David L. Boren
Encyclopedia
David Lyle Boren is an academic leader and American politician
from the state
of Oklahoma
. A Democrat
, he served as the 21st 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
. He was the longest serving Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Currently, he serves as Co-Chair of the nonpartisan U.S. President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
The Boren family has a strong interest in public policy and three generations of public service. 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.
He graduated in 1963 from Yale University
, where he majored in American history, graduated in the top one percent of his class and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of the Yale Conservative Party, elected president of the Yale Political Union
and is a member of Skull and Bones
. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar
and earned a master's degree
in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
from University of Oxford
(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. While a member of the State House of Representatives Boren was a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University
.
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. Boren was a first cousin to the late folk singer Hoyt Axton
. His aunt Mae Axton wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" which became popular after the tune was sung by Elvis Presley.
He has been married twice, to the late Janna Little and currently to Molly Shi.
, Boren was known as a centrist or conservative Democrat
, and was a protege of Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and was often aligned with southern Democrats such as Sam Nunn
of Georgia
and Howell Heflin
of Alabama
. He was a strong advocate of tax cuts across the board as the cornerstone of economic policy. He opposed the Windfall profit tax on the domestic oil
industry, which was repealed in 1988. At one point, the tax was generating no revenue, yet still required oil companies to comply with reporting requireements and the IRS to spend $15 million to collect the tax. Of the tax, Boren said: "As long as the tax is not being collected, the accounting requirements are needless. They result in heavy burdens for the private sector and unnecessary cost to the taxpayer."
Sen. Barry Goldwater
(R-AZ), who served with Sen. Boren, publicly stated that Boren should be elected President
. Boren's Chief of Staff was a respected Capitol Hill insider, Charles Ward, a former longtime Administrative Assistant to Speaker Albert
.
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 was one of only two Democratic senators to vote in favor of the controversial nomination of
Robert Bork
to the Supreme Court
, in 1987. Boren also 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 instead.
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.
Boren currently serves as President of the University of Oklahoma, and sits on the Board of Directors
of Texas Instruments
and AMR Corporation (the parent company of American Airlines
). His current salary as the University of Oklahoma President is $383,852.88 annually. One semester every school year, President Boren teaches a freshman level Political Science class to 200 students.
In 1996
, Reform Party Presidential candidate Ross Perot
unsuccessfully sought Boren to be his vice-presidential running mate. In 2001, Boren, along with fellow Democrat former Governor George Nigh
was listed as being in support of the Right to Work
law in Oklahoma. The measure, proposed and sponsored by then Gov. Frank Keating
, was passed by the voters.
Boren is regarded as a mentor to former CIA Director George Tenet
from his days as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. 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. Boren said that in the weeks before the Iraq War began in March 2003, he warned Tenet that since he was not a member of President George W. Bush
’s closest circle of advisers, the White House would make him the scapegoat if things went badly in Iraq. "I told him they had your name circled if anything goes wrong," Boren recalls telling Tenet.
In June 2007, conservative political columnist Robert Novak
claimed 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. 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.
Boren and forner U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
currently serve as the co-chairman of the nonpartisan U.S.President's Intelligence Advisory Board under Barack Obama.
Boren also sits on the Honorary Board of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, he served as the 21st Governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1979 to 1994. He is currently president of the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. He was the longest serving Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Currently, he serves as Co-Chair of the nonpartisan U.S. President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
The Boren family has a strong interest in public policy and three generations of public service. His father, Lyle Boren
Lyle Boren
Lyle Hagler Boren was a U.S. Democratic Party politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma, serving from 1937 to 1947 and was defeated for renomination in 1946...
, served in the U.S. House of Representatives (OK-04
Oklahoma's 4th congressional district
Oklahoma's Fourth Congressional District is located in south-central Oklahoma and covers a total of 15 counties. Its principal cities include Midwest City, Norman, Moore, Ada, Duncan, Lawton/Ft. Sill, and Ardmore...
) from 1937 to 1947. His son, Dan Boren
Dan Boren
Daniel David "Dan" Boren is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. The district includes most of the eastern part of the state outside of Tulsa...
, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives (OK-02
Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district
Oklahoma's Second Congressional District is one of five United States Congressional districts in Oklahoma and covers approximately one-fourth of the state in the east...
) since 2005.
Biography
Boren was born in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He graduated in 1963 from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he majored in American history, graduated in the top one percent of his class and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of the Yale Conservative Party, elected president of the Yale Political Union
Yale Political Union
The Yale Political Union , a debate society now the largest student organization at Yale University, was founded in 1934 by Professor Alfred Whitney Griswold , to enliven the university's political culture of the time. It was modelled on the Cambridge Union Society and Oxford Union...
and is a member of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
and earned a master's degree
Master's degree in Europe
This page refers to types of Master's degrees in Europe. Please see Master's degree for more information.In order to facilitate the movement of students between European countries, a standardized schedule of higher education diplomas, also known as the Bologna process, was proposed: an...
in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Philosophy, politics, and economics is a popular interdisciplinary undergraduate/graduate degree which combines study from the three disciplines...
from University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(1965), serving later as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee. In 1968, he received a law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
from the University of Oklahoma College of Law
University of Oklahoma College of Law
The University of Oklahoma College of Law is an ABA-certified law school located on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Currently, the College of Law has an enrollment of 527 law students....
.
During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Boren served in the Oklahoma Army National Guard
Oklahoma Army National Guard
The Oklahoma Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Oklahoma National Guard. The Commander in Chief of the Oklahoma National Guard is the Governor of Oklahoma, who appoints the State Adjutant General , a Major General from either Army or Air. Currently, the TAG is Major...
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
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
after the school allowed black militant Paul Boutelle
Paul Boutelle
Paul Boutelle was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Vice President in 1968. He and presidential candidate Fred Halstead were on the ballot in 19 states. Boutelle toured throughout the United States during that campaign and appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including...
, a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and anti-Vietnam War activist
Opposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
, to give a speech there. While a member of the State House of Representatives Boren was a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University
Oklahoma Baptist University
Oklahoma Baptist University is a co-educational Christian liberal arts university located in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and owned by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Established in 1910, OBU is ranked No.2 among baccalaureate colleges in the western region in the 2010 U.S...
.
Boren has been a friend and political associate of several Speakers of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
, including Carl Albert
Carl Albert
Carl Bert Albert was a lawyer and a Democratic American politician from Oklahoma.Albert represented the southeastern portion of Oklahoma as a Democrat for 30 years, starting in 1947. He is best known for his service as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977...
. 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
Dan Boren
Daniel David "Dan" Boren is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. The district includes most of the eastern part of the state outside of Tulsa...
, 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. Boren was a first cousin to the late folk singer Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...
. His aunt Mae Axton wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" which became popular after the tune was sung by Elvis Presley.
He has been married twice, to the late Janna Little and currently to Molly Shi.
In the Senate
In the U.S. SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, Boren was known as a centrist or conservative Democrat
Conservative Democrat
In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a Democratic Party member with conservative political views, or with views relatively conservative with respect to those of the national party...
, and was a protege of Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and was often aligned with southern Democrats such as Sam Nunn
Sam Nunn
Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Howell Heflin
Howell Heflin
Howell Thomas Heflin was a United States Senator from Tuscumbia, Alabama, and a member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. He was a strong advocate of tax cuts across the board as the cornerstone of economic policy. He opposed the Windfall profit tax on the domestic oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
industry, which was repealed in 1988. At one point, the tax was generating no revenue, yet still required oil companies to comply with reporting requireements and the IRS to spend $15 million to collect the tax. Of the tax, Boren said: "As long as the tax is not being collected, the accounting requirements are needless. They result in heavy burdens for the private sector and unnecessary cost to the taxpayer."
Sen. Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
(R-AZ), who served with Sen. Boren, publicly stated that Boren should be elected President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Boren's Chief of Staff was a respected Capitol Hill insider, Charles Ward, a former longtime Administrative Assistant to Speaker Albert
Carl Albert
Carl Bert Albert was a lawyer and a Democratic American politician from Oklahoma.Albert represented the southeastern portion of Oklahoma as a Democrat for 30 years, starting in 1947. He is best known for his service as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977...
.
Boren served on the Senate Committee on Finance
United States Senate Committee on Finance
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...
and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
The Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition and...
. he also served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of the United States who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The...
, 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 was one of only two Democratic senators to vote in favor of the controversial nomination of
Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
The Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination refers to the 1987 nomination by President Ronald Reagan of Judge Robert Bork to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate rejected his nomination.-Nomination:...
Robert Bork
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, in 1987. Boren also decided in 1990 to vote against the Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, surprising most political observers.
Boren was one of the President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's top choices to replace Les Aspin
Les Aspin
Leslie "Les" Aspin, Jr. was a United States Representative from 1971 to 1993, and the United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from January 21, 1993 to February 3, 1994.-Early life:...
as a U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1994. However, Clinton selected William J. Perry instead.
In a controversial public mea culpa in a New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Op/Ed piece, Boren expressed regret over his vote to confirm
Advice and consent
Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts, describing a situation in which the executive branch of a government enacts something previously approved of by the legislative branch.-General:The expression is...
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
. 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.
After the Senate
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
and AMR Corporation (the parent company of American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
). His current salary as the University of Oklahoma President is $383,852.88 annually. One semester every school year, President Boren teaches a freshman level Political Science class to 200 students.
In 1996
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
, Reform Party Presidential candidate Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
unsuccessfully sought Boren to be his vice-presidential running mate. In 2001, Boren, along with fellow Democrat former Governor George Nigh
George Nigh
George Patterson Nigh , is a popular civic leader in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd Governor of Oklahoma. He was the first Oklahoma Governor to be re-elected and the first to win all 77 counties in the state...
was listed as being in support of the Right to Work
Right to work
The right to work is the concept that people have a human right to work, or engage in productive employment, and may not be prevented from doing so...
law in Oklahoma. The measure, proposed and sponsored by then Gov. Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
, was passed by the voters.
Boren is regarded as a mentor to former CIA Director George Tenet
George Tenet
George John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University....
from his days as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. On the morning of September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, Boren and Tenet were having breakfast together when Tenet was called away to respond to the terror attacks. Boren said that in the weeks before the Iraq War began in March 2003, he warned Tenet that since he was not a member of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
’s closest circle of advisers, the White House would make him the scapegoat if things went badly in Iraq. "I told him they had your name circled if anything goes wrong," Boren recalls telling Tenet.
In June 2007, conservative political columnist Robert Novak
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
claimed that Boren had met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
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. However, on April 18, 2008, Boren endorsed the leading Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
In 2008, he released a book titled A Letter to America.
Boren and forner U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel is a former United States Senator from Nebraska. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002...
currently serve as the co-chairman of the nonpartisan U.S.President's Intelligence Advisory Board under Barack Obama.
Boren also sits on the Honorary Board of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues is a Chicago-based non-profit organization that prepares low income students of color to succeed in college and in their future careers by organizing and supporting competitive debate teams in urban public schools across the country...
.