Changes

In 1953, Sheets joined Kiwanis International; in 1965, he served a year as governor of the Missouri-Arkansas District during the golden anniversary of the organization. After he made a Kiwanis presentation to Democratic Governor Orval Eugene Faubus (1910-1994), Sheets encountered Faubus thereafter on several occasions while Faubus was peddling his scrapbook memoirs, ''Down from the Hills.'' “I had no problems with Faubus. He was amicable. Many of the things he did were what the people of Arkansas then wanted," Sheets recalls.<ref name=statement/>  

In 1953, Sheets joined Kiwanis International; in 1965, he served a year as governor of the Missouri-Arkansas District during the golden anniversary of the organization. After he made a Kiwanis presentation to Democratic Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] (1910-1994), Sheets encountered Faubus thereafter on several occasions while Faubus was peddling his scrapbook memoirs, ''Down from the Hills.'' “I had no problems with Faubus. He was amicable. Many of the things he did were what the people of Arkansas then wanted," Sheets recalls.<ref name=statement/>  

   

   

===Relationship with Rockefeller===

===Relationship with Rockefeller===

Sheets met Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973) for the first time when both were seeking office in 1966, he for the state House and Rockefeller as the first of the post-Faubus era governors and the first Republican in the position since [[Reconstruction]]. Sheets recalls having excellent personal relations with Rockefeller though, like colleague George E. Nowotny of Fort Smith, he disagreed with Rockefeller on certain issues. In the 1967 legislative session, Sheets introduced a revised death penalty bill, but Rockefeller opposed [[capital punishment]], a position at odds with most Arkansans in both parties. According to Sheets, Rockefeller told him that their disagreement on the death penalty would not affect their personal and political association. Sheets said that he was contacted at the time by [[J. Edgar Hoover]], director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], who presented "talking points," a term not yet coined, that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder because it causes some miscreants to think twice about the taking of life if they know that their own existence would be jeopardized.<ref name=statement/>

Sheets met Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973) for the first time when both were seeking office in 1966, he for the state House and Rockefeller as the first of the post-Faubus era governors and the first Republican in the position since [[Reconstruction]]. Sheets recalls having excellent personal relations with Rockefeller though, like colleague [[George E. Nowotny, Jr.]], of Fort Smith, he disagreed with Rockefeller on certain issues. In the 1967 legislative session, Sheets introduced a revised death penalty bill, but Rockefeller opposed [[capital punishment]], a position at odds with most Arkansans in both parties. According to Sheets, Rockefeller told him that their disagreement on the death penalty would not affect their personal and political association. Sheets said that he was contacted at the time by [[J. Edgar Hoover]], director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], who presented "talking points," a term not yet coined, that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder because it causes some miscreants to think twice about the taking of life if they know that their own existence would be jeopardized.<ref name=statement/>

Unlike Nowotny, who considered Rockefeller’s drinking to have been serious in his later years, Sheets said that it appeared to him that Rockefeller could handle liquor in most situations. In 1973, Sheets was among the mourners at Winthrop Rockefeller’s funeral on Petit Jean Mountain,<ref name=statement/> where he met [[Nelson Rockefeller]], headed the following year to a short tenure as [[Vice President of the United States]].

Unlike Nowotny, who considered Rockefeller’s drinking to have been serious in his later years, Sheets said that it appeared to him that Rockefeller could handle liquor in most situations. In 1973, Sheets was among the mourners at Winthrop Rockefeller’s funeral on Petit Jean Mountain,<ref name=statement/> where he met [[Nelson Rockefeller]], headed the following year to a short tenure as [[Vice President of the United States]].

Sheets recalls that the last pre-election poll that he had seen showed the race competitive, but the situation changed quickly when [[U.S. Senator]] J. William Fulbright lent Bryant the use of his political team. Sheets said that he had never expected to win the race<ref name=statement/> though he finished in the balloting some twenty thousand votes ahead of Rockefeller.<ref>Arkansas election returns, November 5, 1970</ref>

Sheets recalls that the last pre-election poll that he had seen showed the race competitive, but the situation changed quickly when [[U.S. Senator]] J. William Fulbright lent Bryant the use of his political team. Sheets said that he had never expected to win the race<ref name=statement/> though he finished in the balloting some twenty thousand votes ahead of Rockefeller.<ref>Arkansas election returns, November 5, 1970</ref>

In his challenge to Kelly Bryant, considered part of the "Old Guard",<ref>Kelly Bryant died in 1975 early in his seventh two-year term as secretary of state and is interred at Memory Gardens Cemetery south of Hope.</ref> Sheets said that part of his motive in running against Bryant was to procure regional name identification for a possible 1972 congressional race.  Earlier, [[U.S. Representative]] John Paul Hammerschmidt, the Harrison Republican and Medal of Honor winner first elected in 1966, along with Rockefeller and Maurice L. Britt, had informed Sheets that he believed, incorrectly as it turned out, that U.S. Senator John L. McClellan would retire in 1972.<ref>John Little McClellan (1896-1977) was elected to a final term which he did not complete. After he narrowly defeated U.S. Representative David Hampton Pryor for the 1972 Democratic senatorial nomination, McClellan then easily turned aside Republican Wayne Babbitt, a North Little Rock veterinarian, even though the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]] ticket was easily carrying Arkansas that year.</ref>  Had that scenario developed, Hammerschmidt, known in particular for his prompt and effective constituent service,<ref>Jack Bass and Walter DeVries, ''The Transformation of Southern Politics'', p. 104</ref> planned to run for the U.S. Senate and would have endorsed Sheets as his preferred House successor.<ref name=statement/>

In his challenge to Kelly Bryant, considered part of the "Old Guard",<ref>Kelly Bryant died in 1975 early in his seventh two-year term as secretary of state and is interred at Memory Gardens Cemetery south of Hope.</ref> Sheets said that part of his motive in running against Bryant was to procure regional name identification for a possible 1972 congressional race.  Earlier, [[U.S. Representative]] John Paul Hammerschmidt, the Harrison Republican and Medal of Honor winner first elected in 1966, along with Rockefeller and Maurice L. "Footsie" Britt, had informed Sheets that he believed, incorrectly as it turned out, that U.S. Senator John L. McClellan would retire in 1972.<ref>John Little McClellan (1896-1977) was elected to a final term which he did not complete. After he narrowly defeated U.S. Representative David Hampton Pryor for the 1972 Democratic senatorial nomination, McClellan then easily turned aside Republican Wayne Babbitt, a North Little Rock veterinarian, even though the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]-[[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]] ticket was easily carrying Arkansas that year.</ref>  Had that scenario developed, Hammerschmidt, known in particular for his prompt and effective constituent service,<ref>Jack Bass and Walter DeVries, ''The Transformation of Southern Politics'', p. 104</ref> planned to run for the U.S. Senate and would have endorsed Sheets as his preferred House successor.<ref name=statement/>

===Managing the Ford campaign===

===Managing the Ford campaign===