FAYETTEVILLE — As a child, Alice Walton was impressed by the “beautiful roads” of Harrison.
On a trip through Harrison, Walton asked her father, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, why the roads were so beautiful there.
“He said, ‘Well, there’s a man called John Paul,’” Walton recalled.
John Paul Hammerschmidt of Harrison served as congressman for Arkansas’ 3rd District from 1967-93. He was instrumental in securing funding for many transportation projects, including Interstate 540 and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.
Walton told the story to a crowd of about 400 at the Fayetteville Town Center on Friday night at a dinner being held by the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation to honor Hammerschmidt.
After speeches by Walton, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, businessman Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty and real estate developer Jim Lindsey, Hammerschmidt said everything to be said about him had been said very well that night.
“After all that, I think I’m going to invite all of you to my interment at the Maplewood Cemetery next week,” Hammerschmidt joked. “The eulogy has already been said.”
Hammerschmidt then praised Burlsworth, a walkon lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks who died in a car crash shortly after being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 1999, and he thanked the people attending the dinner. Money from the $200 tickets will help the foundation.
“That’s just typical of John Paul Hammerschmidt to put other people first,” said Stanley Reed of Marianna, who was master of ceremonies for the event. “We’re trying to honor him.”
For Hammerschmidt, politics was about getting something done, not getting some credit, said Mineta.
“He practiced the art of politics, and that was to make sure problems were solved,” said Mineta. “John Paul always made sure things got done. ... “There’s no doubt that it wasthe wisdom, the far-looking vision of John Paul Hammerschmidt, that made all of these projects possible for Arkansas.”
As a freshman congressman in 1974, Mineta said he gravitated toward Hammerschmidt, as did many other young congressman.
“I had the good fortune of working with him very, very closely on a number of projects and legislative issues,” said Mineta.
McLarty, who is president of McLarty Associates of Washington, D.C., and former chief of staff in the Clinton White House, praised Hammerschmidt for his contributions beyond Arkansas.
“John Paul Hammerschmidt has made singular contributions, not just to Northwest Arkansas and our beloved state, but well beyond that to our country and the world,” McLarty said. “John Paul Hammerschmidt always stood with the people, not above them.”
Lindsey, who played football for the Razorbacks and Minnesota Vikings, described Hammerschmidt as “an American hero ... the greatest public servant in the history of Arkansas.”
“Maybe the greatest politician in American history ran against him and couldn’t beat him,” Lindsey said, referring to Bill Clinton.
The evening also included videos with former Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush praising Hammerschmidt.
“I have the distinct honor of being beaten by him in my first campaign for public office, for Congress in 1974,” said Clinton. “I can’t thank him enough.”
Hammerschmidt served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 13 terms under six presidents. He was a lumber man, builder and building supplies businessman for 20 years before he ran for office.
A combat pilot in World War II, Hammerschmidt flew 217 missions.
Among his many achievements, Hammerschmidt wasthe author and initiating sponsor of the law that added the Buffalo River to the National Parks Service in 1972. It was the Buffalo that Walton was traveling to as a child when she first heard of John Paul Hammerschmidt.
The Burlsworth Foundation is a Christian organization that supports the physical and spiritual needs of children, in particular children who have special needs. It was established in 1999 by Marty and Vickie Burlsworth of Harrison. The organization sends kids to Razorback and Indianapolis Colts home games, offers football camps and presents the Brandon Burlsworth High School Football Awards at every high school in Arkansas. The University of Arkansas awards 18 Brandon Burlsworth academicscholarships every year in addition to one walk-on athletic scholarship. The foundation also provides eye care to 1,000 low-income students each year and plans to extend the program to surrounding states.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/23/2010