William Asa Hutchinson is the incumbent Governor of Arkansas who assumed the office on January 13, 2015 as a successor of Mike Beebe. Previously, Hutchinson was Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (2001 – 2003) and Member of the US House of Representatives (1997 – 2001).
Early Life and Education
Asa Hutchinson was born on December 3, 1950 to Coral Virginia and John Malcolm in Bentonville. For early education, he went to a local school and joined the Bob Jones University for undergraduate education. Later, he entered the University of Arkansas for a Juris Doctorate degree.
Personal Life
William Asa Hutchinson is married to Susan Burrell Hutchinson. The couple has four children: John, Seth, Asa III and Sarah Hutchinson.
Most of Hutchinson’s closest acquaintances are into the American politics. His brother served as a US Representative and a US Senator. Likewise, his nephews served in the Arkansas General Assembly.
Career
Asa Hutchinson’s dynamic career can be divided into three parts: law, politics and business.
As a lawyer
Graduating from School of Law of the University of Arkansas, Asa joined Fort Smith and served the law firm for 21 years. During this period, he gained valuable experiences and ascended the post of US Attorney for the western district of Arkansas under President Ronald Reagan. As a competent attorney, Hutchinson served the federal judiciary by successfully prosecuting The Sword, CSA and The Covenant. Sometimes William is cited as an aggressive prosecutor.
As a politician
At an age of 36, Hutchinson entered the American politics by running against Dale Bumpers. He also competed against several senior attorney officers for the position of Attorney General of Arkansas. Unfortunately, he lost most of his early elections but was promoted to co-chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party. Serving five years in the position, Hutchinson looked towards succeeding his brother Tim Hutchinson as a member of the House of Representative. While Tim ran for the US Senate, Asa bade for the House of Representatives. He won the 1996 elections with 55% votes and ran for another term in 1998. The second election was an easy win for Hutchinson – he received staggering 80% votes. Hutchinson also served his third term at the House of Representatives before, finally, leaving on August 6, 2001.
As a US Representative, Asa played significant roles to prohibit illegal drugs and also worked actively towards impeaching the incumbent President Bill Clinton. Likewise, Hutchinson found himself useful in reforming finance laws and modifying civil asset forfeiture. As the third term at the US House of Representatives had just begun, Asa joined the Drug Enforcement Administration as Administrator on August 6, 2001.
As administrator of the DEA, Asa Hutchinson was critical about the traditional approaches used by the officers. Hence, he re-evaluated the given resources and largely focused on newly-born drug threats or networks. Hutchinson advocated for an increased investment in drug addiction treatment and a rightful use of marijuana. He argues that marijuana can be taken as a treatment if ingested in right amount. For Hutchinson’s widely-acclaimed works, he was promoted to chair Border and Transportation Security Directorate. While at the post, he handled more than 100,000 employees and helped the Bush administration find its way into the roots of drug distribution in the US.
In 2006, Asa Hutchinson decided to run for the position of Governor of Arkansas. Although his Republican opponent was a likely candidate, Hutchinson grabbed the nomination as Paul Rockefeller died from a circulation disorder. Anyway, he lost the final elections against the incumbent Mike Beebe. After losing the 2006 gubernatorial election, Hutchinson joined The Constitution Project’s Guantanamo Task Force in 2010. Likewise, he entered NRA’s National School Shield Initiative in order to ensure safety in educational institutions.
In the pursuit of leading the Arkansas government, William Asa again ran for gubernatorial elections in 2014. Winning the elections against Democrat nominee, he assumed the office on January 13, 2015.
As a businessman
Asa Hutchinson is a businessman too. In the mid-2000s, he commenced a consulting firm called Hutchinson Group and contracted with Venable LLP in Washington. Likewise, Hutchinson also has stock investments in Fortress America which are worth over a million dollars, following an IPO in 2006.
Trump and Hutchinson
US President Donald Trump and Arkansas Governor William Asa Hutchinson perfectly match on their stance on refugees and Muslim immigrants. Following Paris attacks, Hutchinson has vowed to not let any Syrian refugees inside Arkansas. Reportedly, Hutchinson was one of Trump’s top picks for the US Attorney General. However, Jefferson Sessions was appointed to the position. In the past, Hutchinson has praised Trump on his stances and even acclaimed his presidential transition.
