Bentsen, Lloyd Millard Jr.

Bentsen, Lloyd Millard Jr.

(1921–  ) U.S. senator, cabinet officer; born in Mission, Texas. He studied law at the University of Texas: Austin and served as a combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Dem., Texas; 1948–55) and then built a substantial fortune as president of Lincoln Consolidated Insurance Company. He served in the U.S. Senate (Dem., Texas; 1971–93) and was the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 1988. Regarded as an influential elder statesman, he served as secretary of the treasury (1993–94) under President Bill Clinton.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.