View source for Lloyd Bentsen

{{Short description|American politician (1921–2006)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = Lloyd Bentsen
| image        = LloydBentsen.jpg
| caption      = Official portrait, 1993
| office       = 69th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]]
| president    = [[Bill Clinton]]
| term_start   = January 20, 1993
| term_end     = December 22, 1994
| predecessor  = [[Nicholas F. Brady]]
| successor    = [[Robert Rubin]]
| office1      = Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]]
| term_start1  = January 3, 1987
| term_end1    = January 20, 1993
| predecessor1 = [[Bob Packwood]]
| successor1   = [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]]
| jr/sr2       = United States Senator
| state2       = [[Texas]]
| term_start2  = January 3, 1971
| term_end2    = January 20, 1993
| predecessor2 = [[Ralph Yarborough]]
| successor2   = [[Bob Krueger]]
| state3       = [[Texas]]
| district3    = {{ushr|TX|15|15th}}
| term_start3  = December 4, 1948
| term_end3    = January 3, 1955
| predecessor3 = [[Milton West]]
| successor3   = [[Joe M. Kilgore]]
| office4       = [[Hidalgo County, Texas|Hidalgo County Judge]]
| term_start4  = 1946
| term_end4    = December 4, 1948
| birth_name   = Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. 
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1921|2|11}}
| birth_place  = [[Mission, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|2006|5|23|1921|2|11}}
| death_place  = [[Houston]], Texas, U.S.
| spouse       = {{marriage|Beryl Ann Longino|1943}}
| children     = 3
| party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| education    = [[University of Texas at Austin]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| signature    = Lloyd Bentsen sig.jpg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
| branch       = {{tree list}}
* {{flag|United States Army}}
** [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]]
* {{flag|United States Air Force}}
** [[United States Air Force Reserve|Air Force Reserve]]
{{tree list/end}}
| rank         = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
| battles      = {{tree list}}
*[[World War II]]
**[[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean theater]]
**[[European theatre of World War II|European theater]]
{{tree list/end}}
| serviceyears = {{ubl|1942–1947 (active)|1950–1959 (reserve)}}
| unit         = {{tree list}}
* [[15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force|15th Air Force]]
** [[449th Air Expeditionary Group|449th Bombardment Group]]
{{tree list/end}}
| mawards      = [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]<br /> [[Air Medal]] (4)
| module       = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen on the Clinton Administration's Achievements on the Eve of his Retirement.ogg|title=Bentsen's voice|type=speech|description=Bentsen on the achievements of the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]] at the end of his time as Treasury Secretary<br/>Recorded December 6, 1994}}
}}{{Protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Centrism US|expanded=politicians}}

'''Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr.''' (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 69th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] under President [[Bill Clinton]] from 1993 to 1994. He served as a [[United States senator]] from Texas from 1971 to 1993 and was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nominee for vice president in [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]] on the [[Michael Dukakis]] ticket.

Born in [[Mission, Texas]], Bentsen graduated from the [[University of Texas School of Law]] before serving in the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]]. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in Europe. After the war, he won election to the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], serving from 1948 to 1955. He defeated incumbent Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] in the 1970 Democratic senatorial primary and won the general election against [[George H. W. Bush]]. He was reelected in [[1976 United States Senate election in Texas|1976]], [[1982 United States Senate election in Texas|1982]], and [[1988 United States Senate election in Texas|1988]], and served as chairman of the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Finance]] from 1987 to 1993. In the Senate, he helped win passage of the [[Employee Retirement Income Security Act]] and played a role in the creation of the [[individual retirement account]]. Bentsen sought the [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]] Democratic presidential nomination but was unable to organize an effective national campaign.

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]]." Although 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 United States presidential election|1992]] but chose not to challenge Bush, who was popular after the [[Gulf War]].

After defeating Bush in 1992, Clinton offered Bentsen the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Bentsen accepted, although 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, [[Hidalgo County, Texas]], to Lloyd Millard Bentsen Sr. (known as "Big Lloyd"), a first-generation [[Danish-American]], and his wife, Edna Ruth (Colbath). The elder Bentsen's parents, Niels Peter and Tena, had come from [[Denmark]] to be homesteaders and farmers at Argo Township, near [[White, South Dakota|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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 21, 1988 |title=Bentsen's granddad was Danish stowaway |url=https://www.deseret.com/1988/8/21/18775628/bentsen-s-granddad-was-danish-stowaway/ |access-date=November 11, 2025 |website=Deseret News}}</ref>

Their son started out harvesting and taming mustangs for local farmers, then served in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)#World War I|United States Signal Corps]] during [[World War I]]. He and Edna accompanied his parents on their relocation to the "citrus and vegetable utopia" of [[Sharyland]], Texas, where Peter Bentsen worked as a land agent for Sharyland's founder, [[John H. Shary]], and started a nursery seedling business. Lloyd Sr. and his brother Elmer helped with the family business, investing in land purchase, becoming the "premier colonizers and developers of Hidalgo County", and gaining a substantial fortune from the "Pride O Texas" citrus trademark.

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Sr. |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bentsen-lloyd-millard-sr |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref>

At age 15, Lloyd Jr. graduated from [[Sharyland High School]] in Mission.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hendrickson |first1=Kenneth E. Jr. |last2=Michael L. |first2=Collins |last3=Cox |first3=Patrick |date=2004 |title=Profiles in Power: Twentieth-Century Texans in Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRvUAAAAQBAJ&q=%22Bentsen%22+%22sharyland+high+school%22&pg=PA257 |location=Austin, TX |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=257 |isbn=978-0-292-70240-0}}</ref> He was an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-516.aspx|title=Fact Sheet Eagle Scouts|publisher=Boy Scouts of America|access-date=March 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227110721/http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-516.aspx|archive-date=February 27, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> and received the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] from the [[Scouting in Texas|Boy Scouts of America]]. Bentsen graduated from the [[University of Texas School of Law]] with an [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]] degree in 1942 and was admitted to the bar,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/052306_bentsen.html |title=In Memoriam: Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd M. Bentsen, '42, 1921-2006 |last=Fortune |first=Kirston |date=May 23, 2006 |website=The University of Texas School of Law |publisher=The University of Texas |access-date=December 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909171409/http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2006/052306_bentsen.html |archive-date=September 9, 2006 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Katz |first1=Bernard S. |last2=Vencill |first2=C. Daniel |date= 1996 |title=Biographical Dictionary of the United States Secretaries of the Treasury, 1789-1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMiA05P92h8C&q=%22lloyd+bentsen%22+%22ll.b.%22&pg=PA16 |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=16 |isbn=0-313-28012-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=1999 |title= Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmgeAQAAMAAJ&q=%22lloyd+bentsen%22+%22ll.b.%22+1942 |publisher=Martindale-Hubbell |page= Lloyd M. Bentsen entry|isbn= 9781561603664 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Barone |first1=Michael |last2=Ujifusa |first2=Grant |date=1990 |title=The Almanac of American Politics |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uZkYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22lloyd+bentsen%22+%22ll.b.%22+1942 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher= National Journal, Inc. |page=1160|isbn=9780892340446 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |date=May 1, 1969 |title=Harvard and Columbia Moving Toward Switch to J.D. Degree |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzqzAAAAIAAJ&q=%22J.D%22 |journal=Rhode Island Bar Journal |location=Providence, RI |publisher=Rhode Island Bar Association|page=263}}</ref> As with most law school graduates of his era, Bentsen's LL.B. was amended to reflect award of the J.D.)<ref>{{cite journal |date=July 1, 2006 |title=In Memoriam: Lloyd Bentsen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2eMDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22bentsen%22+%22university+of+texas%22+%22j.d.%22&pg=PA92 |journal=The Alcalde |location=Austin, TX |publisher=Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas |page=92}}</ref>

==Military service==
After brief service as a [[Private (rank)#United States Army|private]] in intelligence work in Brazil, he trained to be a pilot and in early 1944 began flying combat missions in [[B-24]]s from [[Foggia, Italy]], with the [[449th Air Expeditionary Group|449th Bomb Group]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} At age 23, he was promoted to [[Major (United States)|major]] and given command of a squadron of 600 men, overseeing the operations of 15 bombers, their crews, and their maintenance units.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} He was promoted to [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] before being discharged in 1947.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Bentsen flew thirty-five missions against many heavily defended targets, including the [[Ploiești]] oil fields in [[Romania]], which were critical to the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] war production. The [[15th Air Force]], which included the 449th Bomb Group, destroyed all petroleum production within its range, eliminating about half of Nazi Germany's sources of fuel. 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 raids in support of the [[Anzio]] campaign and flew missions against targets in preparation for the landing in southern France. He was shot down twice.<ref name="Rosenbaum NYT">{{cite news |first=David E. |last=Rosenbaum |date=May 24, 2006 |title=Lloyd Bentsen Dies at 85; Senator Ran with Dukakis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/washington/24bentsen.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

Bentsen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Air Force's highest commendations for achievement or heroism in flight.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bentsen was awarded the [[Air Medal]] with three [[Oak leaf cluster|Oak Leaf Clusters]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Bentsen served in the [[United States Air Force Reserve]] from 1950 to 1959, and was promoted to [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:S23MY6-0037:|title= Remarks Relative to the Death of Former Senator Lloyd Bentsen|last1= Hutchison|first1= Kay Bailey|date= May 23, 2006|website= Congressional Record: 109th Congress (2005-2006)|publisher= Library of Congress|access-date= November 21, 2014|archive-date= October 18, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151018015246/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:S23MY6-0037:|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title= Profile: Brother Lloyd M. Bentsen|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gYxLAAAAYAAJ&q=colonel|magazine=Delta magazine |volume=96 |issue=3|publisher= Sigma Nu Fraternity|date= 1982|access-date= November 21, 2014 |page=3}}</ref>  (His father, a [[World War I]] veteran, served as a [[Major General (United States)|major general]] in the Texas [[Texas State Guard|Home Guard]] during World War II.)<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/hallofhonor/bentsen.htm|title= Lloyd M. Bentsen, Sr.|website=Texas Military Forces Hall of Honor|publisher= Texas Military Forces|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref>

==Early political career==
[[File:Lloyd Bentsen 83rd Congress.jpg|thumb|left|Bentsen as a U.S. Representative in 1953]]
After the war, Bentsen returned to his native [[Rio Grande Valley (Texas)|Rio Grande Valley]]. He served the people of his home area from 1946 to 1948, first as [[Hidalgo County, Texas|Hidalgo County]] Judge (a largely administrative post as opposed to a judicial one).<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000401|title=BENTSEN, Lloyd Millard, Jr.|publisher=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]|access-date=August 20, 2025}}</ref>

First elected in [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1948|the Truman landslide of 1948]], he served three successive terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]]. With the South, including Texas, still mostly home to [[yellow dog Democrat]]s, winning the Democratic nomination was [[tantamount to election]], and Bentsen was unopposed by Republicans in each of his three House campaigns. He became a protégé of [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Sam Rayburn]] and developed a reputation as an excellent poker player.<ref name="Rosenbaum NYT" /> While serving in Congress at this time, Bentsen was involved in various issues such as those concerning labor and veterans.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=V8hHAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA29&dq=Lloyd+Bentsen+-+like+you+-+is+weary+of+inflation&article_id=4654,4398704&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjawqCasICOAxVvZ0EAHSa6DNsQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=Lloyd%20Bentsen%20-%20like%20you%20-%20is%20weary%20of%20inflation&f=false The Victoria Advocate 26 Apr 1970]</ref>

A fiscal conservative, Bentsen favoured balanced budgets and was not afraid of increasing taxes to achieve them.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr. |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bentsen-lloyd-millard-jr}}</ref> Consistent with this position, Bentsen was among the most vocal supporters of using increased stimulus spending in order to combat stagflation, believing gains in employment would more effectively reduce the national debt than [[austerity]] measures that were being considered by the Ford administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lloyd M. Bentsen on "Dialogue with Litton" - March 18, 1975 | website=[[YouTube]] | date=July 26, 2022 |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S4EWU9yezXk}}</ref> He balanced [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] positions on taxes and stimulus spending with moderate-to-conservative ones on most social, economic, and foreign policy issues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ADA voting records |url=https://adaction.org/ada-voting-records/}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ralph Yarborough: The People's Senator |first=Patrick |last=Cox |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2001 |pages=259–263 |isbn=0-292-71243-X }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Time |title=Texas: Democratic Primary, GOP Gain |date=May 11, 1970 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878214,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110000642/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878214,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 10, 2008 }}</ref>

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 [[Keynesian]] economist [[John Kenneth Galbraith]] endorsed the Republican candidate, then U.S. Representative and future president George H. W. Bush, arguing that if Bentsen were elected to the Senate, he would invariably become the face of a new, more moderate-to-conservative Texas Democratic Party and that the long-term interests of Texas liberalism demanded Bentsen's defeat.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Galbraith|first=John Kenneth|date=December 29, 1989|title=Galbraith Backs Bush (reprinted letter from August 1970)|work=[[Texas Observer]]|url=https://archives.texasobserver.org/issue/1989/12/29#page=40|access-date=January 26, 2021}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Allen|first1=Steven|last2=Viguerie|first2=Richard A.|date=December 22, 1991|title=Buchanan Lets Conservatives 'Divorce' President Bush|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1991-12-22-9102230356-story.html|access-date=2021-01-26|website=South Florida Sun-Sentinel|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Wills|first=Garry|date=August 13, 1992|title=The Hostage|language=en|work=[[The New York Review of Books]]|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1992/08/13/the-hostage/|access-date=2021-01-26|issn=0028-7504}}</ref> Nevertheless, Bentsen convincingly won the general election against Bush with 53.5% of the vote.<ref name=":0" />

==Political career==
===1976 presidential campaign===
Beginning in 1974, Bentsen campaigned for the [[1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries|Democratic presidential nomination]]. In 1974 he visited 30 states and raised $350,000 at a single fundraiser in Texas.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Bentsen formally announced his candidacy on February 17, 1975, and in the early part of that year he had already raised over $1&nbsp;million for his campaign; only [[George Wallace]] of [[Alabama]] and [[Henry M. Jackson|Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] had raised more money by that point.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} 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|date=August 2020}}

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 (U.S. state)|Georgia]] also effectively appealing to that group.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} 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|date=August 2020}}

===Senate career===
[[File:Senator Lloyd Bentsen with Jimmy Carter - NARA - 178073.tif|thumb|left|Bentsen meeting with President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1978]]
Bentsen was overwhelmingly reelected to the Senate in [[United States Senate election, 1976|1976]], [[United States Senate election, 1982|1982]], and [[United States Senate election in Texas, 1988|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]], who had first dispatched the strongly [[Conservative (politics)|conservative]] [[Texas State Senate|State Senator]] Walter Mengden of Houston in the Republican primary. In 1988, he defeated [[Beau Boulter]] of [[Amarillo, Texas|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" in Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Law Seems Mixed Blessing to Bentsen |work=The New York Times |date=October 4, 1988 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/04/us/texas-law-seems-mixed-blessing-to-bentsen.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |last1=Jr |first1=Warren Weaver }}</ref>

===1988 vice presidential campaign===
Bentsen was briefly thought of as among [[Walter Mondale]]'s short list of possible vice presidential candidates in 1984. In the end, Mondale chose New York U.S. Representative [[Geraldine Ferraro]] as his running mate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAMPAIGN NOTES; Bentsen Receives a Nod And Backing for Ticket |work=The New York Times |date=June 26, 1984 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/26/us/campaign-notes-bentsen-receives-a-nod-and-backing-for-ticket.html |access-date=2024-11-13}}</ref>

[[File:Lloyd Bentsen (1).jpg|thumb|Official portrait, 1984]]
In 1988, [[Governor of Massachusetts|Governor]] [[Michael Dukakis]] of Massachusetts chose Bentsen to be his running mate in that year's [[U.S. presidential election, 1988|presidential election]], beating out Ohio Senator [[John Glenn]], who was considered the early favorite. Bentsen was selected in large part to try to lure away the state of Texas and its [[United States Electoral College|electoral vote]] for the Democrats, even with fellow Texan [[George H. W. Bush]] at the top of the Republican ticket. Because of Bentsen's status as something of an elder statesman who was more experienced in electoral 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. During the vice presidential debate (see below), Republican vice presidential nominee [[Dan Quayle]] spent most of his speaking time criticizing Dukakis as too liberal while avoiding a match up with the seasoned Bentsen.<ref name="pbs.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/debatingourdestiny/interviews/quayle.html|title=Vice President Dan Quayle Interview - Debating Our Destiny - Dec. 2, 1999 - PBS|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref> One elector in [[West Virginia]] even cast a ballot for him rather than Dukakis, giving Bentsen one [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral vote]] for president.<ref>{{cite web |title=The American Electoral Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1988 }}</ref>

Bentsen was responsible for one of the most widely discussed moments of the campaign during the [[United States presidential election debates|vice presidential televised debate]] with fellow Senator Dan Quayle. In answering a question about his experience, Quayle stated that he had as much political experience as [[John F. Kennedy]] had when he ran for the presidency. Bentsen, at the age of 67, retorted, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. [[Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_222.html |title=Great Speeches |work=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041116085258/http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_222.html |archive-date=November 16, 2004 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Quayle replied, "That was really uncalled for, Senator." Bentsen responded, "You're the one that was making the comparison, Senator."<ref>{{YouTube|NRCWbFFRpnY |Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine}}</ref> Peter Goldman and Tom Mathews wrote in ''The Quest for the Presidency 1988'' that Bentsen "was the forgotten man" of the campaign until the exchange with Quayle. Thereafter,  his "gray solidity" was "made luminescent by the pallor of the other three men", and questions were raised as to how well Bentsen really knew Kennedy. Some stated that they only had a nodding acquaintance. Bentsen had in fact considered in advance how to respond, because Congressman [[Dennis E. Eckart]], who played Quayle in Bentsen's rehearsals, knew that Quayle had previously compared himself to Kennedy, so he worked it into Bentsen's debate preparation.<ref name="Rosenbaum NYT" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Halloran |first=Liz |date=January 17, 2008 |title=Lloyd Bentsen To Dan Quayle: "Senator, You Are No Jack Kennedy"; Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen delivered one of the most devastating slights ever. |url= https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/01/17/the-mother-of-all-put-downs |newspaper=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref> Quayle had been prepped by Senator [[Bob Packwood]], as Packwood served with Bentsen on the Senate Finance Committee.<ref name="pbs.org"/>

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; however, he was simultaneously reelected to the United States Senate with 59 percent of the vote.<ref>''[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1988&f=0&off=0&elect=0 U.S. Election Atlas]'', 1988 presidential election results.</ref> Bentsen considered running for president in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1992|1992 presidential election]], but he, along with many other Democrats, backed out because of Bush's apparent popularity following the 1991 [[Gulf War]]. A poor economy in 1991–1992 eroded Bush's standing among voters and he ended up losing the election to Bill Clinton.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tecCAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22lloyd+bentsen%22+%22president%22+1992%22&pg=PA15 "Bentsen Mulls Soloing in '92"], ''The New Yorker'', September 18, 1989</ref>

===Secretary of the Treasury===
[[File:Portrait of Lloyd Bentsen.jpg|thumb|200px|Official portrait as 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 Weapons Ban|Federal Assault Weapon Ban]], which temporarily banned assault rifles.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12934110 |title=Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies |publisher=NBC News |date=May 23, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2011}}</ref><ref name="ustreas1">{{cite web|url=https://ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/lmbentsen.shtml |title=Lloyd Bentsen Biography |publisher=US Department of the Treasury |access-date=March 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527190543/http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretaries/lmbentsen.shtml |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref>

After the resignation of [[Les Aspin]] in early 1994, Bentsen was seriously considered for the position of [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]].<ref>[[George Stephanopoulos]], ''All Too Human: A Political Education'', 1999</ref> But this prospect did not materialize, and [[William J. Perry|William Perry]], then [[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense|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]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Bradsher |first=Keith |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/06/us/bentsen-is-poised-to-leave-cabinet-officials-confirm.html |title=Bentsen is Poised to Leave Cabinet Officials Confirm |work=The New York Times  |date=December 6, 1994 |access-date=January 21, 2010}}</ref>

==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."<ref>{{YouTube|lbh5pKexJr4}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union {{!}} The American Presidency Project |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-7 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}}</ref> Bentsen appeared in the summer of 2004 at the portrait unveilings at the White House of Clinton and former [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] Senator [[Hillary Clinton]].

Bentsen died on May 23, 2006, at his home in [[Houston]] at the age of 85, from stroke-related complications.<ref name = "Rosenbaum NYT"/> He was survived by his wife, the former Beryl Ann Longino,<ref>{{citation|title=Beryl Ann (Longino) Bentsen 1922-2020|work=The Monitor|date=8 May 2020|access-date=July 25, 2020|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/themonitor/obituary.aspx?n=beryl-ann-bentsen-b-a-longino&pid=196159133&fhid=6290}}</ref> three children, and seven grandchildren. His memorial service was held on May 30 at the First [[Presbyterian Church]] of Houston, where Bentsen and his wife had been members for many years, and was presided over by his then-pastor, [[William Vanderbloemen]].<ref name=Houston_Grant_Bentsen>{{cite news|last1=Grant|first1=Alexis|title=Houston church prepares for Bentsen memorial|url=http://www.chron.com/default/article/Houston-church-prepares-for-Bentsen-memorial-1887763.php|work=Houston Chronicle|date=30 May 2006}}</ref> He is interred in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston. Former president Clinton delivered a eulogy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-30-clinton-bentsen_x.htm |title=Clinton honors Bentsen at service |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=May 31, 2006 |access-date=March 26, 2011}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
[[File:Bentsen Highway near Freer, TX IMG 0968.JPG|thumb|Bentsen Highway]]
As a freshman Senator, Bentsen guided to passage the [[Employee Retirement Income Security Act]]  (ERISA), a long-stalled pension reform bill providing federal protections for the pensions of American workers. He also championed the creation of [[Individual Retirement Account]]s (IRAs), legislation improving access to health care for low income women and children, and tax incentives for independent oil and gas producers to reduce dependence on foreign oil. In recognition of his success in securing federal funding, two hundred seventy miles of [[U.S. Highway 59 (Texas)|U.S. Highway 59]], from [[Interstate 35 (Texas)|I-35]] to [[Interstate 45 (Texas)|I-45]] in Texas (between [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]] and Houston, respectively), are officially named Senator Lloyd Bentsen Highway.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

As a primary architect of the [[Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993|Clinton economic plan]], Bentsen contributed to a $500&nbsp;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.<ref name="ustreas1"/> His legacy also includes many water, wastewater and other infrastructure projects in the impoverished [[Colonia (United States)|colonias]] of south Texas, the preservation of natural areas across the state, and major funding for numerous medical facilities.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keep Off the Astroturf |work=The New York Times |date=August 19, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19sager.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |last1=Sager |first1=Ryan }}</ref>

Bentsen's family continues to be active in politics. His nephew, [[Ken Bentsen]], was a U.S. Representative (D) from 1995 to 2003 in Texas's 25th District, and a U.S. Senate candidate in [[United States Senate election, 2002|2002]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=BENTSEN, Kenneth E., Jr. {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/B/BENTSEN,-Kenneth-E-,-Jr--(B000400)/|access-date=2021-09-26|website=history.house.gov|language=en}}</ref> His grandson, Lloyd Bentsen IV was a senior research fellow for the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-14 |title=Lloyd Bentsen IV: Focus on STEM education a no-brainer |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2015/04/14/lloyd-bentsen-iv-focus-on-stem-education-a-no-brainer/ |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Dallas News |language=en}}</ref> On January 22, 2009, the Senator Lloyd and B. A. Bentsen Stroke Research Center officially opened in the Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building in the medical district of Houston, Texas, as part of the [[University of Texas Health Science Center]] of Houston.<ref>[http://www.uthouston.edu/imm/centers/senator-lloyd-and-b.a.-bentsen-center-for-stroke-research.htm "Senator Lloyd and B.A. Bentsen Center for Stroke Research"], ''The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)'', retrieved April 8, 2015</ref> Notable speakers included Dr. Cheng Chi Lee and Houston Mayor [[Bill White (Texas politician)|Bill White]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

==Electoral history==

{{Main|Electoral history of Lloyd Bentsen}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Congbio|B000401}}
* [https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbeda Biography in the Handbook of Texas Online]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602104005/http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-05-23T171257Z_01_N23134216_RTRUKOC_0_US-BENTSEN.xml |title=Reuters: "Former Senator, Treasury chief Bentsen dies" May 23, 2006 |date=2006-06-02}}
* [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/3882583.html ''Houston Chronicle'': "Former Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies" May 23, 2006]
* {{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011126063844/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/bentsen-l/bentsenl.asp |title=Oral History Interview with Lloyd Bentsen, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library |date=2001-11-26}}
* {{C-SPAN|1540}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Milton West]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Texas|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br />from [[Texas's 15th congressional district]]|years=1948–1955}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Joe M. Kilgore]]}}
|-
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George W. Sarbacher Jr.]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of youngest members of the United States Congress|Baby of the House]]|years=1948–1949}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hugo S. Sims Jr.|Hugo Sims]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ralph Yarborough]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from Texas<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 1]])|years=[[1970 United States Senate election in Texas|1970]], [[1976 United States Senate election in Texas|1976]], [[1982 United States Senate election in Texas|1982]], [[1988 United States Senate election in Texas|1988]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bob Krueger]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Mike Mansfield]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Response to the State of the Union address]]|years=1972|alongside=[[Carl Albert]], [[Hale Boggs]], [[John Brademas]], [[Frank Church]], [[Thomas Eagleton]], [[Martha Griffiths]], [[John Melcher]], [[Ralph Metcalfe]], [[William Proxmire]], [[Leonor Sullivan]]}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Mike Mansfield]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Fritz Hollings]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]]|years=1973–1976}}
{{s-aft|after=[[J. Bennett Johnston]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wendell H. Ford]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]]|years=1983–1985}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George J. Mitchell]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Geraldine Ferraro]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[List of United States Democratic Party presidential tickets|nominee]] for Vice President of the United States|years=[[1988 United States presidential election|1988]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Al Gore]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Byrd]]<br />[[Jim Wright]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Response to the State of the Union address]]|years=[[1989 George H. W. Bush speech to a joint session of Congress|1989]]|alongside=[[Jim Wright]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tom Foley]]}}
|-
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ralph Yarborough]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senators from Texas|U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Texas]]|years=1971–1993|alongside=[[John Tower]], [[Phil Gramm]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bob Krueger]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Bob Packwood]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]]|years=1987–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Daniel Patrick Moynihan|Pat Moynihan]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Nicholas F. Brady]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of the Treasury]]|years=1993–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Rubin]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Unsuccessful major party VPOTUS candidates}}
{{USSenTX}}
{{SenFinanceCommitteeChairs}}
{{DSCC Chairs}}
{{USSecTreas}}
{{USDemVicePresNominees}}
{{United States presidential election, 1976}}
{{United States presidential election candidates, 1988}}
{{Clinton cabinet}}
{{George H. W. Bush}}
{{Portal bar|Texas|Biography|United States|Politics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentsen, Lloyd}}
[[Category:Lloyd Bentsen| ]]
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:1988 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:20th-century Texas politicians]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American people of Danish descent]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1976 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Clinton administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:County judges in Texas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Texas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas]]
[[Category:Michael Dukakis]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Houston]]
[[Category:People from Mission, Texas]]
[[Category:Politicians from Houston]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:United States Air Force colonels]]
[[Category:United States Air Force reservists]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the treasury]]
[[Category:University of Texas School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:Chairs of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]]