From Wikipedia, for those with fuzzy memories:
Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr., (February 11, 1921– May 23, 2006) was an American politician. A four-term United States Senator (1971 until 1993) from Texas, he was the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988. He also served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949-1955 and as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and as U.S. Treasury Secretary.
Early life
Bentsen was born in Mission, Texas, to the grandchildren of Danish immigrants and to the children of first generation Americans, and was an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1942 and served in the United States Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1945. After brief service as a private in intelligence work in Brazil, he became a pilot and in early 1944 began flying combat missions in B-24s from southern Italy with the 449th Bomb Group. At age 23 he was promoted to the rank of Major and given command of a squadron of 600 men.
In 18 months of combat, Bentsen flew 35 dangerous missions against many difficult, remote and highly defended targets such as the Ploesti oil fields in Romania, which were critical to the Nazi's war strategy. The 15th Air Force, to which the 449th was attached, is credited with destroying all of the peroleum production within its range, which equated to about half of Germany's sources of fuel on the continent.
Major Bentsen's unit also flew against communications centers, aircraft factories and industrial targets in Germany, Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Bentsen participated in bombing raids in support of the Anzio campaign and flew bombers against hard targets in preparation for the landing in southern France. Overall, while in the Army Air Corps, he flew over 200 bombing missions over Europe.
Bentsen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Army Air Corps' and now the Air Force's highest commendations for valor in combat. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bentsen was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. The Air Medal and each individual cluster represent specific campaigns for which he was decorated. Before completing his military service, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
Political career
After the war, Bentsen returned to his native Rio Grande Valley. He served the people of his home area from 1947-55, first as Hidalgo County Judge (a largely administrative post as opposed to judicial duties) before serving three successive terms in the United States House. In 1954, he declined to seek reelection and entered what was to become a prosperous career in business.
For 16 years, Bentsen worked in the financial sector in Houston. By 1970, he had become President of Lincoln Consolidated, a financial holding institution. Following his successful campaign which upset liberal incumbent Ralph Yarborough for the Democratic nomination for the Senate that year, he resigned all management positions and directorships.[1] Later that year, Bentsen went on to win the general election when he was pitted against Congressman and future President George H. W. Bush. On the campaign trail, there was a stark contrast between Bush and Bentsen. Bentsen was seen to be far more dignified, reliable, and a heavy-weight in contrast to the fuzzy, ineffective communication skills of Bush. On election night, Bentsen beat Bush convincingly.
Firmly ensconced in Washington, Bentsen was overwhelmingly re-elected to the Senate in 1976, 1982, and 1988. He defeated sitting Republican congressmen from "safe" House seats in all four of his Senate elections, including Bush in 1970. In 1976, he ended the career of Alan Steelman of Dallas. In 1982, he defeated James M. Collins of Dallas. In 1988, he defeated Beau Boulter of Amarillo. Bentsen was also on the ballot as the Democratic vice presidential nominee that year; he could seek both offices under the 1960 "Johnson law."
Bensten favored abortion and women's rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment. He was a lukewarm supporter of the Vietnam War. He generally supported business interests in the arena of economic policy and swiftly rose to become a power to be reckoned with on the Senate Finance Committee. In 1975-76, he ran for the Democratic Party nomination for the presidency which undercut the campaign of Henry M. 'Scoop' Jackson in the powerful business and financial communities, but he withdrew from his national candidacy to become a 'favorite son' of Texas well before the Democratic National Convention that nominated his friendly and respected rival, James Earl Carter.
1988 Vice Presidential candidate
In 1988 Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis chose him to be his running mate in the 1988 presidential election. Bentsen was selected in large part to secure the state of Texas, and its large electoral vote, for the Democrats. Because of Bentsen's status of something of an elder statesman who was more experienced in elected politics, many believed Dukakis's selection of Bentsen as his running mate was a mistake in that Bentsen, number two on the ticket, appeared more "presidential" than did Dukakis. One elector in West Virginia even cast a ballot for him rather than Dukakis in voting, giving him one electoral vote for President.
He was responsible for one of the most memorable moments of the campaign, when during a televised debate with Republican Vice Presidential nominee Dan Quayle, he countered Quayle's self-comparison to John F. Kennedy with the famous rebuttal, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." [2] The Dukakis-Bentsen ticket lost the election in an Electoral College landslide. Bentsen was unable to swing his home state of Texas while the Bush/Quayle ticket won Quayle's home state of Indiana by a wide margin.
Late political career
He resigned from the Senate in January, 1993 in order to serve as the 69th Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1994. Clinton's selection of Bentsen for his cabinet was criticised as resulting in a loss of a Democratic Senate seat when Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison won the special election in Texas for Bentsen's vacated seat. As Secretary of the Treasury, Bentsen helped to shepherd Clinton's first budget through Congress. President Clinton awarded Bentsen the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
In 1998, Bentsen suffered a stroke, which left him needing a wheelchair for mobility. He appeared in the summer of 2004 at the portrait unveilings at the White House of Bill and Hillary Clinton. His nephew, Ken Bentsen of Houston, was an unsuccessful Democratic primary contender for the U.S. Senate in 2002.
Two hundred seventy miles of U.S. Highway 59, from I-35 to I-45 in Texas, is officially named the "Senator Lloyd Bentsen Highway".
Bentsen's family continues to be active in politics. His nephew, Ken Bentsen Jr., was a U.S. Representative (D) from 1995-2003 in Texas's 25th District. Lloyd's grandson, Lloyd Bentsen IV, served on John Kerry's advance staff during his campaign for the Presidency of the United States.
Lloyd Bentsen died at his home in Houston, Texas on May 23, 2006 at the age of 85.
Thanks for that. Now I remember.
I didn't like him. At all.
The Bensten bird sanctuary in Mission is a wonderful tribute to this man.
Then he resigned rathher abruptly. Bentsen was no saint, but I think that after he got a whiff of the stink of the real clinton regime, he got his hat and left.