Lloyd Bentsen
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2020) |
Lloyd Bentsen | |
---|---|
Milton West | |
Succeeded by | Joe M. Kilgore |
Personal details | |
Born | Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. February 11, 1921 Mission, Texas, U.S. |
Died | May 23, 2006 Houston, Texas, U.S. | (aged 85)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Beryl Ann Longino (m. 1943) |
Children | 3 |
Education | University of Texas at Austin (LLB) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service |
|
Years of service | 1942–1947 (Active) 1950–1959 (Reserve) |
Rank | Colonel |
Unit |
|
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal (4) |
Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served as the 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton.
Born in
Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis chose Bentsen as his running mate in the 1988 presidential election, while the Republicans nominated Vice President George H. W. Bush and Senator Dan Quayle. During the 1988 vice presidential debate, Quayle responded to a question about his purported inexperience by comparing his time in office up to that point to that of John F. Kennedy, leading Bentsen to famously castigate Quayle: "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Though Dukakis hoped that the selection of Bentsen would help the Democratic ticket win Texas, the Republican ticket won the state and prevailed by a wide margin in the nationwide electoral and popular vote. Bentsen considered running for president in 1992 but chose not to challenge Bush, who was popular after the Gulf War.
After Bill Clinton defeated Bush in the 1992 general election, Clinton offered Bentsen the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Bentsen accepted, though he told Clinton that he would not serve a full four-year term in the office. As Treasury Secretary, he helped win the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Bentsen retired in December 1994 and was succeeded by Robert Rubin. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
Early life
Bentsen was born in Mission in
The elder Bentsen's parents, Peter and Tena, had come from Denmark to be homesteaders and farmers at Argo Township, near White and Brookings, South Dakota; they experienced many hardships, including loss of their first dwelling and belongings to fire, crop failure, and poor medical care.
Their son started out harvesting and taming mustangs for local farmers, then served in the
The brothers were directors of the Elsa State Bank; Lloyd Sr. was also a principal at several First National banks, president of the Rio Grande Valley Chamber of Commerce from 1944 to 1946, and played a major role in the unity and development of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties. Both brothers donated land that became the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.
Eventually moving out of land development due to some disputes mainly resulting from crop failure due to a severe freeze, Lloyd Sr. invested $7 million in an insurance and financial holding company in Houston, of which his son, Lloyd Jr., served as chief executive until running for the U.S. Senate in 1971.
In 1959, Texas Governor Allan Shivers appointed Lloyd Sr. major general in the Texas State Guard Reserve Corps. He died after a car accident, aged 95.[1]
At age 15, Lloyd Jr. graduated from
.Bentsen graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with an LL.B. degree in 1942 and was admitted to the bar,[4][5][6][7] but joined the military for World War II. (When law schools accredited by the American Bar Association began requiring a bachelor's degree for admission to law school in the 1950s and 1960s, law schools began awarding the Juris Doctor degree rather than the LL.B.[8] As with most law school graduates of his era, Bentsen's LL.B. was amended to reflect award of the J.D.)[9]
Military service
After brief service as a
Bentsen flew thirty-five missions against many heavily defended targets, including the
Bentsen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Air Force's highest commendations for achievement or heroism in flight.[citation needed] In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bentsen was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.[citation needed]
Bentsen served in the
Early political career
After the war, Bentsen returned to his native
First elected in
Bentsen upset incumbent Ralph Yarborough, a liberal icon, in a bruising primary campaign for the 1970 Texas Democratic Senatorial nomination. The campaign came in the wake of Yarborough's politically hazardous votes in favor of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and his opposition to the Vietnam War. Bentsen made Yarborough's opposition to the war a major issue. His television advertising featured video images of rioting in the streets at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, implying that Yarborough was associated with the rioters. While this strategy was successful in defeating Yarborough, it caused long-term damage to Bentsen's relationship with liberals in his party.[14][15]
Bentsen's campaign and his reputation as a centrist Democrat served to alienate him not only from supporters of Yarborough, but from prominent national liberals, as well. Indeed, during the 1970 Senate race, the
Political career
1976 presidential campaign
Beginning in 1974, Bentsen campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 1974 he visited 30 states and raised $350,000 at a single fundraiser in Texas.[citation needed] Bentsen formally announced his candidacy on February 17, 1975, and in the early part of that year he had already raised over $1 million for his campaign; only George Wallace of Alabama and Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson of Washington state had raised more money by that point.[citation needed] Bentsen did not organize effectively on a national level, and many observers believed the freshman senator was running without any real hope of winning the nomination, hoping instead to secure a vice-presidential nomination.[citation needed]
Wallace and Jackson were considered to be the two main contenders for the moderate to conservative voters to whom Bentsen would appeal; early in the campaign few foresaw Jimmy Carter of Georgia also effectively appealing to that group.[citation needed]
By October 1975 Bentsen, generating little national attention or significance in the polls, scaled back his campaign to a limited effort in areas of 8 to 10 states, hoping for a deadlocked convention. In the first state contest Bentsen vigorously contested, Mississippi, he managed only 1.6% of the vote. Two weeks later Bentsen staked the remainder of his campaign and resources in neighboring Oklahoma but finished third with only 12%. A few days later Bentsen shut down his national campaign, staying in the race only as a favorite son in Texas. In the May 1, 1976, primary, Jimmy Carter won 92 of Texas's 98 delegates. The eventual nominee and president, Carter was later quoted as saying he had expected a much stronger showing by Bentsen but that Bentsen's failure to campaign nationally had ended his hopes.[citation needed]
Senate career
Bentsen was overwhelmingly reelected to the Senate in
1988 vice presidential campaign
Bentsen was on Walter Mondale's short list of seven or eight possible vice presidential candidates in 1984 and was the only southerner and one of three white males considered. In the end, Mondale chose New York U.S. Representative Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.[citation needed]
In 1988,
Bentsen was responsible for one of the most widely discussed moments of the campaign during the
The Dukakis-Bentsen ticket lost the election. Bentsen was unable to swing his home state, with 43 percent of the Texas vote going for the Dukakis ticket while Bush and Quayle took 56 percent. But he was simultaneously reelected to the United States Senate with 59 percent of the vote.[24]
Bentsen considered running for president in the
Secretary of the Treasury
Appointed to Clinton's cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury, Bentsen helped win crucial Republican votes to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Bentsen also was pivotal in winning passage of the 1994 crime bill, the Federal Assault Weapon Ban, which temporarily banned assault rifles.[26][27]
After the resignation of Les Aspin in early 1994, Bentsen was seriously considered for the position of Secretary of Defense.[28] But this prospect did not materialize, and William Perry, then Deputy Secretary of Defense, was chosen to succeed Aspin. In early December 1994, Bentsen announced his retirement as Secretary of the Treasury. Before election day he had discussed with President Clinton that he was not prepared to stay in office through the end of Clinton's first term in 1997. He was succeeded in the position by Robert Rubin.[29]
Later life and death
In 1995, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in an interview with Larry King when asked which Democrats she admired: "I like Lloyd Bentsen very much indeed, I was sad when he resigned. He's a real marvelous politician, a person of great dignity, a person we can look up to, respect and like as well."[30]
In 1998, Bentsen experienced two strokes, which left him needing a wheelchair. In 1999, President Clinton awarded Bentsen the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the nation's highest honors given to civilians. Clinton singled out Bentsen for applause during his final State of the Union address in 2000, saying: "In 1993, we began to put our fiscal house in order with the Deficit Reduction Act, which you'll all remember won passages in both Houses by just a single vote. Your former colleague, my first Secretary of the Treasury, led that effort and sparked our long boom. He's here with us tonight. Lloyd Bentsen, you have served America well, and we thank you."[citation needed] Bentsen appeared in the summer of 2004 at the portrait unveilings at the White House of Clinton and former First Lady Senator Hillary Clinton.
Bentsen died on May 23, 2006, at his home in
Legacy
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As a freshman Senator, Bentsen guided to passage the
As a primary architect of the Clinton economic plan, Bentsen contributed to a $500 billion reduction in the deficit, launching the longest period of economic growth since World War II. More than 5 million new jobs were created during his tenure as Secretary.[27]
His legacy also includes many water, wastewater and other infrastructure projects in the impoverished colonias of south Texas, the preservation of natural areas across the state, and major funding for numerous medical facilities.[citation needed]
Bentsen's retort to Vice President Dan Quayle during the 1988 vice presidential debate, "You're no Jack Kennedy," has entered the lexicon as a widely used phrase to deflate politicians who are perceived as thinking too highly of themselves. Bentsen is also known for coining the term astroturfing.[citation needed]
Bentsen's family continues to be active in politics. His nephew,
On January 22, 2009, the Senator Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Stroke Research Center
Electoral history
References
- ^ Bentsen, Lloyd Millard Sr (1894-1989), Howard Lackman, Texas State Historical Association URL= https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bentsen-lloyd-millard-sr (citing: Lloyd M. Bentsen Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 27, 1952. Hidalgo County Centennial Corporation, The Centennial Celebration of the Organization of Hidalgo County in Texas (Mission, Texas: Times Publishing Company, 1952). Joan R. Sloan Johnson, The Bentsen Family: From Denmark to Texas (Austin: Hart Graphics, 1985). New York Times, January 18, 1989. Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.)
- ISBN 978-0-292-70240-0.
- ^ "Fact Sheet Eagle Scouts". Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
- ^ Fortune, Kirston (May 23, 2006). "In Memoriam: Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd M. Bentsen, '42, 1921-2006". The University of Texas School of Law. The University of Texas. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
- ISBN 0-313-28012-6.
- ISBN 9781561603664.
- ISBN 9780892340446.
- ^ "Harvard and Columbia Moving Toward Switch to J.D. Degree". Rhode Island Bar Journal. Providence, RI: Rhode Island Bar Association: 263. May 1, 1969.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Lloyd Bentsen". The Alcalde. Austin, TX: Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas: 92. July 1, 2006.
- ^ a b c d Rosenbaum, David E. (May 24, 2006). "Lloyd Bentsen Dies at 85; Senator Ran With Dukakis". New York Times.
- ^ Hutchison, Kay Bailey (May 23, 2006). "Remarks Relative to the Death of Former Senator Lloyd Bentsen". Congressional Record: 109th Congress (2005-2006). Library of Congress. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ "Profile: Brother Lloyd M. Bentsen". Delta magazine. Vol. 96, no. 3. Sigma Nu Fraternity. 1982. p. 3. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ "Lloyd M. Bentsen, Sr". Texas Military Forces Hall of Honor. Texas Military Forces. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ISBN 0-292-71243-X.
- ^ "Texas: Democratic Primary, GOP Gain". Time. May 11, 1970. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008.
- Texas Observer. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ a b Allen, Steven; Viguerie, Richard A. (December 22, 1991). "Buchanan Lets Conservatives 'Divorce' President Bush". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ a b "Vice President Dan Quayle Interview - Debating Our Destiny - Dec. 2, 1999 - PBS". www.pbs.org.
- ^ "The American Electoral Project".
- The History Channel. Archived from the originalon November 16, 2004.
- YouTube
- ^ Halloran, Liz (January 17, 2008). "Lloyd Bentsen To Dan Quayle: "Senator, You Are No Jack Kennedy"; Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen delivered one of the most devastating slights ever". U.S. News & World Report.
- ^ U.S. Election Atlas, 1988 presidential election results.
- ^ "Bentsen Mulls Soloing in '92", The New Yorker, September 18, 1989
- ^ "Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies". NBC News. May 23, 2006. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ a b "Lloyd Bentsen Biography". US Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human. A Political Education, 1999
- ^ Bradsher, Keith (December 6, 1994). "Bentsen is Poised to Leave Cabinet Officials Confirm". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- YouTube
- ^ "Beryl Ann (Longino) Bentsen 1922-2020", The Monitor, May 8, 2020, retrieved July 25, 2020
- ^ Grant, Alexis (May 30, 2006). "Houston church prepares for Bentsen memorial". Houston Chronicle.
- ^ "Clinton honors Bentsen at service". USA Today. May 31, 2006. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
- ^ "Senator Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Center for Stroke Research", The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), retrieved April 8, 2015
External links
- United States Congress. "Lloyd Bentsen (id: B000401)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Biography in the Handbook of Texas Online
- Reuters: "Former Senator, Treasury chief Bentsen dies" May 23, 2006 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-06-02)
- Houston Chronicle: "Former Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies" May 23, 2006
- Oral History Interview with Lloyd Bentsen, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2001-11-26)
- Appearances on C-SPAN