The Best Lawyer in a One-Lawyer Town: A Memoir

Dale Bumpers recounts his formative years with honesty, verve, and a wonderful sense of humor. Sparing us a blow-by-blow account of his years as an influential member of the United States Senate, Bumpers instead gives us the gift of riding along for the journey as he looks back on his life and remembers the lessons he learned from his father in Depression-era Arkansas. We enjoy a remarkable whirlwind tour -- through high school, college and law school; through tragedy; through the years of simultaneously serving as city attorney, family hardware-store operator, lawyer, husband, and father; through the many often-zany legal cases and clients with whom Bumpers worked; and, finally, through the decision of the young, smart, and genuine country lawyer -- inspired by his father, who comes across as a thoughtful, caring, and noble man, to commit to a life of serving others -- to launch a long-shot campaign to become the Governor of Arkansas. This is not a book for Bumpers to tout his influence on policy in Arkansas, although I discovered later that he was the only Arkansas Governor of the twentieth-century who, among Arkansas political scientists, achieved the rank of "Great." (Other Arkansas governors included David Pryor and, of course, a young man named Bill Clinton.) Nor is it a bogged-down account of Bumpers' years in the Senate, although he was for twenty-four years among the most revered members of that body. Nor is it a rumination on the trends of the times or the national character, even though Dale Bumpers was repeatedly encouraged to run for president and declined in 1976, 1984, and finally for the last time in 1988. Indeed, in an age where politicians discuss their political accomplishments and ambitions at length in their memoirs, with a cloying sense of self-centeredness that encourages one to forswear the genre entirely, Bumpers never discusses the intense-but-always-fleeting power struggles that define Washington, or why he always decided against running for the presidency. Instead, the book is a reflection a long, sometimes-bumpy, but always satisfying public and private life, full of vivid images, memorable episodes, and wonderful stories. What makes the book so appealing is its utter lack of pretense, Bumpers' genuine and unfailing respect for those who might wander across his book in the local library and spend a few moments with it. It is little wonder he always won re-election in Arkansas, despite the fact that his views tended to be more liberal than those of the state as a whole. ("Do you want to know why you always thought I was more liberal than I said I was?" he recounts asking an assembled group back home in Arkansas, as he was finishing up his last term in the U.S. Senate. "Because I was!") In an age of insta-political memoirs, Bumpers mentioned that it took him nearly four years to write the book, and it shows. Given our disenchantment with politics these days, we are constantly looking for a man on a white horse to

The Best Lawyer In A One-Lawyer Town is the personal and professional memoir of a dedicated politician, who grew up in the poverty of Depression-era Arkansas yet went on to contribute to his nation and now recounts his life with a wry twist of humor. Humble beginnings, southern charm, family dedication, and a drive to serve pervade the pages of this genuinely witty and warmly related reminiscence. A truly enjoyable autobiographical life story as well as an inside look at the gusty drive to enter and succeed in the fickle worlds of law and politics, The Best Lawyer In A One-Lawyer Town is as entertaining as it is informative.

I can't say how many political biographies/autobiographies I've read (suffice to say, a lot!), but a few years ago I grew tired of the genre. All too often, these books contain a lot of smug congratulatory prose, assuring the reader that politician X's impact on the nation was unsurpassed. Not so with Bumpers' book. I was instantly struck by the genuine humility of the author. Bumpers speaks from the heart, and in a very personable manner (I often felt that he was relating this whole memoir to me personally over a cup of coffee). Furthermore, his memoir does not just focus on his political career.The first half of the book covers Bumpers life before politics. Weaving together dozens of personal anecdotes, Bumpers takes the reader through life in a small Arkansas town in the depression era. These stories are heart-wrenching, and yet often humorous. Naturally, Bumpers ties these sad tales into his liberal, welfare-state political views. And yet, he's neither preachy nor overbearing. Readers may or may not agree with Bumpers' politics; but they cannot deny his sincerity.The chapters directly relating to Bumpers' political career offer a brief yet fascinating look at recent Arkansas history. One learns of the state's tough progression away from segregation and of two less than stellar governors, Orval Faubus and Winthrop Rockefeller. No doubt Bumpers is a little biased here (since he ran against both of them), but he does not denigrate them (or anyone else) for having different views than him. The last chapters briefly discuss Bumpers' 24 year Senate career; and end, appropriately, with his eloquent defense of President Clinton during the impeachment trial. This speech doesn't read as well as it was spoken, says Bumpers; but it reads pretty well at that! I was too sickened by the whole charade to watch any of the impeachment trial at the time. So Bumpers speech was new for me and only reinforced my beliefs on the issue.All in all, Bumpers book is witty, mostly light-hearted and never boring. Whether you're looking for a brief look at life in the south during the depression or want to know more about this fascinating man, pick it up.

Almost the entire first half of this bio deals with Bumpers youth in Depression-era rural Arkansas. Written in a graceful and page tuning style it captures the essence of a different time and space in our country's history.I would rank it right up there with Russell Bakers GROWING UP.

Dale Bumpers is 10 tears older than I, but given that rural Arkansas small town life was similar from the turn of the century until about to mid 1950s, our boyhood experiences were not disimilar. Bumpers tells his story anecdotally, the way he speaks. It is written with a sharp wit, frequently pointed at himself. It is intelligent, articulate and exactly what one would expect from one of, if not the very best of this nation's senators in the second half of the 20th century. Bumpers was always honest, usually truthful - always hard for a lawyer :-) - and always respectful in his dealing with his constituents. Bumpers, like his predessor, William Fulbright, never suffered fools lightly, and given that he was surrounded by them toward the end of his senate career, it is easy to see why he ended his senate career as a relatively young man - by senate standards. Bumpers never directly answers a question that many who followed his career always wondered about - why did he never run for president? - given that he would have been an exceptionally attractive democratic candidate. One hint he gives us is that he never enjoyed being governor. He always said that one reason he didn't run at one propituous time was that he had a bad knee. However, given the fact that his greatest political model, FDR, who had consumed American politics during his formative years and who he once saw on a presidential trip through Arkansas, (...couldn't even walk" which is a paraphrase of the name of one of his chapters) was handicapped to a far greater extent, it seems odd that a man of Bumper's physical and moral courage never made the race. It may have been that he was unwilling to spend the time and make the moral compromises necessary to raise the obscene amonts of money necesary to make a legitimate bid for a major party nomination, or he may have been put off by the vicious nature of presidential campaigning that developed during the last 20 years, or it may have been that he just refused to put his family under the national media spotlight in which every flaw and weakness is exploited by a modern press following the orders of an every decreasing number of usually right wing owners, producers and publishers. Whatever the reason, the nation lost a master politician who might have changed to course of history. This is his story in his words. A wonderful read. wfh