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==As attorney general==
==As attorney general==
Originally a [[Segregation|segregationist]], Bennett won his first term as attorney general in 1956, when he succeeded the two-term Democrat Tom Gentry.<ref name=attyg>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5717|title=Office of Attorney General (of Arkansas)|publisher=encyclopediaof arkansas.net|accessdate=October 22, 2019}}</ref> That same year, Governor [[Orval Faubus]] defeated segregationist intra-party rival [[James D. Johnson|James Douglas Johnson]], then an outgoing state senator and later an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 1960, Bennett declined to seek a third consecutive two-year term as attorney general and instead challenged Faubus in the primary. Both Johnson in 1956 and Bennett in 1960 accused Faubus of being less than committed to racial segregation, even depicting him as a tool of the [[NAACP]] and its Arkansas leader, Daisy Bates. Bennett ran a surprisingly distant third in the primary behind Faubus and the moderate Joe Hardin, a former Arkansas Farm Bureau president.<ref name=ency/><ref>Roy Reed, ''Faubus: The Life and Times of an American Prodigal' (Fayetteville: [[University of Arkansas]] Press, 1997).</ref>
Originally a [[Segregation|segregationist]], Bennett won his first term as attorney general in 1956, when he succeeded the two-term Democrat Tom Gentry.<ref name=attyg>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5717|title=Office of Attorney General (of Arkansas)|publisher=encyclopediaof arkansas.net|accessdate=October 22, 2019}}</ref> That same year, Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] defeated segregationist intra-party rival [[James D. Johnson|James Douglas Johnson]], then an outgoing state senator and later an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 1960, Bennett declined to seek a third consecutive two-year term as attorney general and instead challenged Faubus in the primary. Both Johnson in 1956 and Bennett in 1960 accused Faubus of being less than committed to racial segregation, even depicting him as a tool of the [[NAACP]] and its Arkansas leader, Daisy Bates. Bennett ran a surprisingly distant third in the primary behind Faubus and the moderate Joe Hardin, a former Arkansas Farm Bureau president.<ref name=ency/><ref>Roy Reed, ''Faubus: The Life and Times of an American Prodigal' (Fayetteville: [[University of Arkansas]] Press, 1997).</ref>
In 1958, Bennett authored a series of bills designed to limit the activities of [[civil rights]] protestors, whom he considered "the enemies of America.”<ref name=ency/> The bills sought to prevent the NAACP from providing legal counsel or funding lawsuits in Arkansas. Bennett tried to force the NAACP to release its membership list and personnel records to the state, a position struck down in 1958 by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in a related case, ''NAACP v. Alabama.'' Bennett also procured legislation to prohibit NAACP members from becoming Arkansas state employees. He associated the NAACP with an "international communist conspiracy" and presented such testimony before legislative bodies in Arkansas and Tennessee.<ref name=ency/).</ref>
In 1958, Bennett authored a series of bills designed to limit the activities of [[civil rights]] protestors, whom he considered "the enemies of America.”<ref name=ency/> The bills sought to prevent the NAACP from providing legal counsel or funding lawsuits in Arkansas. Bennett tried to force the NAACP to release its membership list and personnel records to the state, a position struck down in 1958 by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in a related case, ''NAACP v. Alabama.'' Bennett also procured legislation to prohibit NAACP members from becoming Arkansas state employees. He associated the NAACP with an "international communist conspiracy" and presented such testimony before legislative bodies in Arkansas and Tennessee.<ref name=ency/).</ref>
Bennett was succeeded as attorney general in 1961 by [[J. Frank Holt]], who stepped down a year later to join Johnson on the Arkansas Supreme Court.<ref name="attyg"/> In 1966, when Faubus declined to seek a seventh term as governor, Bennett was defeated for re-nomination for attorney general by Joe Purcell.<ref name=ency/> That same year, the post-Faubus Democrats nominated "Justice Jim" Johnson for governor, ten years after his first attempt to gain the post. Johnson defeated his fellow justice, J. Frank Holt, in the primary. However, in the 1966 [[general election]], Johnson lost to [[Moderate Republican]] [[Winthrop Rockefeller]], a supporter of civil rights legislation.
Bennett was succeeded as attorney general in 1961 by [[J. Frank Holt]], who stepped down a year later to join Johnson on the Arkansas Supreme Court.<ref name="attyg"/> In 1966, when Faubus declined to seek a seventh term as governor, Bennett was defeated for re-nomination for attorney general by Joe Purcell.<ref name=ency/> That same year, the post-Faubus Democrats nominated "Justice Jim" Johnson for governor, ten years after his first attempt to gain the post. Johnson defeated his fellow justice, J. Frank Holt, in the primary. However, in the 1966 [[general election]], Johnson lost to [[Moderate Republican]] [[Winthrop Rockefeller]], a supporter of civil rights legislation.
In 1966, Joe Purcell succeeded Bennett as attorney general when he defeated a then stronger-than usual-challenge from a Democrat-turned-Republican, Jerry Thomasson of Arkadelphia in Clark County]].<ref>Arkansas Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 8, 1966.</ref>
In 1966, Joe Purcell succeeded Bennett as attorney general when he defeated a then stronger-than usual-challenge from a Democrat-turned-Republican, Jerry Thomasson of Arkadelphia in Clark County]].<ref>Arkansas Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 8, 1966.</ref>