Interview with Roy Arnold, January 14, 2004

MOYEN: The following is an unrehearsed interview with Roy Arnold, who served in Kentucky House of Representatives. The interview was conducted by Eric Moyen for the University of Kentucky Oral History Program and the Kentucky Legislature Oral History Project. The interview took place on January 14, 2004, in Danville, Kentucky.

[Pause in recording.]

MOYEN: I'm with, uh, Mr. Roy Arnold, who, uh, it was House District Forty-Six that you served in? Is that correct?

ARNOLD: In the first term(??)

MOYEN: Okay, um, and you served from 1946 to '48, you, you mentioned. Um, can we start a little bit just with your family history, genealogy, what you can tell me about your family background?

ARNOLD: My mother(??), my father manufactured buggies. Iron(??) buggy works.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: He, he farmed. (pause) I, uh, I can't tell too much about them.

MOYEN: Okay, um, do you when your family moved to this area, how long they had been here?

ARNOLD: Well, I married and came here in--(pause)--'56, I guess. I can't remember, '56.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: -------------(??)---------- I've lived on East Main(??).

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: We never did move around much.

MOYEN: Um-hm, but always in Danville.

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, now, you mentioned that your father worked on buggies and, and also farmed.

ARNOLD: He manufactured buggies.

MOYEN: Okay, was that in Danville?

ARNOLD: On Second Street.

MOYEN: Okay. All right. Um, had you're, are your family roots in Boyle County here?

ARNOLD: No, my mother came from Garrard County.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: My father, my father came from Lincoln County, I think. I don't know.

MOYEN: Okay. Now, um, can you tell me when you were born?

ARNOLD: November 12, 1909.

MOYEN: Nineteen aught-nine, okay. Um, can you tell, uh, did you have any siblings?

ARNOLD: Any what?

MOYEN: Siblings, brothers or sisters?

ARNOLD: Yeah, I had a brother and two sisters.

MOYEN: Okay, were they older or younger.

ARNOLD: Well, the boy was a younger and my sisters were older.

MOYEN: Okay. What types of schools did you attend here in Danville?

ARNOLD: Schools?

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I graduated from high school; I graduated from Centre College.

MOYEN: Okay, the, um, your elementary school was it a one-room schoolhouse, or was it a city school--

ARNOLD: --oh no, a city school.

MOYEN: Okay. And, and the, and the high school, did you attend Danville?

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, can you tell me a little about what you were mentioning to me before, about football, playing on the football team?

ARNOLD: Well. In three-year time, I played on one losing(??) team and one-tie game(??). And the rest of them was okay. And the team that beat us won the state championships, but they didn't have it like they 00:04:00do now, but it was(??) -------------(??)------------ state champion.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And we, we didn't have the support or equipment; we had a bunch of boys who wanted to play.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And you didn't, I played, I, I played fullback.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I was little heavier than I am now. That's all I can tell you.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Could you tell me about, you had mentioned, I believe, you all played Henry Clay?

ARNOLD: Huh?

MOYEN: Did you mention earlier you all had played Henry Clay--

ARNOLD: --that's what I tried--

MOYEN: --High School--

ARNOLD: --that's what I tried tell you.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: You only had the one school over there. It was Dunbar. Just one white school. And it had all those boys to choose from, and we beat 00:05:00them three years straight(??). We just had a hand; we just had a hand.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Just like they are today, they tell, can you imagine a little, little town like Danville, winning the championships three years straight.

MOYEN: Pretty amazing.

ARNOLD: Boyle County and Danville both.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: All in the same neighborhood.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I think that's remarkable.

MOYEN: It is; it is. Can you tell me a little about what life was like in, um--well, let me ask you this first, what are, do you have any recollections about World War I? What do you remember as a boy, hearing about any-, anything?

ARNOLD: The only thing I remember about it, I was in the first or second 00:06:00grade.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And every kid was asked to send a little patch, blanket for the kids.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I don't know whether I knitted one or not, but I know that.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I'm sure I did, but everybody tried to help the soldiers.

MOYEN: Um-hm, um-hm.

ARNOLD: But see, I'm, in '17, '18, I'm just six or seven years old.

MOYEN: That's right. Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I don't remember much of that.

MOYEN: Right, okay. What about, what was life like for a teenager, like yourself, in the 1920s? Um, when you were in high school, how would you describe what Danville was like? Um, what the social--(Arnold coughs)-- during the roaring twenties?

ARNOLD: In nineteen, when I was in high school, Danville was about eight 00:07:00five hundred population. You had been there(??), you had the clean the streets, you had water system(??). We had a A-1(??) town back in those days.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: We had paved streets. Danville was very small. The boundaries went from here to Stark's Run, south. And you had the west Danville(??) was on the railroad tracks on the west side.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: It was a small little area.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But, I think the people was that served on the city council didn't get paid. The, the mayor got maybe five hundred or six hundred 00:08:00dollars a year, which they did it because they were dedicated citizens.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: We had, so. You got, we've always had, you had ------------- (??) most of them, most of them been awful good.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now, what years did you serve as mayor?

ARNOLD: I was elected six times mayor. I think, my last, I was mayor twice. My last one went from '70 to '86. My first one went from '58 to '62, I believe it was.

MOYEN: Okay. All right. Um, so you managed to serve in the legislature 00:09:00first. You, you talked about school. Could you explain a little bit about, uh, religious life? Where you attended church, if you did attend church here in Danville?

ARNOLD: Do I what?

MOYEN: Could you tell me little about where you attended church, if--

ARNOLD: --I'm(??) First Presbyterian.

MOYEN: Okay. Are you still a member here--

ARNOLD: --yeah, yeah.

MOYEN: Okay. Have you gone there all your life?

ARNOLD: I, I hope have.

MOYEN: (laughs) Um, how, how has the church here in the First Presbyterian church changed over time?

ARNOLD: It hasn't changed too much.

MOYEN: Not, not too much.

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, you mentioned that you went to Centre College. What years did you attend Centre, do you recall?

ARNOLD: I went there in '29. The fall of '29.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I got hurt. So I laid out, I, I got, I got that foot mashed.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Playing football. And I was out of school and graduated in '34.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I should've graduated in '33, but I graduated in '34.

MOYEN: Okay. Now, my dates maybe a little fuzzy on this. I believe you came after Centre defeated Harvard--

ARNOLD: --oh yeah--

MOYEN: --in that football game--

ARNOLD: --oh yeah--

MOYEN: Um-hm. Did you happened to have attended that game?

ARNOLD: No, they played in Boston.

MOYEN: Okay, all right, I didn't know if that was a home or an away game.

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: So, Centre had a real good football team, then.

ARNOLD: Yeah, they had a good football team in the thirties.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: They were playing the Army and Tennessee. And in 1924, I think, 00:11:00it was '24.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: On a cold day, Centre played Georgia out here at Centre College for the Southern Championships. And Centre won it.

MOYEN: Hm.

ARNOLD: And I remember my daddy took me. It was cold. And they had, they had fire in steel drums.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I was warmer than a fire than I was ----------(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um, you mentioned that you got injured. Did that end your football career, did you play at Centre your first year?

ARNOLD: Freshman.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Back in those days, see, we had freshman team and varsity team.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I got, I got hurt on the freshman team.

MOYEN: Okay. And was that the end of your football career?

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, how did you get your, you mentioned you got your foot mashed. How did that happened?

ARNOLD: It was stepped on and twisted.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: In a pile-up.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: No, see, you talk about injury(??)--

MOYEN: --um-hm--

ARNOLD: --I had an artificial leg.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: So, I can't play no more football.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: No, I went to Male(??), and they ----------(??) and they crushed(??) the bones, and they got infected.

MOYEN: Okay. All in 1930, did you say?

ARNOLD: [Nineteen] twenty-nine.

MOYEN: [Nineteen] twenty-nine.

ARNOLD: And '30.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I went back to school in '31.

MOYEN: Okay. What type of degree did you graduate with?

ARNOLD: Bachelors degree.

MOYEN: In, was it in, um, a specific field?

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: Okay. Just a liberal arts degree.

ARNOLD: Liberal, liberal arts.

MOYEN: Okay. Now, when you graduated from college, did you have aspirations of serving in the legislature at that time?

ARNOLD: No, I say I didn't have none. I was a Rotary; I was in the Rotary Club.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Still in.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I've been in Rotary Club since '38.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Ain't that something?

MOYEN: That's pretty amazing.

ARNOLD: To be alive--(Moyen laughs)--to be alive. Said, but anyway, we had a, I didn't like what they were doing in Frankfort. And I was raising hell it, about the way our representative was doing it(??). And so, someone wrote to me, said, "Well, if you don't like it, why don't you run for it." And that's what, that's the first time I ever thought about running for the office.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I ran and got elected. And then, this is towards ---------- 00:14:00(??)----------.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now, when you ran, was this in 1945, when you actually campaigned?

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Yeah, '45.

MOYEN: Okay. So, well, right at the end of World War II, um, what type of, you mentioned that you were frustrated with the representative. Do you remember who it was? And, and what your frustrations were?

ARNOLD: Yeah, but I don't really want to say.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: No, it was ----------(??), you know.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: He got a family still here.

MOYEN: Okay. Now, um, what issues did you campaign on, what types of things did you say, "When I go to Frankfort, here's, here's what I'm 00:15:00going, here's what I'm going to do." [telephone rings]

ARNOLD: I don't know, it's too ----------(??) too far back. One of them is the sales tax. I remember(??) that was an issue back in those days.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And I don't remember(??).

MOYEN: Okay. Now, um, you were a Democrat. Um, and at the time, the Democrat Party was pretty well split between the, uh, Chandler faction and what would become the Clements/Combs faction. Um, did you have a certain allegiance to a--

ARNOLD: --no, we just independents.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I've been a Democrat, is all. You had run to on one ticket(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I don't know too much about issues.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Why don't we back up just a minute, and we talked about your time in college, and your time in high school. When, when you finished your degree, did you work here in Danville?

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: What did you do? What was your occupation at the time?

ARNOLD: I worked for my father.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: For a while, and then I got a job. I went into insurance, and the next, and farming. Tobacco warehouse business.

MOYEN: Okay. Can you tell me what that was like being in business in the 1930s with the Great Depression, with those things? Was, was that quite a challenge, or, or were you all able to be pretty successful?

ARNOLD: No, it's, I went to work, I think, for a dollar a day, when I 00:17:00got out of college. And, and I started my own insurance company.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Everybody was broke. And all, uh, got in there and did as well as I could.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Didn't sit around and cry about this or cry about that. I know we had, uh, people were closer, I think, back in those days than they are today.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: We didn't T.V. We didn't penicillin. If I had had penicillin, I think I could've saved my foot.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But I lived it, I lived in a very interesting, T.V. Look(??) at all the modern science(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: God been good to me.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Do you recall, you mentioned you, you didn't have T.V. Do you recall listening to the radio much in the old--

ARNOLD: --oh yeah, Amos & Andy was very popular.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Very popular.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Did you ever listen to any of, uh, FDR's speeches on the radio?

ARNOLD: Oh yeah. When, when he came on, everything went off(??). You ----------(??), everybody(??), you know, listen(??) to radio.

MOYEN: Um-hm. And, and what do you recall, thinking of the time, about his presidency, and the New Deal, and, um, politics in general--

ARNOLD: --well, I think people got scared after the second term.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: They thought he was gonna set up a dynasty.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And that's when they passed that in Washington you could only serve two terms.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: People got scared.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I bet you I was, I had the vice president of United States electioneering for me.

MOYEN: Really? Can you tell me about that?

ARNOLD: Alben Barkley was running for reelection and he was speaking at the courthouse after dinner. And I was invited to attend. I was representative. And when he started his speech, he mentioned the ---- ------(??) them to get in, elect this young man, reelect this young man. 00:20:00I thought that was something else.

MOYEN: Um-hm. That is great. That's a good story.

ARNOLD: Well, he couldn't do much else.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. Now, um, when, when you began service, was Simeon Willis governor at the time?

ARNOLD: Huh?

MOYEN: When you began--

ARNOLD: --well, Willis was governor--

MOYEN: --yeah--

ARNOLD: -- from Ashland(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now, up to that time, Democrats, I, I think had been, in the governorship for about twelve years and then after--

ARNOLD: --who, who had(??)?

MOYEN: Democrats.

ARNOLD: I guess they had.

MOYEN: And then after Willis, there would only be one more Republican governor until 2004. What can you tell me what the dynamic was like serving, um, with a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor?

ARNOLD: Well, I didn't find it any trouble.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: He was going out as his last term. Or his only term(??). He was a nice fellow.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And he, I didn't, I didn't have, we didn't have any trouble with him(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And Earle Clements came in behind him.

MOYEN: Right. Um-hm. Did you have any personal interaction with either, uh, Governor Willis or Governor Clements?

ARNOLD: I, I did with Clements.

MOYEN: What do you recall about him, and, and what types of conversations did you have with him?

ARNOLD: Well, the problem with the Clements, in his budget, he took out 00:22:00twenty-five thousand dollars out of Kentucky's School for the Deaf. It's like a hundred twenty-five now. And we, Clements, and I clashed.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. Were there, were there other issues on which you all agreed when you were serving--

ARNOLD: --oh sure. Clements, Clements, I, I, I was on the floor, and I gave Clements fit for changing that budget to that the handicapped kids. That night he called me, he had the, he called me, and told me that they were gonna put that twenty-five thousand back. He says, "Roy(??) knows better than that." So, I got my twenty-five thousand.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I said, I told him, "You tell him I'll believe it when I see it(??)." Mr. Lee, Lee was superintendant. I said, "You tell him I'll believe it when Mr. Lee calls me and tells me he got the money." Earle and I understood each other. I didn't want anything, I didn't want anything. My family didn't want a job. So, I could be independent.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And at one time, we had eighteen independent boys down there. And they, we never had any trouble with the party.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: We voted what we thought was right.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Do you remember any other specific votes or any other issues with Governor Clements when you and he were both there, that 00:24:00you, that were particularly important to you?

ARNOLD: Yeah, but they're not, they're dull.

MOYEN: They're dull?

ARNOLD: They were dull. They're(??) just a dead horse(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I got along, Doc Beauchamp was Earle's right-hand man.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Doc, Doc was nice. I, even Clements was nice to me. I didn't want anything; I was just trying to do a good job.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And we did.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Some of the Democrats didn't want me back because I was voting against the whiskey bill.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Garrard County, back in those days, Garrard and Boyle were together. Garrard had been dry since '30. They just got through 00:25:00voting, down here in April, voted the whiskey bill down. So, there's no problem. But some of the whiskey boys didn't want me down there for the vote. So, if I was a drunkard(??), I voted for the whiskey bill.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I mean, I voted against the whiskey bill because that's what these people, the people here wanted.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: No problem.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Two counties wet, I mean, two counties dry, and talking about voting for wet, that's silly.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. So, um, those people who were opposed to your vote on that, the, the whiskey people--

ARNOLD: --yeah--

MOYEN: --did they run someone against you then?

ARNOLD: They tried to run a Republican. That didn't work.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Cause I was reelected.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Do you remember anything about that campaign? About having the, uh, once you served your first session, and voted against the whiskey bill, and you, you came back and ran against a Republican, was that a difficult campaign?

ARNOLD: No, the Republican ran against me.

MOYEN: Right, correct. Good point.

ARNOLD: I was, I was the incumbent.

MOYEN: That's right.

ARNOLD: So, they were running against me. No problem. Boyle County's always been a very strong Democratic county.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And so, I had no problem.

MOYEN: Um-hm. So, you went back for the '48 session, what do you recall about, about that session, anything in particular?

ARNOLD: No. That's been fifty years.

MOYEN: Um-hm. More than fifty years.

ARNOLD: Been a long time. (laughs)

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now, let me ask you about Kentucky politics in the 1930s. Do you recall, um, what you thought when, um, when Happy Chandler called the special session, when Laffoon had left the state, and, and he called the special session--this was in the thirties--uh, to try and change so that the, the Democratic nominee for governor would be chosen, um, by a primary election rather than by convention. Do you recall that at all?

ARNOLD: No, I know it happened, but I don't recall anything.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, what was the leadership like in the House of Representatives? I believe the first session you were there, Harry Lee 00:28:00Waterfield was speaker of the House.

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: If I'm correct.

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Um, what was his leadership style like? Did he have much influence?

ARNOLD: No, he didn't have too, none of them, cause Willis was the governor.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: He's a Republican.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Harry, Harry Lee was a gentleman. A fine fellow.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And the next time the president of Morehead State College followed Harry Lee.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: What was his name?

MOYEN: I can't, um, was it Tinsley?

ARNOLD: Huh?

MOYEN: Tinsley.

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: Herbert Tinsley, was that not, was that not?

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: I'm not sure then.

ARNOLD: Oh boy. He, he left there and went to president of Morehead 00:29:00State College. He wore a bowtie. Man(??), that irritates me. (Moyen laughs) Uh. Well, I know it. Can you, can't you think of anybody's name on that thing?

MOYEN: I can't. I'm drawing a blank on it. Okay. Um, now, you just served two sessions, is that correct, in the legislature?

ARNOLD: Yeah.

MOYEN: Um, did you decide not to run--

ARNOLD: --yeah, I just decided not to run.

MOYEN: Why, what lead to that decision?

ARNOLD: Do what?

MOYEN: Why did you decide not to run again?

ARNOLD: I don't remember.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I could run and been, I could've been elected.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Because the man who ran came to me, says, "Roy, I want to run if you don't run." Uh, uh, his name was ----------(??). He was sheriff here. Uh, so I told him, "I," well, it ---------(??) me off about it. And the speaker of the House(??)--(pause).

MOYEN: Can you, can you tell me about your impressions of Frankfort? When you went there in the '46 and '48 session, what about being a legislat-, a legislator was exactly the way you expected might be, and, and what about the legislature was very different? That you really 00:31:00didn't, didn't realize things were gonna be that way?

ARNOLD: I knew they did a lot of swapping out. I found that out quick. I tell you something that, no, I'm not either. It doesn't sound too good, but anyway.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Yeah, do you have any brothers or sisters?

MOYEN: Yes, I do.

ARNOLD: Older or younger?

MOYEN: I have an older brother, an older sister, and a younger sister.

ARNOLD: What does your older brother do?

MOYEN: He's an attorney in Georgia.

ARNOLD: In Georgia.

MOYEN: In Atlanta.

ARNOLD: That's a nice town.

MOYEN: Um-hm. It's a big town.

ARNOLD: You got that right. (both laugh) I remember(??) when it's just a two-, two-lane highway going through Georgia; now they've got about a 00:32:00dozen--

MOYEN: --um-hm. (laughs)

ARNOLD: What else you got on your mind?

MOYEN: Um, could you tell me a little bit about, did you continue in your family business once you, um, decided not to run with the legislature?

ARNOLD: I ran for something else and got beat.

MOYEN: What did you run for?

ARNOLD: Assessor(??).

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: I got.

MOYEN: Do you, do you recall what year that was?

ARNOLD: Might've been '50. No. I don't know. It doesn't make any difference.

MOYEN: Okay. Um, from the time you, you ran for assessor, did you run for any other public offices before you decided--

ARNOLD: --no--

MOYEN: --to run for mayor?

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: Okay. Did you continue with the family business, with insurance, and, and with the carriage?

ARNOLD: No, I never, I don't, I don't know, I'm not a politician. I just drove up and drove home.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Absolutely that's the difference being a, a, it's a big difference of holding an elected office and being a politician. I'm not a politician. I stayed in my ----------(??), if you like it, fine; if you don't -----------(??) too.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And see, when I was mayor, I gave my salary to charity. So, it didn't make any difference to me, I didn't hurt anything.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Time just ----------(??) I just thought it--

MOYEN: --yes it does.

ARNOLD: You're talking about '86, '86 seemed like a long time ago, but 00:34:00you ----------(??) just like it was yesterday.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm.

ARNOLD: What do you want to do when you grow up?

MOYEN: Well, I'm hoping to finish my PhD at U.K.

ARNOLD: Well, I thought it, do you want to teach?

MOYEN: And then I, hopefully when I'm done with that, I'll, I'll get a opportunity to teach. Maybe here at Centre. That'd be fantastic.

ARNOLD: Centre's got a good school.

MOYEN: Yes, they do.

ARNOLD: Very prestigious school.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Let me tell you something funny.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: As you know, I got hurt.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: The doctors in Lexington here couldn't to cure up. We got to Mayo Brothers. As we drive to Rochester(??) between Christmas and New Year's, I went to Mayo Brothers.

MOYEN: And where was that?

ARNOLD: Rochester, Minnesota.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: Big clinic.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: So, I go on, the first day I go there, I go to the doctor's office, there sat this young man. I was a young man. So, we introduced ourselves. He said, "My name is Frank Leahy." Did you ever hear of Frank Leahy?

MOYEN: Sounds familiar.

ARNOLD: He was a great football player at Notre Dame.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: He said, "How did you get hurt?" I said, "Playing football." He said, "Where?" I said, "Centre." He said, "I didn't ask you what position ----------(??)." (Moyen laughs) And Knute Rockne(??) was there. And he, he paid for my lunch two or three times.

MOYEN: Really.

ARNOLD: Frank and I became good friends while I was up there.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I spent several hours in Rockne's(??) room. He was practically, I had an experience a lot of people didn't have a chance to do(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But Frank said, "I didn't ask for my position you played." Rockne, Rockne knew Centre College.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And he knew one or two people on there, on the athletics teaching(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm. Do you recall anything about your meals with him, what he said to say, or what his--

ARNOLD: --well I--

MOYEN: --personality was like?

ARNOLD: I, ----------(??) that Frank Leahy, he said, "Get in line, I'll get your, that's you get in line at the cafeteria, and get you a free meal." So, Frank got up front and I got behind, we was on crutches. Rockne's about two people behind us. We got to the cashier, she said, 00:37:00"Get up here," they didn't pay up. So, sure enough, she gave him the tickets, and he(??) was, and we all ate together.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But they were nice people.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Were there any other stories, um, like that one that you may have had in the legislature, just about what the legislature was like in the forties? That may have not been about a specific piece of legislation but just, um, any good stories.

ARNOLD: We had a man in the legislature, you know, in the legislature you got three minutes to explain their vote. Did you know that?

MOYEN: I had heard that, yes.

ARNOLD: All right. This man explained every vote that came along. And so one day, they got confused up there, and one of the legislators got 00:38:00up and said, "John Ball(??), when he died and I go to heaven, -------- --(??)----------, and the man(??) never goes explained." (Moyen laughs) No, we had, we had, what I think is wrong about the legislature, you, you waste so much time. And I think the man works an eight-hour day is entitled to his pay(??). But I don't think that a man ought to go to Frankfort, be sworn in, not show up to the thing is over, yet(??) get paid.

MOYEN: Was that pretty common? Did people do that quite a bit--

ARNOLD: --well, I know my, the man sitting next to me--

MOYEN: --your seatmate.

ARNOLD: He spent half his time chasing women, I think. I don't know that to be true. But he was single, so(??) it's all right.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But that goes back a long time ago.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now when you served in the legislature, did you drive back and forth each day--

ARNOLD: --no I--

MOYEN: --or did you stay--

ARNOLD: --I stayed over there--

MOYEN: --you stayed in Frankfort.

ARNOLD: We got ten dollars a day for everything. Ten dollars a day for everything. I think people ought to share when dealing with the time to be civic-minded, to try to help you.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I do, I think the people ought to, like going to Sunday school teacher, Boy Scout teacher, I think they should ----------(??)--------- - time. I think legislators ought to give their time(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But we got ten dollars per day, after the meal and all, and every, and I got by.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I figured they could too.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Did a lot of the political deals on different legislation, or, or trying to figure out how you were gonna vote, did it go on afterwards when, when you might be in your hotel, or out to eat--

MOYEN: --no(??), uh, on that, a man came to me, on that whiskey bill. And wanted to know if I would like to have a trip to Florida. My reply was, "I don't mind you offering a bribe, but I'd resent the hell(??) out of you that you'd think I'd take it." I, I ----------(??) vote(??) for it, I'd gone.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: But they had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I didn't, I -----------(??)-----------.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And if you're a lobbyist, a lot of people didn't like lobbyists, I did. I'd get the other side. I, do you remember John Brown, John Young Brown?

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: This is his daddy.

MOYEN: Right, Senior.

ARNOLD: We shared a house together. So, one night at dinner, about eight of us around this big table out there. And I had, was eating. And the lobbyist was there, came along, and picked up my tab. I took it away from him, I said, "No, no. It taints." "John Brown said to tell you to do it(??)." (both laugh) I thought that was right good(??).

MOYEN: That is good, that's good.

ARNOLD: Said it's not tainted enough(??). (Moyen laughs) No, the 00:42:00lobbyist were very nice, the ones I dealt with(??).

MOYEN: Um-hm. So, you're saying that you were able to use them, not for bribes, or whatever, but to get from information from them and different perspectives--

ARNOLD: --well, you either -------------(??) bribe or got something ---- ------(??). You got ----------(??) or ----------(??) the lobbyists.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: So, either you, you can hear both sides of it.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I had no objection to it.

MOYEN: Um-hm. You mentioned managing to save the money for, uh, KSD. Is there any action, um, during sessions that you served that you're particularly proud of, that you were able to do?

ARNOLD: No, I was very much for the handicapped kids. The blind and deaf. And that, it was a pleasure when we worked(??) work for them.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Cause I knew it was like to be handicapped.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. So, did you feel like your injury even played a big part in your political philosophy and what you--

ARNOLD: --right--

MOYEN: -- ----------(??).

ARNOLD: Might have, might have, I don't know.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Is there anything else that played an important part of your political philosophy?

ARNOLD: No, uh, I tell you one thing we did, and I think it was, Bob Stevens, he's dead. Do you, did you remember him?

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Bob Stevens, and Combs, and Nichols(??) ----------(??) were -- --------(??). And a man from Richmond and myself founded the Bluegrass Ad(??). Do you known about Bluegrass Ad(??)?

MOYEN: No, I'm not familiar with that.

ARNOLD: They handled the governor's(??) money, and, you know, his projects(??).

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: And that was something that Bob always did, that I thought was set up a good program.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And it has been a good program.

MOYEN: Um-hm. How would you describe what your political philosophy was when you went to Frankfort, and did it change by the time that you left, or did it, or did it stay the same?

ARNOLD: Nothing's changed. You had a good bill or a bad bill.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And nothing wrong with that.

MOYEN: Um-hm. But what did you see that the role of government should be, should it be primarily to try and help people, or should it be primarily to protect certain freedoms? Um.

ARNOLD: Well, your federal government takes care of the federal, protects you.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: We, I think they did what, the trouble, one thing, one--

[Pause in recording.]

MOYEN: --college may have been like, or--

ARNOLD: --well, I'll tell you real quickly, Centre College and Danville gets along beautifully. We have, Centre's been good to us, and we've been good to Centre.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: See, their ------------(??) is right near you.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And Centre's worked for(??), and that, and that, and nothing's questionable between the two.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Now, when you did you say you first ran for mayor?

ARNOLD: [Nineteen] fifty-seven.

MOYEN: Okay. What were the primary issues that Danville was dealing with then?

ARNOLD: Well, I wasn't too impressed with the candidate.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And the same people got me to run for representative got me to run for mayor. Our town was in the hole. And they got me, and we paid it out, but I raised some taxes.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: It's no secret; just don't spend more than you take in. (Moyen laughs) But people think that's the damn biggest problem. And they had, they had, they owed everybody in town, the city did. The banks, I'm talking about.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: All you have to do is pay out overhead.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: It wasn't no, no, no big secret.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: I'm not that smart; just quit spending.

MOYEN: Right. Right. Now, when, when you were elected in '57, did you say you served a couple of terms then, and then bowed out for a while, and served again in the seventies and eighties?

ARNOLD: I went in'58; in '62 I resigned. My father had died. His estate and my mother and all, it was just too much, and I had to do something.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: And then I ran back in '69 and was elected in '70 through '86.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: So, I had six one time--

MOYEN: --um-hm--

ARNOLD: --sixteen another.

MOYEN: Um-hm. What had changed from the time you served first and the time you served second? How had Danville changed?

ARNOLD: Hell, if you're broke, you change. (Moyen laughs) ------------ (??)-----------

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: The money was gone.

MOYEN: Why was that?

ARNOLD: They had people spend money that didn't have.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. Can you tell me a little bit about a county judge 00:48:00in Boyle County, and, and, and the mayor, and that political power issue, was there ever an issue with political power and infighting?

ARNOLD: No, because the mayor had all the whips. See, the city and county owned half of the airport. And the, the judge was, had that say-so. I will say that Judge White and I got along beautifully.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: He did and they, we do anything we could to help each other.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. Were, were you able as mayor to bring in any businesses in to Danville to hel--

ARNOLD: --no, ------------(??)------------ did that.

MOYEN: Okay.

ARNOLD: That's their foundation.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: No, we, we would guar-, I would, we would guarantee sewer, 00:49:00water, and things like that, and the -----------(??) of fire. But that was just, like, no, they worked together very, very, very well.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Um-hm. How, do you think Danville has done a good job dealing its growth? It's grown quite a bit in the last--

ARNOLD: --yeah--

MOYEN: --few years.

ARNOLD: All the counties done that. Look at Jessamine County and how it's grown.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: The biggest -----------(??)-----------.

MOYEN: Um-hm.

ARNOLD: Look at Lexington.

MOYEN: Right.

ARNOLD: They've all grown.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Has, has Danville done a better job trying to grow in a certain way to keep this quaint town atmosphere?

ARNOLD: Well, we, it's been zoned.

MOYEN: Um-hm. Was that a big battle?

ARNOLD: No.

MOYEN: Were you mayor at the time?

ARNOLD: I don't, no, I don't think so.

MOYEN: Okay. Okay. Um, anything else in particular, in particular, about being mayor that you found particularly rewarding?

ARNOLD: I gave a good shot.

MOYEN: (laughs) Well, that's a good thing.

ARNOLD: Yeah. I got to go eat.

MOYEN: Okay. Thank you so much for your time.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

MOYEN: It's been a pleasure.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

[End of interview.]