Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics: A Gallery of Amazing Arkansans

Lt. Gov. Maurice “Footsie” Britt

Lt. Gov. Maurice “Footsie” Britt Maurice Britt was one of those men who could do anything. He was a star athlete, a World War II hero, and a successful businessman. In  Britt was elected the first Republican lieutenant governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. Britt was born in  near Carlisle on a rice farm. His father died when Maurice was only thirteen years of age. Nevertheless, he excelled at Lonoke High School, serving as class president on one occasion and as valedictorian in . He won a number of essay contests and was recognized for achievement in both English and Latin. It was his classmates at Lonoke who bestowed the nickname of “Footsie” due to Maurice’s size thirteen feet. Young Maurice’s athletic achievements were even more amazing. He ran track, was a shot-putter, and was also a pole-vaulter. During his senior year, Maurice was captain of the Lonoke Jackrabbits track, basketball, and football teams. He was immediately offered an athletic scholarship by the University of Arkansas, where he lettered in both basketball and football, in addition to maintaining an active academic life. During his senior year Britt was named an honorable mention All-American. He was sports editor for the student newspaper, the Arkansas Traveler. For almost a year he played professional football for the Detroit Lions, after graduating with a journalism degree in . He was elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in . Britt’s professional football career was ended after a few months by World War II when he was drafted into the U.S.Army.By November , Britt was aboard a ship bound for Morocco. He served as a company commander in the rd Infantry Division, fighting in battles in North Africa and Sicily before landing in Italy. It was during the campaign to take Rome that Britt began to see real action and to demonstrate incredible bravery under fire. During a fierce fight on Mount Rontondo in Italy on November , , Britt and a small company of men wiped out a large force of attacking  Germans. An American battalion was in danger of being surrounded when Britt sprung into action.He single-handedly led a counterattack that stopped the offensive. Britt was credited with killing eleven enemies and personally taking four prisoners. It was later reckoned that Britt threw thirty-two hand grenades during the attack. This was despite the fact that Britt had been shot in the side, and his chest, face, and hands were covered with grenade wounds. Meantime, Britt was headed toward Anzio, where he led his company ashore. In February , while taking shelter in an old farmhouse , Britt was severely injured by an artillery shell. He awoke in a military hospital, with his right arm amputated and his right leg badly wounded. Britt was on a hospital ship on his way home when he learned that he had been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for the earlier action on Mount Rontondo. Britt was presented his Congressional Medal of Honor during the  annual commencement at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He was the first American soldier to be awarded the three highest honors bestowed by the nation—the Congressional Medal of Honor,the Distinguished Service Cross,and the Silver Star—in addition to the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After the War,Britt settled in Fort Smith,where he joined his wife’s family business. Later he established his own business in Fort Smith, where he was a pillar of the community. In , he announced that he was running for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket. His Democratic opponent was a respected Hope lawyer and judge, James Pilkinton. The election of  was a watershed one for Arkansas. Perennial governor Orval Faubus did not seek reelection, and the Democratic Party nominated the last of Arkansas’s old-time segregationists, Jim Johnson. The GOP gubernatorial nominee was Winthrop Rockefeller, a racial moderate,who reached out to newly enfranchised black voters and won the election. Footsie Britt won too, but the results were so close that the outcome was in doubt for days. Rockefeller and Britt were reelected in , by even smaller margins. Britt did not run for reelection in , and later President Richard Nixon named him district director of the federal Small Business Administration (SBA). After retiring from the SBA in , Britt made one last foray into Lt. Gov. Maurice “Footsie” Britt  politics. He ran for the Republican nomination...