Small-town lawyer, Arkansas governor and four-term Democratic senator from Arkansas Dale Bumpers passed away at his home Friday at the age of 90, his family has said in a statement.
Bumpers had broken a hip in a fall at his home in December and had been bedridden since.
The eloquent veteran politician is most remembered for the passionate speech he gave for Bill Clinton during Clinton's impeachment trial on Jan. 21, 1999.
Clinton had been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his sexual affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
While acknowledging that Clinton's lying under oath was "indefensible, outrageous, unforgivable, shameless," Bumpers had argued that lying under oath about sex was "not a breach of the public trust, not a crime against society."
"There is a very big difference in perjury about a marital infidelity in a divorce case and perjury about whether I bought the murder weapon or whether I concealed the murder weapon or not. And to charge somebody with the first and punish them as though it were the second stands justice, our sense of justice, on its head. There's a total lack of proportionality, a total lack of balance, in this thing. The charge and the punishment are totally out of sync," Bumpers had said in a speech that is often considered "one of the greatest final arguments ever given in an American courtroom," he further said, The New York Times reported.
Clinton had been acquitted in the case.
"For more than 40 years Hillary and I cherished his friendship. I am grateful that his advice made me a better governor and president. I loved him. I loved learning from him and laughing with him. I will miss him very much," Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a statement, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Dale Bumpers put his considerable gifts of wisdom, wit, and passion to work for the common good. We'll miss him. https://t.co/uzPY2WEBnq
— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) January 2, 2016
"The entire state mourns the loss of an Arkansas legend," Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Bumpers is survived by his wife Betty and his children Brent, Bill and Brooke Bumpers.
