Telegram from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus to President Eisenhower Defending the Use of the National Guard During the Little Rock School Integration Crisis (1957)

Date: September 4, 1957

Created By: Orval E. Faubus, Governor of Arkansas

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE Records, Official File, Box 615

On September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus sent this telegram to President Dwight D. Eisenhower as the crisis over the integration of Little Rock Central High School intensified. Faubus argues that the central issue was not integration itself, but whether a governor possessed the constitutional authority to maintain peace and order within his state. He defends his decision to deploy units of the Arkansas National Guard, presenting their presence as necessary to prevent violence rather than to oppose integration.

Faubus also expresses concern about what he describes as federal interference in Arkansas. He claims federal authorities were considering actions against him and argues that such intervention would violate the powers of a duly elected governor. He warns Eisenhower that continued federal involvement could worsen tensions and potentially lead to violence, placing responsibility for any resulting injuries or property damage on the federal government.

The telegram concludes with Faubus appealing directly to Eisenhower to restrain federal authorities and allow Arkansas officials to handle the situation. The document illustrates the growing conflict between state and federal authority during the Little Rock school integration crisis.