David L. Boren
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| David Lyle Boren | |
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21st Governor of Oklahoma
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| In office 1975 – 1979 |
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| Lieutenant | George Nigh |
| Preceded by | David Hall |
| Succeeded by | George Nigh |
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| In office 1979 – 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Dewey F. Bartlett |
| Succeeded by | James Inhofe |
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| Born | April 21, 1941 Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | 1) Janna Lou Little (deceased) 2) Molly Shi |
| Profession | Lawyer |
David Lyle Boren (born April 21, 1941) is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. A Democrat, he served as governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1994. He is currently president of the University of Oklahoma.
Boren is part of the politically-prominent Boren family. His father, Lyle Boren, served in the U.S. House of Representatives (OK-04) from 1937 to 1947. His son, Dan Boren, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives (OK-02) since 2005.
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[edit] Biography
Boren was born in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1963 from Yale University, where he was a member of the Yale Conservative Party, elected president of the Yale Political Union and was a member of Skull and Bones.[1][2] He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a master's degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University (1965), serving later as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee. In 1968, he received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
During the Vietnam War, Boren served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard from 1968 to 1974, attaining the rank of Captain. One obscure bit of trivia is that while a state representative in 1967, he served on a legislative committee to investigate the University of Oklahoma after the school allowed black militant Paul Boutelle, a socialist and anti-Vietnam War activist, to give a speech there.
Boren has been a friend and political associate of several Speakers of the House, including Carl Albert. Albert's Chief of Staff, Charles Ward later served as Boren's Chief of Staff when he became U.S. Senator.
Boren's son, Dan Boren, represents Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District in the US House of Representatives. Boren's daughter, Carrie, is a former actress and current director for evangelism in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas.
He has been married twice, to the late Janna Little and currently to Molly Shi.
Boren was regarded as a political centrist, and was a strong advocate of tax cuts across the board as the cornerstone of economic policy.
[edit] In the Senate
In the U.S. Senate, Boren was known as a centrist or conservative Democrat, often aligning with southern Democrats such as Sam Nunn of Georgia and Howell Heflin of Alabama.
Boren served on the Senate Committee on Finance and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. he also served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the longest-serving chairman of that committee ever. Boren sponsored the National Security Education Act of 1991, which established the National Security Education Program.
Boren decided in 1990 to vote against the Persian Gulf War, surprising most political observers.
Boren was one of the President Bill Clinton's top choices to replace Les Aspin as a U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1994. However, Clinton selected William J. Perry[3]
In a controversial public mea culpa in a New York Times Op/Ed piece, Boren expressed regret over his vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Partly as a result of that statement, The Daily Oklahoman, the largest newspaper in Oklahoma, which had encouraged and endorsed Boren's entire career, began calling for his retirement from the U.S. Senate.
In 1994, he resigned his Senate seat to accept the presidency of the University of Oklahoma.
[edit] After the Senate
Boren currently serves as President of the University of Oklahoma, and sits on Board of Directors of Texas Instruments and AMR Corporation (the parent company of American Airlines).
He is regarded as a mentor to former CIA Director George Tenet from his days as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.[4] On the morning of September 11, 2001, Boren and Tenet were having breakfast together when Tenet was called away to respond to the terror attacks. [1]
In June 2007, conservative political columnist Robert Novak reported that Boren had met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to discuss a possible third-party presidential campaign. Bloomberg had just recently left the Republican Party, and speculation arose that he discussed the possibility of Boren joining him as a running mate. [2] However, on April 18, 2008, Boren endorsed the leading Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
In 2008, he released a book titled A Letter to America.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Alexandra Robbins, Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 124, 158.
- ^ Lloyd Grove, "The Boren Identity; Oklahoma's Senator, Unlikely Point Man for Clinton Plan", Washington Post, March 24, 1993.
- ^ George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education, 1999
- ^ Tenet, George (2003-05-13). Remarks by the Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet at the University of Oklahoma Graduation Ceremony. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ "A call for change", Tulsa World, 2008-03-30. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
| Preceded by David Hall (D) |
Governor of Oklahoma 1975–1979 |
Succeeded by George Nigh (D) |
| Preceded by Dewey F. Bartlett (R) |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Oklahoma 1979–1994 Served alongside: Henry Bellmon (R), Don Nickles (R) |
Succeeded by James Inhofe (R) |
| Preceded by David Durenberger (R) Minnesota |
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee 1987–1995 |
Succeeded by Arlen Specter (R) Pennsylvania |
| Preceded by Richard L. Van Horn |
President of the University of Oklahoma 1994–current |
Succeeded by current |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Boren, David L. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Former U.S. Senator; University President |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 21, 1941 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
