14 Facts About Ray Thornton

Ray Thornton was a Democratic US Representative for Arkansas's 4th congressional district from 1973 to 1979 and the 2nd district from 1991 to 1997.

Ray Thornton served as an associate justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1997 to 2004.

Ray Thornton served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, including service on the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Seat, and reached the rank of lieutenant.

Ray Thornton returned to law school after returning from Korea and graduated in 1956, the same year he married Betty Jo Mann of Sheridan, Arkansas, his wife for 60 years.

For more than 13 years, Ray Thornton served as General Counsel for Stephens Inc and Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co.

Ray Thornton left the private sector to seek public office and was elected as Arkansas Attorney General in 1970.

Ray Thornton went on to serve three terms in the House.

Ray Thornton distinguished himself as a member of the Judiciary Committee, which considered articles of impeachment against US President Richard Nixon.

Ray Thornton was among three southern Democrats and four moderate Republicans who drafted the articles adopted by the committee.

Ray Thornton did not run for a fourth term in the House.

In January 1997, after another three terms with only nominal opposition, Ray Thornton left Congress, seeking a seat as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, for which he was unopposed.

Ray Thornton was elected as a justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, serving from January 1997 to January 2005.

Ready for retirement, Ray Thornton resigned that post after serving a year, during which the Commission supervised the establishment of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.

Ray Thornton died in Little Rock on April 13,2016, at the age of 87.