Governor of Arkansas in the context of 1986 Arkansas gubernatorial election

William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979 and as the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. His centrist "Third Way" political philosophy became known as Clintonism, which dominated his presidency and the succeeding decades of Democratic Party history.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, and later from Yale Law School, where he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham. After graduating from law school, Clinton returned to Arkansas and won election as state attorney general, followed by two non-consecutive tenures as Arkansas governor. As governor, he overhauled the state's education system and served as chairman of the National Governors Association. Clinton was elected president in the 1992 election, defeating the incumbent Republican president George H. W. Bush, and the independent businessman Ross Perot. He became the first president to be born in the Baby Boomer generation and the youngest to serve two full terms.

Bill Clinton served two tenures as governor of Arkansas. Elected in 1978, Clinton first served as governor for a single term from 1979 until 1981, losing his bid for re-election in 1980. After a two-year interregnum, Clinton returned to the governorship after winning the 1982 election. Clinton would be elected to five further terms (terms were extended from two years to four years beginning with the 1986 election), serving until mid-December 1992, when he resigned amid his transition into the U.S. presidency after having been elected president in the 1992 presidential election. Clinton was the second-longest serving governor in the state's history, after Orval Faubus.

Clinton's first governorship (1979–1981) saw him pursue many liberal policies. He had some successes, including successes with a rural healthcare reform effort by a taskforce that he had appointed his wife, Hillary, to lead. However, his term also saw the implementation of an unpopular motor vehicle tax. After Clinton returned to office for his second governorship in 1983, he was more centrist and was more selective as to what battles he pursued, zeroing in on particular priorities. One main priority was the state's economy, with Clinton providing tax incentives to businesses. Another priority was education, with Clinton and his wife, Hillary, overseeing the creation of significant education reforms. Other matters Clinton addressed included healthcare and lobbying reforms.

The 1992 United States presidential election was the presidential election, held in the United States, on November 3, 1992. The Democratic ticket of Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and Senator from Tennessee Al Gore defeated the Republican ticket of incumbent president George H. W. Bush and vice president Dan Quayle and the independent ticket of businessman Ross Perot and vice admiral James Stockdale. The election marked the end of 12 consecutive years of Republican rule of the White House, as well as the end of a longer period of Republican dominance in American presidential politics that began in 1968, with the exception of Jimmy Carter's narrow victory in 1976.

Bush had alienated many conservatives in his party by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge not to raise taxes, but he fended off a primary challenge from paleoconservative commentator Pat Buchanan without losing a single contest. Bush's popularity following his success in the Gulf War dissuaded high-profile Democratic candidates such as Mario Cuomo from entering the 1992 Democratic primaries. Clinton, a leader of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, established himself as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination by sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries. He defeated former governor of California Jerry Brown, former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas, and other candidates to win the nomination, and chose Tennessee senator Al Gore as his running mate. The billionaire Perot launched an independent campaign, emphasizing his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (which at time was being actively negotiated) and his plan to reduce the national debt.

Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financier John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He was one of the grandchildren of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. As an entrepreneur in Arkansas, he financed many local projects, including a number of new medical clinics in poorer areas, before being elected state governor in 1966, as the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. Despite accusations of lacking insight into the concerns of low-income voters, Rockefeller was re-elected in 1968, and went on to complete the integration of Arkansas schools.

In 1968, he was the favorite son of the Arkansas delegation to the 1968 Republican National Convention. It was widely expected that the Arkansas delegates would switch to his brother, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, on a second ballot. However, Richard Nixon secured the nomination on the first ballot, and the Arkansas delegates switched to Nixon instead.

Joseph Taylor Robinson (August 26, 1872 – July 14, 1937) was an American politician who served as United States Senator from Arkansas from 1913 to 1937, serving for four years as Senate Majority Leader and ten as Minority Leader. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the state's 23rd governor, and was also the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 1928 presidential election.

After studying law at the University of Virginia, Robinson returned to Arkansas, winning election to the Arkansas General Assembly. He won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1903 to 1913. He won election as governor of Arkansas in 1912, but resigned from that position in 1913 to take a seat in the Senate. In the Senate, Robinson established himself as a progressive and strong supporter of President Woodrow Wilson. Robinson served as the chairman of the 1920 Democratic National Convention and won election as the Senate Minority Leader in 1923. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1924 election and was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1928. The Democratic ticket of Al Smith and Robinson lost in a landslide to the Republican ticket of Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis.

The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), headquartered at 1201 West 6th Street in downtown Little Rock, is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arkansas. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Arkansas' U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices, including the governorship, and supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.

The Republican Party of Arkansas was founded on April 2, 1867, by "the leading Union men" of Arkansas. Under Powell Clayton, it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of Reconstruction in the state (1864–1874). The party chairman is Joseph K. Wood, and the current executive director is Drew Martin.

Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders (née Huckabee; born August 13, 1982) is an American politician serving as the 47th governor of Arkansas since 2023. Sanders is the daughter of Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. Sanders was the third woman to be White House press secretary. She also served as a senior advisor on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Sanders became the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and won, defeating Democratic nominee Chris Jones.

As press secretary, Sanders was the spokesperson for the first Trump administration's policy decisions, and had a confrontational relationship with the White House press corps. When interviewed by investigators as part of the Mueller probe, she admitted making false statements in her role. Sanders hosted fewer press conferences than any of the 13 previous White House press secretaries.

The first lady or first gentleman of Arkansas is the title held by the host of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, usually the spouse of the governor of Arkansas, concurrent with the governor's term in office.

A governor's mansion was built during Anne McMath's tenure and overseeing it became a responsibility of the First Lady. McMath wrote a book about the state's first ladies. Peggy Jacoway earlier book, First Ladies of Arkansas. Kinsport was published in 1941. Bryan Sanders is the current first gentleman of Arkansas, assuming the position on January 10, 2023, as the husband of 47th and current Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, with whom he has three children.

The 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial election, held on November 7, was the first time that future president Bill Clinton was elected Governor of Arkansas.