European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 15, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine adroit and powerful and his shoes Are always shined Lloyd Bentsen by Jennifer Dixon associated Pressi m a fellow born on a dirt Road in a cottage Down in South Texas on a farm Down there Lloyd Bentsen said tuesday. But he does t look it. Six feet one or two trim Silver haired and adroit he looks More like Texas wealth Texas Oil and Texas Slick than a fellow from a dirt Road cottage Down on a farm Down there. Michael Dukakis Choice for vice president is a quiet Man impeccably tailored and his shoes always shined. He has been married for 44 years to Beryl Ann  Bentsen once a High fashion Model whose face appeared in Vogue Glamour and Mademoiselle magazines. An attorney and world War ii Pilot who flew bombers Over the third Reich Bentsen is described As shrewd and competitive fighting effectively to protect the favourable tax status of the Texas Oil Industry and against the Trade deficit. Dukakis introducing Bentsen tuesday said the texan had hit a grand slam Home run in the Senate this session his committee producing a thoughtful responsible Trade Bill a welfare revision Bill and a Bill requiring firms to give workers 60 Days notice before closing a Plant. Bentsen appeals with equal ease to the men of Power in corporate boardrooms and the farm workers of his native Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He Speaks Spanish As fluently As English. He is a conservative a protestant a Washington insider. Bentsen 67, describes himself As one who has always been Able to build a consensus and As proof Points to legislation coming out of the Senate finance committee with votes of 18-2 and 19-1. I think the first impression of sen. Bentsen is he understands How you handle the Halls of Power the Board rooms As Well As the cloakroom of America said rep. Ron Colemand Texas. He knows How to get things done. The Good thing also is that he has the compassion for the  his father Lloyd Millard Bentsen sr., a South Dakota native a motorcycle racer and one time hard Drinker arrived in Texas with $5 in his pockets and built a financial dynasty in the Citrus bearing lands of far South Texas. Bentsen was elected to Congress in 1948 at age 27. Early in his House career he cast a vote that was seen As an act of courage he was Only one of two Texas representatives who voted to repeal the poll tax. In the House he once suggested that then president Dwight Eisenhower threaten North Korea with nuclear bombs unless they withdraw their forces North of the 38th parallel. After six years in the House in the late 1940s and 1950s, Bentsen returned to Texas and to make a Fortune in Houston. With his father s help he founded Lincoln consolidated an insurance holding company which controlled Stock Worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In 1970, he decided to run for the Senate. He successfully challenged the democratic incumbent sen. Ralph Yarborough who was something of a populist and represented the Liberal Wing of the democratic party. Bentsen accused Yarborough of supporting the violence which occurred during anti Vietnam War demonstrations at the 1968 democratic presidential convention. To make his Point he ran commercials replaying the Street warfare of Chicago. In the general election he Defeated George Bush then a Houston congressman now the certain Republican presidential nominee. Bentsen says one of his greatest strengths has been an across the Board spectrum of support with mexican americans As the base. But in his race against Bush Bentsen lost most of the minority voters in Texas winning Lloyd Bentsen Here with his wife b.a., is a conservative a protestant a Washington insider. Big in Rural areas and among Blue Collar democrats. He is certainly the mind behind a tremendously effective political machine in Texas not a party operation but a Bentsen operation. He is the Man that pulls the people together and makes it run said a Capitol Hill Republican speaking on condition of anonymity. Bentsen is a tremendous fund Raiser out distancing All other candidates for Congress so far this year according to Federal election commission reports. The Fec said Bentsen had raised Over $5 million in the 15 months Between Jan. 1,1987, and the end of March 1988. He also took in More political action committee Money than any other candidate Over $1.46 million. He admitted he had made a doozy of a mistake Early last year when he invited Washington lobbyists to pay $10,000 for the privilege of joining him for breakfast once a month. After deciding such contributions would reflect on my integrity and reflecting in the glow of intense publicity Bentsen disbanded his chairman s Council after Only one session and returned the Money to an estimated 40 lobbyists who had looked with pleasure at the Prospect of breakfasting with the chairman of the Senate committee that handles taxes. Yet Bentsen has a Long standing policy of not Friday july 15, 1988 accepting Honor aria for speaking engagements and will rarely accept a gift. During his years in the Senate Bentsen gradually moderated his views often voting for a broader Federal role on social issues and gradually opposing the Vietnam War. We have fulfilled our commitment Bentsen said in 1971, three years before the last . Combat troops left. On government s role Bentsen says i think it s terribly important that we invest in children and Young people and do the utmost we can to make sure they Are born with sound minds and bodies and Given a Good Start in life. We have two handicapped grandchildren of our own he says and that s part of the motivation. You relate to those kinds of concerns and problems. That s Why i pushed so hard for prenatal and neonatal  he was also behind Trade legislation for years even when few others cared about the Issue. Well you can t be a nation that is spending 104 percent of what you produce and that s what we be been doing and you have to turn that around increase production of our country that in turn raises the standing of living for your country he says. That s Why i pushed  the stars and stripes Page 13