Dale Bumpers

Folder Citation: Collection: Records of the 1976 Campaign Committee to Elect Jimmy Carter ; Series: Noel Sterrett Subject File; Folder: Dale Bumpers; Container 69

To See Complete Finding Aid: http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/findingaids/Carter-Mondale%20Campaign_1976.pdf

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/findingaids/Carter-Mondale%20Campaign_1976.pdf

·Fulbright vs. Bumpers: The · Despite its relatively small size Ar

kansas probably h·as · more Iegisiative PO\i•er in Washington than any other state in the Union. Its senior senator· John McClellan, is chairman of the Sen: ate Appropriations Committee. Its juniot· scl1alor is J. W. Ful�right, cliairman of !he Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In !he House, another supremely powerful Arkansan , Wilbm·. Mills is ch'airm;in of the key Ways and 1\I�ans Committee. ··

'Fu!bdght, who is now running for a s_ixth term, is "junior" only because McClellan, 78, has served even longer in the Senate. It's hard to recall any state ever having at one time . su'ch a concentration of influence on Capitol Hill. New York and California are each a·bout 10 times larger in population than AHiansas, but between them they can't cl.aim the chairmanship of a single maj or· committee.

··In a few weeks, though, Arkansas could lose· some of its pre-eminence if i lS star, Bill Fulbright, is defeated for re11ominalion by Dale Bumpers, a young two-term govcn1oi· \rho aspires to Fulbi· ight 's seat. The, election (said to be toitch and go) is acutely uncomfortable fo�-- many' voters who have previously sL1Plwrtcd both men, but who 11011· un- . happily, have to choose between th�m.

=Bumpers has been a populat: governor wnose moderate policies have won the stJpport of many 'voters who would hav'e preferred to· have him seek a third teh:n as governor on 1\-Jay 28 (considered a-sure thing), and then run for the Senate- four years from now when Sen . McClellan is expected to retire at the

.age of 82. Since Bumpers has generally support

ed Fulbright's actions in Congress, it ic: hard Iot· mall\' to understand whv he suddenly decicled to run for the Senate ll!is year. The best explanation seems to lie that he is simply a young man in �-hurry who wants to si rike while his JA:i!itical iron is hot.

I ·As the campaign nears the stretch,

ho\yever, this situation is causing him some embarrassment, for he is not in a

I position to complain- about Fulbright

I st�nds that he has previously approved.

I

"Arl.-an!;as has luHl rt SfJedal fJricle in Fulbright siuce his youth."

The Bumpers dilemma has been sharply analyzed' -by the slate's leading news

- paper, . the esteemed Arkansas Gazette of Little Rock.

Bumpers, it says, ''.is asl).ing the peo-

ple lo tum· out a veteran incumbent senator, one of the most honored men ever reared in Arkansas, wi't:hout even making a c

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< ' ' I · experience": and "know-how" return to Phase I and Phase II tion.. . :· iin Washington politics. · . ; controls,' · which · he · ''said :>W1th· Bumpers' support t�e ;-· :F u fi h r· i -.,. li. f' comm�ntcd: �"should not have been re- ,state income tax was · _m;."Those� who � :t. results \Vith !. moved," and he urged the im- creased. in' 1971, producmg 11eg�slati9p in \;:as�ington, who (Po�ition \_of new . �a�e.':'::�az;td· )arge. surplu�es and sol:'enc� r. d.elixer the goods, so to' speak, · pnce co11trols. . .. ... �-� . .£:..:..·; fo� �he s�ate treasury. H1s ad f. are those that have the . re- mm�str

·� f= 7!5"- :3: .. I,Jyt � .5--)7-7J F:qlbright_Facing_ Peril in Vote

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Victory by Bumpers

Could Close His 30- Year Career

By CHRISTOPHER LYDON SpecJal :a T!le ;..""eV.· York r.mes

UTILE ROCK, Ark., May 26 -The stature of Sen:uor J. W. Fulbright. facing his gravest

· janaer of defeat in a long and · controversial career, brou:;!ht

the networks television crews and. the overseas press to this sleepy capital for the iinat day of the campaign before the United Pniss International Democratic Senatorial �rimary Gov. Dale L. Bumoers, left, of Arkansas and Senator J. W. Fulbright before their joint Tuesday. televrsidn appearance yesterday in Little Rock-the only one of the campaign._ ... The. 69-year-otd ca'ltanker·: . 1 ,. 'ously� rndependent chairman of! passage of Mr. Rockefeller's I' criticize :VTr. Fulbright's recordl ,. the :::.enate foreign Relations, teft-over program, including and has refU:Sed to debate the ; Committee even received a : sweeping executive reorganiza- jSenator.

j . fnendly tclephon� .•. call fro!lll tion and income tax reform, But Mr Bumpers's lofty iso , Secretary of State l'l.lSStnger tn \ Mr. Bumpers was overwhelm- Iation, a�oiding all joint ap .. Damascus on Fnday. : ingly re-elected in 1972. pearances except a half-hou _ To Ar_kansas, however, t�e 1 Surveys by respected na- together today on the ABC-TV! . central figure m the pnmary 1si tiona! poll takers this spring program "Issues and Answers.'i �Gov. Dale Bumpers, the chai-�have found the popular ap- has also made it harder for1 -Ienger: who has combmed. _ex-Jproval of the Governor's job Senator Fulbright to compete.!, traordmary personal amb1t1on \performance ranging between 1 'wi�. a sty!e of frictio!l·proof 7 and 10 to 1-a strength that Points to Senate Record i ·politiCS tha.t he has ra1sed .to may be unmatched among po- First plaintive, then angryl a rare art. jht!cal executives today. In the about the lack of oubtic debate,; : A geni:--:1 giant killer, Mr. current carnpai_gn_ he has held Mr. Fulbright has had to scram-: Bumpers, .;3 years old, emerged! both the Initiative and the ble to be heard, pleading for' from an ·!bscure country law lstraw-polt lead ever since 'he some recollection of the na-: �office fo:.:r years ago, i:". a surpris_ed Mr.. Ful�rig_ht !:>Y tiona! and international battles ·carefully planned telev1sron deplac1rng agarnst hrm rn m 1d- he has waged during 30 years: , campaign. to defeat two of th_e March. in the Senate, trying somehow'. ·,g_reat ':ames of Arkansas polr- Mr.. B�m�� had Senat

\her childhood, Mrs. Ledbetter complains. Governor Bumper

s

glides past divisive social and

political issues on a smooth

stream of words about vaguely

spmtual values and individt.ral

moralitv. Yet like The Arkansas Ga·

zette and other liberal voices that have denounced the campaign against Senator Fulbright. Mrs. Ledbetter temp

ers

her criticism with the acknowl

edgment that she would have \

supported Governor Bumpers 11 for re-election. . 1

Except for Wmthrop Rocke- \ feller, Mr. Bumpers has bee

n \ more responsive than any maj

or

Arkansas politician to the\

state's large black population

far more so, it is generally

agreed. than Mr. Fulbright

through most of his car�r.

Record As Governor :

Professional observers here '

make fun of Mr. Bumper's tor

t':lre d temporizing over big de

CISIOns, but no one accuses him

of being a do-nothing Governor.

He is credited with enacting·

free kindergarten and free text

book programs, and he was

rsponsible for the first reform

of the state's income taxes in nearly 50 years.

In his most strenuous battle

with the state legislature and local government leaders

. Mr.

Bumprs vetoed a bill to guaran-

: tee 7 per cent of all state

\�eevnues to city and county .government. Partly as

a result,.

.most of Arkansas' state legisla

tors and county leaders are now

on Senator Fulbright's �ide.

. But with the mass of voters!

1t seems to have helped Gov-; ernor Bumpers to be pictured ' as a loner and something

of a·

reformer who has found the: rough and tumble o

f State

house politics distasteful. The Fulbright campaign has

met the Bumpers challenoe with a broad and vigorous c"o� ialition. It includes. for example.i IMrs. Ledbetter. who

directed\ l Senator George McGovern' s ! Presidential campaign

in Ar-�\ kansas in 1972. and State

Rep

r�sentative Frank Henslee o�

Pme Bluff. who is organizin Alabama Gov. George C. W

allace's Presidential-

campaig� hereabouts for 1976.

'

Gets Federal Funds I

"I'm sure Governor Wallace

is aware." Mr. Henslee ex"

plained in an interview. "of

the connection between Gover;

nor Bumpers and Senator [Ed;.

ward M.]. Kennedy [of Massa�

chusetts] so that Senator Ken; n�dy �ould make Dale B

umpers h1s VIce-Presidential candidat

e

-and of course that cuts Gov:

em or Wallace · out." While Senator · Fulbright is

known as a philosopher and

teacher in Washington. he is

also an effective pork-barrel politician at home. When M

r; Bumpers. complained

of Con

gress' s seniority system on "Issues and Answers" today, th

e

Senat�r noted pointed�y that

committee chairmanships in Washmgton had supplied

Ar·

kansas with more than it5

share of Federal funds.

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rn����hips i:� tla: Scn�tlt:. �ltCcc·c:dilt.� hi��-� as hl"�,d of the Forc:igil ilt:L1LollS cl)l;l· n:ittee will oc: .-\labam:1 Dcmoc!·at John Sparkman-a m0n� that nmld h'l':c Lli'· reachi:1g repercussions. Sp:·rk;nau, 7-l. h;,.,s a rccorci of Jimost unqllc��:wlil,� support for the .-\dministration'; forciL":Il :.llld dde:1sc policies, :1nd some Clltnmittee members fear tbt he will cut back the watchdog role car.·cd out by F u]bright. The betting is, however, :hat the committee's bipartisa:: liberal majority \\·on't let that happen \\·ithout a fight.

Sparkman's shift may make the biggest impact in his old Banking Committee, where Wisconsin liberal Wi!liJm Proxmire \\·ill become chairman. Proxmire's advocacy of truth-in-lending and other consumer bills has wen him fev.· friends in the banking commUJ:itv, a:1d some baukers \\·ere anxious enoul!;h :1bout what he might do as chairm;.;n that thev contributed to Fulbright's c1I:1paign. ·'r don 't think the\· s!wdder I;JJ!C�• in mv sta�t: ',\·here th�v k:W\\' rne.'' P:·•Jxmire sa\·s. But a.-; on� 1J.mk lobbyis� pEts it: ·'It. i:; somethin

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e Bumpers� iding hisc�flld

LYNN ROSELLINI Newsday

WASHINGTON - They like to tell the story in Little Rock about Dale Bumpers· visit to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

Bumpers. then governor of Arkansas. was mentioned one day in a Miami newspaper's list of vice p r esid e n tial p r o sp ects aft er George McGovern's nomination. When reporters questioned him during a morning tennis game. Bumpers said he wasn't interested in the job.

But later that day. a political aide slipped out of Bumpers' hotel suite and into the lobby. "He's sitt i ng u p t h e r e r i gh t now by his phone," the aide told reporters, ''waiting for a call from McGov�rn.''

Since his overwhelming Senate Democratic primary victory over Sen. J. William Fulbright last·year, the 49-year-old Bumpers is co ns i d er ed p e r haps t he m os t· promising longshot among the cur-· rent crop of "New South" hopefuls for a sopt on the 1976 Democratic· ticket. Arkansas' new senator ap-; parently views the presidential race in 1976 in much the same waythat he viewed the vice presidency in 1972 - publicly disdaining inter- -. est. privately waiting; and watch- · in g.

It was only five years ago that the six-foot lawyer from Charleston. Ark .. (pop. 1,4001 sold off his dairy herd to help finance a prima ry cam pa ig n for govern or against former Gov. Orval Faubus. When Bumpers began ·stumping the state. he developed the

_image of a clean-cut country law-yer who would move Arkansas into the 1970s. The image constrasted sharply with that of the six-term Faubus, closely associated with the old Southern-boss style of politics.

Bumpers proved to be a naturally magnetic campaigner and an effective television candidate. He beat Faubus in the primary and the voters of Arkansas. a Democratic state uncomfortable with a Republican in the governor's office, went on to give him a resound- i ing victory over Gov. Wintrhop ' Rockefeller.

Two years later, he emerged into national politics as leader of the. Democratic Governors' Conferen

iFulbright Faces tHard Senate Race � £: B BILL SIMMONS �(- y �·LrrrLE R� Ark.(.\?) t·- A political ana,lyst once obf,served that J. W. Fulbright i.stays in trouble with his cooi�tue nts,

. but he keeps win

,mng elections. f.: �· Now that election-winning tability may be In q uestion. \; FulbrigD. t chairman of the 1S e n a t e Foreign Relations .Committee, is seeking re-clec. tion this year, and may be oo .better-Umn-USU3I terms with Arkansas voters. But he is in

·greater danger of defeat in the May 28 Democratic primary.

Fulbright appe ars to have reg1ined some of the favor he

.lost with constit uents w h o ,were upset for a time with Ills �·criticism of U.S. participation in Vietnam. 1', The danger for Fulbright :comes from Dale Bumpers, :who four years ago was "Dale iwho?" to many in this state. 1But now he is wrapping up his �.second two-year term as an :eloquent, handsome and

· d!Jarismatic governor who bas · been mentioned as a potential

1 ..

naJtional candidate in t h � Democratic party. \

Bumpers has produced al SC'lmdal-free administration, and, perhaps most significant, has a powerful positive! projection on television. I By all accounts, Bumpers1 w a s a shoo-in f o r a third i gubernatorial term and was · thought a likely pr ospect for. higher office at a later time when he announ ced a week ago that he would oppose Fulbright .

Pollster Gene Newsom o f \ Little Rock. denying ties to either candidate, put Bumpers in front 6Q per cent to 2i per cent, with the rest undecided.

''I'm not a great believer in polls," Fulbright said. ' ' I think it"s very unfortunate t h a t a young m a n with promise - very little experience. but promise - is going to bri!l1g his political fortunes to such a premature end."

Bumpers, a rancher, lawyer and nursing horne OV'iller before going into state politics, Obvwusly feels differen tly. But for 5.000 votes in 1970. he � still be a politi cal· nobody.

c2q J

Gov. Bumo�rs to Face Fulbright: 24Q I In Race fer Senate in Arkansas

By ROY REED i

UTILE ROCK, Ark., March from obscurity as a country• 11 - Gov. Dale Bumpers an- lawyer and defeated Gov. Win-:

nounced today that he would throp Rockefeller, a Republican, ·1 oppose Senator J. W. Fulbright :n 19i0. . /i in the Democratic primary A reporter mentioned that at:·�· Mav 28. Mr. Fulbright's news confer-!

This will be the most serious ence rodav and asked him if/ challenge r.o \lr. Fulbright since he was bitter at being opposed / he entered the Se:1ate in l945 . . by Mr. Bumpers. 1 Arkansas observers predict a· "No,'' he said. "this is a ) close race. free country. Anyone can run. 1

Mr. Bumpers. 48 years old. The element of gral.itude is a; said he was runnin:;,: for the personal one, not a public one." ) Senate because of a need for· ·The Governor told reporters: 1 new national leadership during "I have agreed with Senator) this "troublesome time." Fulbright more often than Ii

"The people," he said, "are have disagreed with him." But I pleading for leadership that· he confided to friends that he! will restore their faith: faith in believed he had no alternative! the system. faith in themselves, if he wished to remain in! thus most importantly, faith in politics. each other.". · i Problem for Liberals

Mr. Fulbnght, 68, who was i . here working on his re-election: The race 1s expected to split:. campaign, agreed that the na-1 the white moderates and the i! tion was troubled and said that: l:berals. :\lost have supported that stemmed "from the Presi-' both men. dent of the United States.'' He' Black vot ers face the same ·added that the Governor's problem. While neither candista tement seemed to be more' date has been as popular with ncarlv that of a candidate ior: lack voters as the late. Mr . . President or Vice President Rockefeller, whose political, than as a candidate for the: base was built on black' Senate. 'support, both are considered

Th Senate's Problem i friendly to blac_ks. Both have e , blacks on their staffs and There has been speculation several of thise attended the that Mr. Bumpers is aiming at, two news conferences today. a place on the natl_?nal Demo-, There ha,·e been continuing crauc ticket m 19,6. rumors that wealthv eastern

Mr. Fulbright said today that Jews have offered to 'contribute the trouble with the Senate was,money to Mr. Bumpers to op-that many Senators _were run-, pose Mr. Fulbright. The· nmg for President m.,tead of Senator. who is chairman of pa�:in5 attention to the Sen-.rhe Senate Foreign Relations ate s busmess. :committee. has been unpopular

_The two men have been with some Jewish grou ps befnendly. tf not close. Mr. Ful- cause of what they consider bnght supported Mr. Bumpers his lack of support for Israel actively when the latter rose

_In the

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, arc 1 ' al J'S/' ord has been a credible one" ! fered a place on the natio�al' COmmittee �d a �ber of! • ' announced today t�at he WJ and that �he A:kansas delega-/ Democratic- t ieket . he said: . . r tne Sen.ate Ftnance Committ�� challenge J.W. Fu.bnght fori twn, wh1ch mcludes Sen . .• would nnt shut the option out. and Jotnt Economtc Comrmt- � , the Senate seat Fulbnght has John L. McClellan (D). chau"-i hut it is so far-iet�hed at this tee . · .held for the past ::!9 years_. 1, man of the Senate Appropria- : lime. r don't know it' r ·m even The race. because of the un- - 1 · Bumpers, 48, one 0� the/ t1ons Committee. and Rep. fla ttered by it." certa!rt preference of the coa- i.

most, popular governors m t!.lei _Wilbur D. :Vlills (D). chairman He men t ioned \\.ater6ate servattve rural voter. could be 1 state s htstory. told newsm2n:r of the House \Vays and Means tlnly once and said he wa-.: . complicated by the entry od "Thit� in the government to- Committee. had long ·'been an ·

.-r.-�luctant t

.

o call for :he Pres� other political candidates who 1 day JS at an all-ume low . " . effective team." , ident's resi£nation" until after would draw from the vote, [ What is _needed, he said. "was i\Iany po litit:al observers; the House· Judiciary Commit- sueh as former G?v. Fauhus 1: new pos:ttve leadership �·: ,. feel the race will he close and L tee has considered_ aU of the, and for�er Gv. Std_ l\-ldlath, . He spoke of the .�n"ed that both men will draw from" / eVJdence regarding impeach- who ha•e bo�� exp re�s:d mter-. States as a natwn facmg the same base o( li beral and J, ment. . est m runnm,.. fo_r the ::,enate. ·troublesome times" and enu- moderate- voter su ort. Some i: . , . The wmner ot the_ pnmnry 1 me�ated such problems as :n- � believe that manv ��raJ voters;

.

[' h··I_n l:ce�t \leeks Bumpers; IS almost certam

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to tacc only· . flauon, the energy crisis :md have been alien-ated !w Ful-! i �� , .. ,raHled .. ex tens; veJy. token GOP ?PPO:;Jtwn 1n 1he attendant un-e:nploym