Dale Bumpers: “I come this morning sadly to eulogize one of the truly great political and intellectual giants of my home State of…”

“I come this morning sadly to eulogize one of the truly great political and intellectual giants of my home State of Arkansas. In a way, it is especially difficult for me because in 1974 I ran against him for the Senate. J.W. ``Bill'' Fulbright had been a Congressman, president of the University of Arkansas, U.S. Senator, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and an icon to millions of people, not just in Arkansas, but all over the world. In 1974 Senator Fulbright had served in the Senate for 30 years and was prepared to run for his sixth term. I was Governor of my State, completing my second term, and I can tell my colleagues that being a Senator is infinitely more enjoyable and less stressful than being Governor. I was not interested in running for the House of Representatives, nor was I particularly interested in returning to the practice of law. While I had been a great fan of Bill Fulbright's, I was late in opposing the war in Vietnam, long after he opposed it. I had admired his courage in speaking out against that war almost from its inception. I suppose now would be a good time to say that he once told me that his vote on the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was the worst vote he ever cast, and that he regretted it. But I had to make a decision about the Senate race, and I had to make it by March 1974. So I made what was one of the most difficult decisions of my life--to run against him in the Democratic primary.”