David Hampton Pryor

David H. Pryor, a liberal Democrat who won two terms as governor of Arkansas and three in the United States Senate, and who paved the way for the political rise of his young ally Bill Clinton in an era of changing racial attitudes in the South, died on Saturday April 20 2024 at his home in Little Rock. He was 89. (father of Mark Pryor), a Representative and a Senator from Arkansas; born in Camden, Ouachita County, Ark., August 29, 1934; attended the public schools of Camden; attended Henderson State Teachers College; graduated, University of Arkansas 1957; graduated, University of Arkansas Law School 1964; admitted to the bar in 1964 and commenced practice in Camden; founder and publisher, Ouachita Citizen 1957-1960; elected State representative in 1960 and reelected in 1962 and 1964; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-ninth Congress, August 9, 1966, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Oren Harris and at the same time elected to the Ninetieth Congress; reelected to the two succeeding Congresses and served from November 8, 1966, to January 3, 1973; was not a candidate for reelection in 1972 to the House of Representatives, but was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for the United States Senate; Governor of Arkansas 1975-1979; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1978; reelected in 1984 and 1990 and served from January 3, 1979, to January 3, 1997; was not a candidate for reelection in 1996; chairman, Special Committee on Aging (One Hundred First through One Hundred Third Congresses); Dean, Clinton School of Public Service, University of Arkansas 2004-; is a resident of Little Rock, Ark. David and his siblings, William Jr., Cornelia and Elinor, attended public schools in Camden. He graduated from Camden High School in 1952 and attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in government in 1957 and a law degree in 1964. He entered politics with a successful run for the State Legislature in 1960 and was re-elected in 1962 and 1964. In 1957, he married Barbara Jean Lunsford. They had three sons. In addition to his son Mark — who was the Arkansas attorney general from 1999 to 2003 and was elected to his father’s old seat in the United States Senate in 2002, serving two terms before losing his re-election bid in 2014 — he is survived by his wife; his other sons, David Jr. and Scott; his sisters, Elinor Pryor and Cornelia Lindsey; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson. His brother, William E. Pryor Jr., died in 1994.