Oklahoma Statesman: The Life of David Boren

DAVID L. BOREN perhaps has influenced Oklahoma more than any other person in the state s first century. His rise to prominence was not accidental. The son of an Oklahoma congressman, Boren sought excellence at every level of education, from the Seminole, Oklahoma, public schools to Yale University, to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and the University of Oklahoma College Of Law. Oklahomans are well aware of Boren s contributions as Governor of Oklahoma, United States Senator, and president of the University of Oklahoma. However, for the first time, this biography reveals Boren s major and discreet roles in some of the most politically and historically important moments of American history in the final two decades of the twentieth century. Details are revealed of private meetings with American presidents, world leaders, and even the KGB. There is also the never-before-told story of a single, handwritten letter from Boren that may have had an important impact upon the final years of the presidency of Ronald Reagan. This book s title, Oklahoma Statesman, best describes the life of Boren. In each position of trust he has held, he has excelled as a statesman in every sense of the word.