Lloyd Bentsen served as the 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton.
39 Facts About Lloyd Bentsen
2.
Lloyd Bentsen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in Europe.
3.
Lloyd Bentsen was reelected in 1976,1982, and 1988, and served as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1987 to 1993.
4.
Lloyd Bentsen sought the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination but was unable to organize an effective national campaign.
5.
Lloyd Bentsen considered running for president in 1992 but chose not to challenge Bush, who was popular after the Gulf War.
6.
Lloyd Bentsen accepted, though he told Clinton that he would not serve a full four-year term in the office.
7.
Lloyd Bentsen retired in December 1994 and was succeeded by Robert Rubin.
8.
Lloyd Bentsen was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
9.
Lloyd Bentsen was an Eagle Scout and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
10.
Lloyd Bentsen graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with an LL.
11.
Lloyd Bentsen was promoted to lieutenant colonel before being discharged in 1947.
12.
Lloyd Bentsen flew thirty-five missions against many heavily defended targets, including the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania, which were critical to the Nazi war production.
13.
Lloyd Bentsen's unit flew against communications centers, aircraft factories and industrial targets in Germany, Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
14.
Lloyd Bentsen participated in raids in support of the Anzio campaign and flew missions against targets in preparation for the landing in southern France.
15.
Lloyd Bentsen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the Air Force's highest commendations for achievement or heroism in flight.
16.
Lloyd Bentsen served in the United States Air Force Reserve from 1950 to 1959, and was promoted to colonel in 1953.
17.
Lloyd Bentsen served the people of his home area from 1946 to 1955, first as Hidalgo County Judge.
18.
Lloyd Bentsen became a protege of Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and developed a reputation as an excellent poker player.
19.
Lloyd Bentsen made Yarborough's opposition to the war a major issue.
20.
Bush, arguing that if Lloyd 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 Lloyd Bentsen's defeat.
21.
Lloyd 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.
22.
Lloyd Bentsen was overwhelmingly reelected to the Senate in 1976,1982, and 1988.
23.
Lloyd Bentsen defeated sitting Republican congressmen from safe House seats in all four of his Senate elections, including Bush in 1970.
24.
Lloyd Bentsen was on the ballot as the Democratic vice presidential nominee that year; he could seek both offices under the 1960 "Johnson law" in Texas.
25.
Lloyd 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.
26.
In 1988, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts chose Lloyd Bentsen to be his running mate in that year's presidential election, beating out Ohio Senator John Glenn, who was considered the early favorite.
27.
Lloyd Bentsen was responsible for one of the most widely discussed moments of the campaign during the vice presidential televised debate with fellow Senator Dan Quayle.
28.
However, there have been questions raised as to how well Lloyd Bentsen really knew Kennedy.
29.
Lloyd 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.
30.
Lloyd Bentsen considered running for president in the 1992 presidential election, but he, along with many other Democrats, backed out because of Bush's apparent popularity following the 1991 Gulf War.
31.
Lloyd Bentsen was pivotal in winning passage of the 1994 crime bill which temporarily banned assault rifles.
32.
In early December 1994, Lloyd Bentsen announced his retirement as Secretary of the Treasury.
33.
Lloyd Bentsen was succeeded in the position by Robert Rubin.
34.
In 1998, Lloyd Bentsen experienced two strokes, which left him needing a wheelchair.
35.
Lloyd Bentsen, you have served America well, and we thank you.
36.
Lloyd Bentsen died on May 23,2006, at his home in Houston at the age of 85.
37.
Lloyd Bentsen was survived by his wife, the former Beryl Ann Longino, three children, and seven grandchildren.
38.
Lloyd Bentsen championed the creation of Individual Retirement Accounts, 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.
39.
Lloyd Bentsen's legacy 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.