Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr. definition of Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr. in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Bentsen, Lloyd Millard, Jr., 1921–2006, American political leader and U.S. secretary of the treasury (1993–94), b. Mission, Tex. He received a law degree from the Univ. of Texas in 1942 and served as a B-24 squadron commander during World War II. A Democrat, he served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1949–55) before starting a successful insurance business in Houston. Returning to politics in 1970, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating George H. W. Bush Bush, George Herbert Walker, 1924–, 41st President of the United States (1989–93), b. Milton, Mass., B.A., Yale Univ., 1948.

Career in Business and Government

..... Click the link for more information. . Serving in the Senate (1971–93), Bentsen was a stalwart defender of Texas business interests such as the oil and gas industry and of international trade. From 1987 to 1993 he was chairman of the Senate finance committee. In the 1988 presidential election, the Democratic ticket of Michael Dukakis Dukakis, Michael Stanley (d
..... Click the link for more information. and Bentsen was defeated by George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle Quayle, Dan (James Danforth Quayle), 1947–, Vice President of the United States (1989–93), b. Indianapolis. He graduated from DePauw Univ. (1969) and served in the Indiana National Guard (1969–75).
..... Click the link for more information. . As secretary of the treasury under President Bill Clinton Clinton, Bill (William Jefferson Clinton), 1946–, 42d President of the United States (1993–2001), b. Hope, Ark. His father died before he was born, and he was originally named William Jefferson Blythe 4th, but after his mother remarried, he assumed the
..... Click the link for more information. , Bentsen helped shepherd through Congress the 1993 deficit-reduction bill, the North American Free Trade Agreement North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the accord establishing the World Trade Organization World Trade Organization (WTO), international organization established in 1995 as a result of the final round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, called the Uruguay Round.
..... Click the link for more information. .