James William Trimble (February 3, 1894 – March 10, 1972) was a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, having served from 1945 to 1967. He was the first Democrat in Arkansas since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

to lose a congressional race to a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Trimble was unseated in the 1966 general election by state GOP chairman

John Paul Hammerschmidt John Paul Hammerschmidt (May 4, 1922 – April 1, 2015) was an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A Republican, Hammerschmidt served thirteen terms in the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 3rd congressional ...

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

in Boone County, who won election on the ticket headed by

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

nominee

Winthrop Rockefeller Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financer John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He is one of the ...

. Born in tiny Osage in Carroll County in northwestern Arkansas, Trimble attended public schools. He was graduated in 1917 from the

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1925 and commenced practice in Berryville in Carroll County. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served in the

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as a private and was assigned to the Adjutant General's Office in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. From 1920 to 1928, he was a county official of Carroll County. He served as prosecuting attorney of the 4th Judicial Circuit of Arkansas from 1930 to 1938. He served as judge of the 4th Judicial Circuit of Arkansas from 1938 to 1944, when he was elected to the U.S. House. Trimble was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Seventy-ninth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1967). In the 1944 general election he defeated the

Tom Sullins of Fayetteville, 63.3 to 36.7 percent. In 1956, Trimble defeated the Republican William L. Spicer of Fort Smith, later the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, by a vote of 61-39 percent. He was a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

''. Trimble was the chairman of the Special Committee on Chamber Improvements ( Eighty-first and Eighty-second Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1966 to the Ninetieth Congress. Trimble resided in Berryville and died in

Eureka Springs Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States, and one of two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, near the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city populat ...

. He is interred at Berryville Memorial Park in Berryville.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trimble, James William 1894 births 1972 deaths United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I People from Berryville, Arkansas Arkansas lawyers University of Arkansas alumni Arkansas state court judges Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers