Bob C. Riley
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
In office
1947–1950
12th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
In office
January 12, 1971 – January 3, 1975
GovernorDale Bumpers
Preceded byMaurice Britt
Succeeded byJoe Purcell
Acting Governor of Arkansas
In office
January 3, 1975 – January 12, 1975
Preceded byDale Bumpers
as Governor
Succeeded byDavid Pryor
as Governor
Personal details
Born(1924-09-18)September 18, 1924
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedFebruary 16, 1994(1994-02-16) (aged 69)
Political partyDemocratic

Bob Cowley Riley[1] (September 18, 1924 – February 16, 1994) was an American politician. He served as lieutenant governor of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975.[2][3]

Life and career

Riley was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.[2]

Riley served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1947 to 1950.[3]

In 1970, Riley was elected to the Arkansas lieutenant governorship,[4] serving under Dale Bumpers.[5] He served in that office until January 1975, when he took office as Governor of Arkansas from January 3, 1975 - January 12, 1975 to complete Bumpers's term as Governor of Arkansas.[6] Bumpers resigned as governor to take his seat in the United States Senate. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1974.

Riley was the nation's first blind governor.[7]

Riley died on February 16, 1994,[3] at the age of 69.

References

  1. ^ Chan, Sewell (March 14, 2008). "First Legally Blind Governor? Not Quite". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "History of Office". Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas Website. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ a b c "Riley". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Olstrom, Clifford (July 10, 2012). Undaunted by Blindness, 2nd Edition. Ebookit.com. p. 220. ISBN 9780982272190 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Stewart, James (November 20, 2012). Blood Sport: The Truth Behind the Scandals in the Clinton White House. Simon & Schuster. p. 35. ISBN 9781476711805 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Politics in America, Congressional Quarterly, 1979
  7. ^ https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/first-legally-blind-governor-not-quite/


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