U.S. Congressman, Arkansas Governor, U.S. Senator. He served in the United States Senate from the state of Arkansas from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1997. He also served as the 39th Governor of Arkansas from January 14, 1975 to January 3, 1979. His first federal office was as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 4th District of Arkansas from November 8, 1966 to January 3, 1973. He attended both the Henderson State Teacher's College in Arkadelphia and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he graduated in 1957. He was the founder and publisher of the newspaper Ouachita Citizen from 1957 to 1960. He went on to graduate from law school at the University of Arkansas in 1964 and was admitted to the bar that same year. He was elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives in 1960 and went on to serve until 1966, when he, as a Democrat, was elected to fill a vacant seat in the United States House of Representatives. He went on to serve in the House for three terms before stepping down in 1972. In 1974, he was elected as the Governor of Arkansas and went on to serve two terms before stepping down in 1978 to seek a seat in the United States Senate. In 1978, he ran for a seat in the United States Senate and was successful in the November general election. He served three terms in the Senate and during his tenure, he held the posts of Chair of the Senate Aging Committee and the Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference. In 1996, he decided to not seek another Senate term and retired in January of 1997. After his retirement, he served in both the educational and political fields, where he served as the Chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party from 2008 to 2009. His son, Mark Pryor, served as a United States Senator from 2003 to 2015.