Which Arkansas governor tried to block integration of Central High School in Little Rock, leading Eisenhower to enforce federal law?

• A. George Wallace
• B. Orval Faubus
• C. Lester Maddox
• D. Strom Thurmond

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how the federal government can override state actions to protect constitutional rights. Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas, tried to block the integration of Central High School in Little Rock by calling up the Arkansas National Guard to prevent Black students from entering. In response, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent in the 101st Airborne to enforce the law and ensure the students could attend. This showed that federal authority can compel states to comply with Supreme Court rulings—desegregation ordered by Brown v. Board of Education—even when state leaders resist. Other well-known segregation-era figures occurred in different states or roles, not as Arkansas’s governor who blocked Central High.