Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe successfully pushed to nearly eliminate the state's grocery tax over the past eight years, helped convince a Republican-led Legislature to embrace a key part of the president's health care law and enjoys an approval rating that's barely dipped below 70 percent since he took office in 2007.
But the two-term Democrat admits the legacy he hopes to leave after more than three decades in elected office is much more nebulous. It's trying to change the attitude of a poverty-stricken Southern state where "Thank God for Mississippi" is a familiar catchphrase.
Beebe leaves office next week, handing the reins of the state over to Republican Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson. Despite his high popularity, Beebe insists this means this end of his time in elected politics.