Word: bentsen
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...Young Bentsen was a quick study and moved nimbly. At 21, he graduated from the University of Texas law school. That same year he enlisted in the Army, later flew 50 missions over Europe as a bomber pilot, and was shot down twice. While on leave, he married a Texas model, Beryl Ann; they have three children. Mustered out as a major at 24, Bentsen was elected the youngest county judge in Texas. In 1948, he ran successfully for the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the youngest member. He impressed a fellow Texan, Speaker Sam Rayburn, who included Bentsen...
Pearly Smooth. The problem with occupying the middle so snugly is that a candidate becomes, well, middling. Bentsen does little to attract or repel. Mainly, he tries to soothe with an approach that is pearly smooth and a bit soporific. "He dreams dreams but doesn't chase rainbows," was an early campaign slogan. The result is a rather colorless campaign, though one that exudes competence. Bentsen seems all but devoid of regional or personal quirks. His urbane performance gives no clues that he is a Texan. Understated and restrained, he manages to conceal much of the inner man from...
...Bentsen likes to say that he speaks without a Texas accent because his forebears came from Denmark by way of South Dakota. But his family fortune definitely speaks the language of Texas. His father, Lloyd Bentsen Sr., and his Uncle Elmer started buying land and reselling it in ways that brought accusations, though little proof, of shady business practices. From real estate, the family moved into farming, cattle raising, oil drilling, banking. Today Bentsen Sr. is worth an estimated $50 million. The candidate puts his own assets at $2.3 million, all of it currently placed in a blind trust...
...Bentsen retired from the House in 1954 to go back home and make money. Starting with a life insurance company capitalized with family funds, he built a corporate empire including apartment buildings, shopping centers, oilfields, banks and a funeral home. Satisfied with his stake, he returned to politics at a higher level. In 1970 he challenged incumbent Senator Ralph Yarborough, a liberal folk hero. The primary contest was grimy even by Texas standards, the candidates swapping insults worthy of a saloon brawl. With the backing of Lyndon Johnson, John Connally and the Texas political-financial establishment, Bentsen scored an upset...
Changed Image. When Bentsen arrived in Washington, Vice President Spiro Agnew greeted him as one of the "ideological majority" that would support the Administration. Bentsen quickly set him straight: "I'm coming here as part of the loyal opposition, not as part of the Nixon forces." He proceeded to change his image by voting with the liberals to make it easier to invoke cloture. From then on, Bentsen was tagged as "unpredictable." Filling his office with flow charts, maps and graphs, he established a reputation for probing analysis of complex issues. He took pride in exposing economic illiteracy, whether...