26 Facts About Mike Beebe

Mickey Dale Beebe is an American politician and attorney who served as the 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015.

Mike Beebe is to date the last Democrat to hold that office.

Mike Beebe entered private practice as an attorney before being elected to the Arkansas Senate in 1982.

Mike Beebe served five terms in the Arkansas Senate from 1983 to 2003 and served as President of the Senate during his last term.

Mike Beebe was elected Attorney General of Arkansas in 2002, where he served one term from 2003 to 2007.

Mike Beebe, who was restricted from running in the 2014 election due to term limits, left office on January 13,2015.

Mike Beebe currently serves on the Governors' Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC, and has endorsed Medicaid work requirements since leaving office.

Mike Beebe was born in Amagon, a small town in Jackson County, Arkansas.

Mike Beebe was raised by his mother, a waitress, and never met his father.

Mike Beebe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Arkansas State University in 1968, where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.

Mike Beebe earned his juris doctor from the University of Arkansas in 1972.

Mike Beebe served in the US Army Reserve from 1968 to 1974.

Mike Beebe never faced an opponent in his twenty-year Senate career in which he became known as one of the most effective legislators based on his pragmatic deal-making ability.

On June 14,2005, Mike Beebe announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party's nomination to run for Governor of Arkansas.

Mike Beebe defeated former Republican Congressman and Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson as well as the Green Party candidate and independent candidate Rod Bryan in the general election on November 7,2006, capturing 55 percent of the vote.

Mike Beebe was challenged by Republican nominee Jim Keet, a former state legislator from Little Rock.

Mike Beebe has outlined a plan for a balanced budget and attempted to cut middle class taxes by slashing in half the percentage of the state's grocery tax and increasing the Homestead Property Tax Credit, which can provide for the lowering of property taxes.

Mike Beebe has called for an additional $19 million per year to be spent on assisting special needs students and has designed a program that attempts to increase the quality of teachers within Arkansas by providing alternative pay and mentoring to motivate bright students to enter education or young teachers to work in struggling rural schools.

Mike Beebe has rejected calls to allow for Social Security private accounts to be established.

Mike Beebe has made plans to phase out the tax on utilities for manufacturers.

Mike Beebe outlined a 12-point plan to make health care more accessible and affordable.

Mike Beebe called for $117 million increase in the Human Services Department and a $56 million increase in public schools.

Mike Beebe called for an audit of the state's Forestry Commission's finances after a $4 million shortfall and a layoff of 36 workers.

Mike Beebe did not see his approval rating slip below 70 percent at any point during his tenure, according to yearly polls from the University of Arkansas.

On November 12,2014, two months before the end of his term, Mike Beebe said he intended to pardon his son for a 2003 felony drug possession conviction.

In March 2015, Mike Beebe joined the Roberts Law Firm PA of Little Rock.