Beryl Anthony, longtime U.S. congressman from Arkansas, dead at 86

[LiberalArkie]

Beryl Anthony Jr., a former U.S. House representative from El Dorado known for his staunch advocacy of Arkansas needs and his ability to work across party lines, died Saturday morning at the age of 86, according to a funeral director at Treasure Coast Seawinds Funeral Home and Crematory in Stuart, Fla.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas, the El Dorado native returned to his hometown after he was admitted to the Arkansas bar where he served as an assistant to then-Attorney General Bruce Bennett, Union County prosecuting attorney and various other roles before being elected to Congress in 1978, replacing outgoing U.S. Rep. Raymond Thornton Jr.

Throughout his seven terms representing Arkansas' Fourth Congressional District, Anthony was a founding member of the Sunbelt Coalition which monitored legislative affects on southern states, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Oversight and Trade subcommittees and a select committee on Children, Youth and Families in a career marked by active involvement.

Grant Tennille, chair of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, described Anthony as a politician who was focused "fairly relentlessly on the needs of average Arkansans and working people."

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https://www.eldoradonews.com/news/2025/jan/15/beryl-anthony-longtime-us-congressman-from/

[RazorbackExpat]

1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but

I think think Anthony was "Clinton's driver" whose campaign pushed Bill Halter out of the way in the gubernatorial primary, even though Anthony didn't have any statewide support against Hutchinson. The Arkansas Democratic Party screwed Bill Halter every which way to Sunday.

[LiberalArkie]

2. Probably so, as cousin Beryl was a total company man (party). The only thing I ever figured out was that Halter

did not "cotton" to the wealthy in the party getting control of everything. And that was enough to sink him.

[RazorbackExpat]

3. And now, Arkansas is a fukking sea of red

I sometimes wonder how Arkansas would have been today if Bill Gwatney hadn't been assassinated by that dumb fukk. He was a fellow Arkansas Boys Stater who became the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party and was assassinated in 2008, I think