Conway, Arkansas, on July 16, 1928, to Wilma Stephens and Raymond Thornton. A graduate ofSheridan High School, Thornton earned a degree inpolitical science fromYale University and, later, aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of Arkansas School of Law atFayetteville,Arkansas.[1][2] He served in theUnited States Navy during theKorean War, including service on the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Seat (CV-47), and reached the rank of lieutenant.[1]
Thornton returned to law school after returning from Korea and graduated in 1956, the same year he married Betty Jo Mann of Sheridan, Arkansas, his wife for 60 years. For more than 13 years, Thornton served as General Counsel for Stephens Inc. and Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co., businesses owned by his maternal uncle Wilton (Witt) Stephens. He left the private sector to seek public office and was elected as Arkansas Attorney General in 1970.[3] He was elected two years later to Congress. He defeated fellow DemocratsRichard S. Arnold ofTexarkana andRichard Mays, El Dorado in the primary, with no Republican in the race. All three were lawyers and remained lifelong friends. Thornton went on to serve three terms in the House. He distinguished himself as a member of theJudiciary Committee, which consideredarticles ofimpeachment againstU.S. PresidentRichard Nixon. He was among three southern Democrats and four moderate Republicans who drafted the articles adopted by the committee.
Thornton did not run for a fourth term in the House. Instead, he ran for theSenate but narrowly lost a runoff berth in the Democratic primary to his colleague from the Second District,Jim Guy Tucker, and his colleague from the Fourth District who had also served two terms as Arkansas Governor,David Pryor, with Governor Pryor prevailing in the primary and without Republican opposition in November.
After his defeat in the Senate race, Thornton became involved in education, leading a consortium for cooperative academics at Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University, located side-by-side in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Then he served from 1980 to 1984 as the seventh President ofArkansas State University and then President of theUniversity of Arkansas System from 1984 to 1990. In 1990, Thornton ran for Congress in theLittle Rock-based Second District, which included his birthplace of Conway, and won by a 61.5% margin over the Republican nominee,Jim Keet, then a state representative and the subsequent unsuccessful 2010 GOP gubernatorial nominee againstMike Beebe. In January 1997, after another three terms with only nominal opposition, Thornton left Congress, seeking a seat as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, for which he was unopposed.
Thornton was elected as a justice of theArkansas Supreme Court, serving from January 1997 to January 2005.[3] After retiring from the court, he became the first public service fellow for theWilliam H. Bowen School of Law at theUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock. In 2009, he became the first chairman of the Arkansas Lottery Commission after his appointment to a six-year term.[3] Ready for retirement, Thornton resigned that post after serving a year, during which the Commission supervised the establishment of theArkansas Scholarship Lottery.[5]
Thornton died in Little Rock on April 13, 2016, at the age of 87.[6]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Attorney General of Arkansas 1971–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of theArkansas Supreme Court 1997–2005 | Succeeded by Jim Gunter |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's 4th congressional district January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's 2nd congressional district January 3, 1991 – January 1, 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theUniversity of Arkansas System 1984–1990 | Succeeded by B. Alan Sugg |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
