Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, U.S. Senator and Representative, businessman, Texas county judge, and decorated World War Two veteran, was born in Mission, Texas, on February 11, 1921. He ran for Vice-President of the United States in 1988 on the Democratic ticket with then Massachusettes governor Michael Dukakis. He served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1994. Bentsen kept up a full schedule until 1998, when he retired after a decline in his health. He died on May 23, 2006.
Correspondence, printed material, creative works, legal documents, financial documents, minutes, photographic materials, sound recordings, and works of art make up the papers of Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. (1930-1994, bulk 1971-1993). Bentsen and his staff created the bulk of the material during his term as United States Senator from Texas (1971-1993), though the papers also contain records from Bentsen's term as United States Secretary of the Treasury (1993-1994). A limited amount of the material documents Bentsen's career in business and his private life. Few records exist from his term in the United States House of Representatives (1948-1955).
The material is organized in ten subgroups. The first seven subgroups consist of records from Bentsen's Senate offices.
Casework and personnel files are restricted for 75 years after creation, up to the year 2068.
Use of some audio and video materials is by appointment only; please contact sound archivist.
Use of digital material by appointment only; please contact digital archivist.
A portion of these papers is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.
Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Papers, 1921-1998, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin
Click on a subgroup link below to view the detailed inventory for that subgroup.
Personnel in Senator Bentsen's Press Office were responsible for providing information on Bentsen's activities to the press and general public. They produced newsletters in Spanish and English, disseminated press releases and newspaper columns, and coordinated Bentsen's press conferences and radio and television appearances. Staff also maintained files of clippings from Texas newspapers.
Jack DeVore (1938-2002) was Bentsen's Press Secretary for most of his Senate career. DeVore joined Bentsen's staff in 1972 and followed him to the Treasury, stepping down in late 1993. DeVore supervised an Assistant or Deputy Press Secretary, who prepared drafts of press releases and weekly columns and assisted in handling press inquiries.
Correspondence, creative works, printed material, sound recordings, and photographic materials make up the bulk of Senator Bentsen's Press Section records. The subgroup includes extensive files of clippings, motion picture film and videotape, audio tape, and photographic prints and transparencies documenting Bentsen's Senate term. The subgroup also contains Bentsen's speech files.
Though most of this material originated in Bentsen's Washington Press Office, some personal photographic material listed in this subgroup was stored in Bentsen's Texas offices.
Printed material, videotapes and motion picture film, audiotapes, notes, and correspondence make up Senator Bentsen's External Communication Files. The files document the Senator's statements to his constituents and to national audiences. They include his newsletters, newspaper columns and editorial essays, press releases, speech and speechwriter files, television and radio files, motion picture film and videotape files, and audio tape files. The Assistant or Deputy Press Secretary maintained most of the files in the series.
The Newsletter files, 1971-1985, include Bentsen's
The Press Release Files, 1971-1992, include press statements, 1972-1992. Press Section staff produced the press releases, distributed them externally and circulated them internally. The early press release files resemble subject files in that they often contain clippings and limited correspondence, floor statements, and bills in addition to releases. Some include Bentsen's handwritten notes.
Speech Files, 1952, 1963-1992, are a major sub-series of the External Communication files. Bentsen spoke before a wide variety of political gatherings, civic and service groups, and various business, vocational, and educational groups. A limited number of speeches, some predating Bentsen's election as senator, are filed by topic, 1952, 1963-1981. The bulk of the speech files are filed chronologically, 1971-1992. The files include approximately 2 cubic feet of speeches from Bentsen's 1976 Presidential campaign, 1975-1976, and approximately 1 cubic foot from his campaign as the Democratic Party's Vice-Presidential nominee in 1988. The Political Files Subgroup contains other information about Bentsen's speeches. The Trip Files Sub-series in that subgroup contains information about arrangements for many of these speeches. The speech files includes a sub- series of files created by speechwriter Robert A. Lehrman, 1989-1990. Lehrman's title in 1989-1990 was Director of Communication. His files include speech drafts and texts, correspondence, and reference material.
The Television and Radio Files, 1971-1992, incomplete, consist primarily of transcripts of Bentsen's appearances on television news and public affairs programs. A few broadcast scripts subject files about broadcasting and are included. Other broadcast scripts may be in the Speech Files sub-series.
Videotape and motion picture film, 1970-1994, primarily consists of Bentsen's appearances on television news and talk shows and his statements on the Senate floor, recorded in a variety of formats. Also included are recordings of Bentsen's television advertisements, both in English and in Spanish, television reports about Bentsen and interviews with him, and tapes of landmark events such as President Bill Clinton's announcement of Bentsen's nomination as Secretary of the Treasury. A number of the tapes in the series document his term as Secretary.
The Audio Tapes, 1970-1992, contain similar material, such as recordings of news conferences and television appearances. Some of tapes appear to be radio feeds, many in Spanish, on subjects such as agriculture, the Bicentennial, the deficit, education, and national defense. Others are advertisements. Some records in both the Audiotape and Videotape and Motion Picture Film sub-series include material on other politicians.
The Press Section maintained clippings files on Bentsen, his family, other individuals, and various issues with which the Senator was involved. The Press Clippings files include, in addition to clippings from Texas and national periodicals, other printed material such as press releases, reports, and newsletters from various sources.
The Press Clippings Files are organized by subject, including both topics and individuals' names. The name files concern national, state, and local political figures, Bentsen campaign opponents, and the Bentsen family. Subject files include both articles mentioning Bentsen and those which do not.
The series includes three separate clipping files. The Washington Office Files, 1971-1993 (20.3 cubic feet) came from the office of Deputy Press Secretary Michelle Andrews Smith in 1993, and were presumably the most current files when Bentsen left the Senate. Two other clipping files were in storage. Files stored in 1992 (1972-1989, 5.3 cubic feet) and files stored in 1987 (1971-1982, 1985-1986, 11.7 cubic feet) both include a limited number of reference files as well as clipping files. The files stored in 1987 includes a group of clippings from 1985-1986, and one from 1980-1981, collected by the Texas Press Association to audit the extent of Bentsen's press coverage.
Separate clippings files were maintained in the Austin, Dallas, and Houston offices. Consult the State Office Files series description for their locations and contents.