Harlan Holleman

Who was Harlan Holleman?

Harlan Harmon "Bo" Holleman was a farmer and seed merchant from Wynne, the seat of Cross County in eastern Arkansas, and a pioneer in the development of the modern Republican Party in his home state. He was the Arkansas state GOP chairman from December 6, 1980, until his death some sixteen months later. Earlier he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives.

Holleman was born to farmer Herman Holleman and wife, Moretta, in Hickory Ridge in Cross County. Holleman's mother died when he was a boy, and his father thereafter married the former Faye Couch of Parkin in Cross County. In 1943, Holleman graduated at the age of sixteen from Hickory Ridge High School and trained thereafter at Texas A&M University in College Station and Texas Tech University in Lubbock in preparation for entering the United States Army Air Corps, later the Air Force. His military service took him to Okinawa. After World War II, he studied briefly at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.