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.
Senator Bentsen's Legislative staff researched, developed, and followed legislation. The staff's expertise and work reflected Bentsen's committee assignments. Among the committees he served on during his Senate career were Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Defense; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Intelligence; Joint Committee on Finance; Joint Committee on Taxation.
Bentsen's Legislative Director (LD) was the head of the section staff. The LD worked directly with the Senator and coordinated the legislative staff's work to meet Bentsen's needs for legislation, outgoing correspondence, and information. The staff consisted of Legislative Assistants (LAs) and Research Assistants (RAs). LAs developed new bills for possible introduction by the Senator and kept him informed about the progress of existing legislation. Typically, each LA was responsible for several areas of legislation. LDs provided LAs with reference materials and occasionally researched and developed legislation themselves. Research Assistants (RAs) worked with LAs, researching and drafting letters to constituents about current issues. A Chief Research Assistant oversaw the RAs.
Senator Bentsen's career as a lawmaker is most fully represented by his Legislative Section files, which document the bills he sponsored, his voting and attendance records, the information gathered by his staff to assist him in making decisions and drafting legislation, and the plans and strategies that shaped his actions. Correspondence, printed material, notes, and legal documents comprise the bulk of the files.
The Legislative files subgroup is divided into two series: Central Files, 1971-1993, and Legislative Staff Files, 1945-1993. Secretarial staff filed and maintained the central legislative files. Legislative Staff Files were maintained by individual staff members themselves.
The subgroup includes Bentsen's voting record as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1949-1955, but otherwise does not document his career as a Representative.
The Legislative Staff Files include a variety of printed material and correspondence created or assembled by Legislative Directors (LDs), Legislative Assistants (LAs), and Research Assistants (RAs). Each individual maintained his or her own files. The inventory is arranged by staff members' names.
Of particular note are the files of the LDs, who worked directly with Bentsen and coordinated and monitored the work of the LA staff. On the following inventory, LDs Van McMurtry (1986-1989), Blaine Bull (1989-1991), and Philip Diehl (1991-1993) provide particularly full sets of legislative staff memoranda. Files created by LDs Mike Pate (1979-1986) and David Morgan (1979-1980) primarily reflect their work on energy legislation. Some of Pate's LD files are in the Miscellaneous Subject and Correspondence Files section of the Central files. Mike Naeve served as LD (1978-1980) but his files reflect his work on transportation issues. Earlier LDs have not been identified. For further LD correspondence, see individual LA files and the Legislative Correspondence Files of the Legislative Central Files.
The LA files contain memos to the Senator; correspondence from government officials, fellow members of Congress, constituents, and lobbyists; notes made by staff members; draft and completed versions of legislation; news clippings, articles, and reports; floor and committee statements; and other material. The LA files contain the information and opinions staff presented to Bentsen, which helped to shape his thinking and stances on various issues. The RA files resemble LA files but generally contain more printed material, consistent with their use for reference.
The series includes a small number of Office Administration files created by secretary Doris Larson (1976-1978, 1980). The Central Files Series includes appointment schedules for legislative staff, January-April, 1977.
See list following inventory for names, titles, and areas of responsibility for legislative staff. Since staff collaborated and occasionally took over files created by their predecessors, some of files on the inventory are listed under multiple creators. Most of the names on the inventory are LAs. A separate group of RA files, not listed by their creators, is at the end.
List is not comprehensive.
Senator Bentsen and his staff undertook some activities unconnected to his legislative duties or to providing constituent services. These include maintaining Bentsen's personal schedules and office, the planning and coordination of his travels, matters related to his leadership roles in the Democratic Party, and campaign matters.
Bentsen's Executive Assistant maintained the Senator's schedules, materials relating to his travels, and filed the invitations he received. The Executive Assistant worked with Bentsen in Washington.
Much of the material related to Bentsen's Senate campaigns was created and stored in Texas, where his campaign managers worked.
Correspondence, printed material, photographic material including prints and videotapes, works of art, and ephemera make up the personal and political materials from Senator Bentsen's office. The Subgroup is divided into two series, Personal/Political Materials, 1923, ca. 1940-1993 (87.5 cubic feet) and Campaign Files, 1970-1992 (144 cubic feet).
The subgroup provides rich information on Bentsen's day-to day activities with schedule, trip, and invitation files, and comprehensive information on the planning, financing, and strategies of his campaigns for Senator, Vice-President, and President. The subgroup includes some personal items, including photographs, gifts, and mementos from his Washington office.
Correspondence, invitations, schedules, notes, printed material including books, photographic material including albums, and artifacts make up Personal/Political Materials from Senator Bentsen's office. The series contains files related Senator Bentsen's non-legislative activities. Five subseries: Schedule, Trip, and Invitation Files, 1970-1993; Party Leadership Files, 1983-1984; Financial Disclosure Reports and Statements, 1978-1993; Miscellaneous Files, 1970-1976, 1990-1992; Mementos and Personal Items, 1923, ca. 1940-1993.
The Schedule, trip, and invitation files provide valuable information about Bentsen's non-legislative activities. Bentsen's Executive Assistant maintained these files. The Schedules files (1975, 1980-1993) include various notebooks, daily logs, calendars, and appointment books that provide information about Bentsen's day-to-day activities. The Trip files (1971-1992) are chronologically arranged and contain ephemera such as invitations, programs, and travel documents, schedules, lists, correspondence, notes, and printed material. The files document the arrangements and contacts for Senator Bentsen's travels and appearances. Some Trip files include speeches prepared for the occasion. (Most speech texts are in the Press Section Subgroup, External Communication Series.) Trip files related to Bentsen's campaigns are on the campaign files series of this subgroup. The Invitation files (1970-1976, 1978-1991) document the many groups and organizations that invited Senator Bentsen to meetings and other functions. Early in his career, invitations were filed with other types of correspondence. Later, the Senator's Executive Assistant maintained invitation files in the main office. On the inventory, invitations have been brought together in a single list, though some are filed with subject correspondence or public affairs correspondence. Invitations from 1977, when the Correspondence Management System was adapted, have not been located. In some instances, correspondence about Bentsen's appointments, filed with invitations, is also listed. The Campaign files in the Political/personal subgroup also contain invitations for some political events. A small invitation file, 1990-1991, is listed among the Austin office records in the State Offices subgroup.
The Party Leadership Files subseries include less than one cubic foot of memoranda from Bentsen's term on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (1983-1984).
The Financial Disclosure Reports and Statements subseries includes a variety of financial records, 1978-1993 (less than one cubic foot). Bentsen's financial reports to the Federal Elections Commission can be found in the Houston Office Files Series of the State Offices Subgroup.
Miscellaneous Files subseries includes a small number of files regarding political and electoral matters, including files related to B. A. Bentsen's activities.
Mementos and Personal Items includes photographic material, newspapers, books, artwork, certificates and diplomas, maps, souvenir legislation, posters, and artifacts from Senator Bentsen's office. Photographs include personal images of Bentsen and his family, presentation photos from political and business figures, photograph albums, and various other images. The subseries includes a number of images predating Bentsen's Senate career. (For other personal and early images, consult the Photographic Materials Series of the Press Section Subgroup.). Bentsen's Washington office contained numerous plaques, pieces of artwork, prints, and other gifts from constituents and others. (The State Office Subgroup lists personal items and gifts from Bentsen's Austin and Houston offices.)
Files on prospective nominees for various offices (2 cubic feet), which contain personal information about those individuals, are closed to researchers until a later date.
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[recess]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[empty folder]
[empty folder]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[empty folder]
[empty folder]
[cancelled]
[cancelled
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
[cancelled]
McAllen and Brownsville
(cancelled)
[two empty folders]
(sign)
(photocopied excerpts, 3 folders
(pp.33-112)
[prints also from 1983].
photographers include Yoichi R. Okamoto and Clayton Jackson.
[inscribed to Lloyd Bentsen and signed by President Jimmy Carter]
Includes work by photographers Mary Paul Taylor and Ollie Crawford
(2)
[signed by President John F. Kennedy]
[signed by Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew]
[campaign files separation]
signed by Texas Governor Bill Clements
[redesigned certificate issued 1992]
[originally mounted with above hand-signed note]
GTE of the Southwest; Union Carbide; City of Garland, Texas
(contains glass)
Correspondence, clippings and other printed material, reports, schedule and travel files, card files, maps, financial documents, and videotapes provide rich documentation of Lloyd Bentsen's campaigns for the Senate, Presidency, and Vice-Presidency, 1970-1992. Three subseries: Miscellaneous Materials, 1970-1992; Senate Campaigns, 1970-1988; National Campaigns, 1973-1988.
Miscellaneous Campaign Materials Subseries includes ephemeral campaign items such as buttons and stickers, as well as other records, including correspondence from individuals hopeful that Bentsen might run for the presidency in 1992.
Senate Campaigns (1970-1988) contains records created during Bentsen's runs for office in Texas. The sub-series includes correspondence, notes, printed material, financial records, and a variety of other materials reflecting planning, strategy, and research. Many campaign files related to Bentsen's first run for the senate, in 1970, are in the Houston office files. (Consult the State Offices Subgroup portion of the finding aid.) Some photographic material and sound recordings created for Bentsen's campaigns may be found in the External Communication Files. (See the Press Section Subgroup finding aid.)
National Campaigns Subseries documents Bentsen's runs in the 1976 Democratic Party primary and in the 1988 General Election. Bentsen's 1976 campaign files include documentation of planning and fundraising. Organized: General Files and Trip Files (from his Texas offices) and Presidential Campaign Office Files. The 1988 campaign files include extensive files documenting the campaign, created by his staff and Michael Dukakis's campaign staff.
(empty folder)
(cancelled January 1976)
(loose binder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(loose report)
(loose report)
(loose report)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(empty folder)
(loose binders)
(loose report)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(loose binder)
(empty folder)