Palestine, a Broken Bone in History
Department
Art
Document Type
Editorial
Publication Date
10-2-2012
Abstract
After trouncing William J. Fulbright in the 1974 primary election and winning the Arkansas US Senate seat held by the internationally recognized American Statesman, Chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, and one of the US Senate’s most powerful and most eloquent speakers, Dale Bumpers became an overnight Arkansas celebrity.
Of a more humble background than his predecessor and a country lawyer by trade, Bumpers was inclined to be more folksy in his small group and one-on-one conversations. And even though his grandiloquence on the Senate floor and his public speeches engaged the respective audiences intellectually, Bumpers never lost the oratorical magic touch of speaking to, instead of at, his colleagues and fellow citizens. A case in point was his stellar speech to his former Senate colleagues in the Bill Clinton impeachment trial and in defense of Clinton during the final arguments on the senate floor. Bumpers’ impassioned speech of January 21, 1999, given only days after he retired, might very well have been a factor in saving Clinton’s neck and zipper.
Recommended Citation
Halaby, Raouf J. Professor Emeritus, "Palestine, a Broken Bone in History" (2012). Articles. 27.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/articles/27