Dale Bumpers

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Dale Bumpers

U.S. Senator, Arkansas
Term of office: January 1975–January 1999
Political party:	Democratic
Preceded by:	William Fulbright
Succeeded by:	Blanche L. Lincoln
Born:	August 12, 1925 Charleston, Arkansas
Spouse:	Betty Flanagan Bumpers
Religion:	Methodist

Dale Leon Bumpers (born 12 August 1925) was a Democratic member of the United States Senate from the State of Arkansas, from 1975 until his retirement in January, 1999; and was governor of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975. He was elected to the Senate four times, beginning with his win over incumbent Senator J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.) in the 1974 state Democratic primary. He chaired the Senate Small Business Committee from 1987 until 1995 when the Republican Party took control of the Senate following the 1994 elections. Bumpers served as Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1997 until his retirement.

Dale Bumpers was born in Charleston, Arkansas. He attended public schools and the University of Arkansas. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946, during World War II. Bumpers graduated from Northwestern University Law School in 1951 and was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1952. He started practicing law in his hometown in that same year and served as Charleston city attorney from 1952 to 1970. He served as special justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1968.

Bumpers was virtually unknown when he announced his campaign for governor in 1970. Despite his lack of name recognition, his oratorical skills, personal charm and outsider image put him in a run-off election for the Democratic Party nomination with former Governor Orval Faubus. Bumpers easily won both the primary election run-off and the general election against Gov. Rockefeller in 1970. Bumpers was often described as a new kind of Southern Democrat who would bring reform to his state and the Democratic Party. His win over Rockefeller ushered in a new era of youthful reform-minded governors, including two of his successors, David Pryor (later a three-term U. S. Senator) and Bill Clinton. Bumpers served as governor from 1971 to 1975, when he was elected to the United States Senate. He served in the Senate from 1975 to 1999, where he chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business (now called the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship) for eight years. Bumpers was known for his oratorical skills.

In 1995, the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville founded the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences in his honor.

Bumpers and his wife Betty were both known for their dedication to the cause of childhood immunization.

In his autobiography, former President Bill Clinton mentioned that Bumpers briefly considered running for the Presidency in 1988. However, the run never materialised, and Bumpers publicly declared he would not run for office.

Bumpers, a self-declared close friend of President Clinton, gave an impassioned closing argument in defense of him during Clinton's impeachment trial. During the 1998 scandal, Bumpers steadfastly supported the President.

Quotes from the closing argument of the White House presentation, January 21 1999:

"Nobody has suggested that Bill Clinton committed a political crime against the state. So, colleagues, if you honor the Constitution, you must look at the history of the Constitution and how we got to the impeachment clause. And if you do that and you do that honestly according to the oath you took, you cannot — you can censure bill Clinton, you can hand him over to the prosecutor for him to be prosecuted, but you cannot convict him. And you cannot indulge yourselves the luxury or the right to ignore this history."

"The American people are now and for some time have been asking to be allowed a good night's sleep. They're asking for an end to this nightmare. It is a legitimate request."

Senator Bumpers is noted for his prodigious respect for the Constitution of the United States. Bumpers was proud of his legacy of having never voted for a constitutional amendment.

[edit] References

Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
Transcript: Former Senator Dale Bumpers - Senate Floor January 21 1999 http://www.cnn.tv/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/01/21/transcripts/bumpers.html

Preceded by: Winthrop Rockefeller	Governor of Arkansas 1971-1975	Succeeded by: Bob C. Riley
Preceded by: William Fulbright	U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Arkansas 1975-1999 Served alongside: John Little McClellan, Kaneaster Hodges, Jr., David Pryor, Tim Hutchinson	Succeeded by: Blanche Lincoln