John Samuel Faubus, Sr. (October 24, 1887 - August 1966), the father of the late Governor Orval Eugene Faubus of the U.S. state of Arkansas, was a poor farmer and founded one of Arkansas' few chapters of the Socialist Party of America. He was born in Madison County in the Ozark Mountains. He gave his son the middle name "Eugene" to honor Socialist Party of America founder Eugene V. Debs of Indiana.
Sam Faubus was a firm opponent of U.S. involvement in World War I and supported women's suffrage and desegregation. Governor Faubus, however, became internationally controversial for seeking to oppose the 1957 integration of Central High School in the state capital of Little Rock. Ultimately, nine African American students known as the Little Rock Nine went on to graduate from Central High School.