David L. Boren, a prominent Democrat and former governor of Oklahoma, passed away at 83 in Norman, Oklahoma. He served as the youngest governor (1975-1979), held a Senate seat for three terms (1979-1994), and chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence, influencing national policy. A Rhodes scholar, Boren championed reforms that included tax cuts and improved education and corrections. After leaving the Senate, he became president of the University of Oklahoma, expanding programs and enrollment. His later years were marred by allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied. Boren’s legacy includes his commitment to bipartisan governance and education.
David L. Boren, a well-regarded reform-oriented Democrat who served as Oklahoma’s governor and later represented the state for three terms in the U.S. Senate, where he was a significant advocate for national intelligence, passed away on Thursday at his residence in Norman, Okla. He was 83.
His passing was confirmed by his attorney, Clark Brewster.
Born to an Oklahoma congressman, Mr. Boren emerged from impressive academic achievements as a Rhodes scholar into a notable political trajectory as a state legislator (1967-75), the youngest governor in U.S. history (1975-79), and a Senate member (1979-94), where he became the longest-serving chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence. His reputation as a Sooner was further solidified during his presidency at the University of Oklahoma.
To energize his 1974 gubernatorial campaign, a 5,000-strong “Boren Broomstick Brigade” gathered at the Oklahoma City Capitol, where Mr. Boren pledged to “sweep out the old guard” with his reforms. Throughout his single term, he enacted state income tax cuts, eliminated inheritance taxes for spouses, pushed for anti-crime legislation, improved a problematic prison system, funded education for gifted students, and utilized sunset laws to dissolve around 100 state agencies, commissions, and boards.
Once a Democratic bastion, Oklahoma has evolved into a reliably red state in recent years.
In the Senate, Mr. Boren gained national attention as a centrist, often aligning with President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, as well as Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush on various issues. He was a strong advocate for tax cuts and campaign finance reforms to limit the influence of affluent donors. Serving as chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 1987 to 1993, he played a pivotal role in shaping foreign policy and acted as a mentor to George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence.
Mr. Boren also played a key role in garnering bipartisan backing for sanctions against South Africa due to its apartheid laws, and in 1990, he was instrumental in securing the release of Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, after 27 years in prison. Mandela, who later became South Africa’s president from 1994 to 1999, formed a friendship with Mr. Boren.
Midway through his third Senate term, Mr. Boren resigned to take on the presidency of the University of Oklahoma. His lengthy tenure there, from 1994 to 2018, saw significant increases in enrollment and scholarships, the introduction of new academic programs, enhanced fundraising for endowed professorships, as well as expanded student housing and classroom facilities.
Throughout much of his presidency, Mr. Boren remained connected to national politics. In 2007, there were discussions about a potential third-party presidential campaign by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, with Mr. Boren considered as a possible vice-presidential candidate. However, in 2008, Mr. Boren endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president, who later appointed him co-chairman of the nonpartisan President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
Mr. Boren also gained attention in 2015 when he shut down the campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, one of the largest college fraternities in the nation, after footage surfaced of white fraternity members singing a racist chant filled with anti-Black slurs, a reference to lynching, and assurances that African Americans would never be permitted to join the chapter.
He stepped down as university president in 2018.
In February 2019, following his retirement, Oklahoma news reports indicated that a former student and teaching assistant at the university, Jess Eddy, had informed the Norman Police Department that Mr. Boren had made unwanted sexual advances toward him in a Houston hotel room in November 2010. Both individuals were reported to have been consuming alcohol at the time, attending a weekend of conferences related to alumni affairs, fundraising, and student recruitment.
Mr. Eddy, a University of Oklahoma graduate, stated in multiple interviews that Mr. Boren had sexually harassed him with “touching” and “kisses” approximately “once or twice a semester” between 2010 and 2012. The university subsequently engaged law firm Jones Day to investigate the claims, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation also became involved.
Nondoc.com reported that Mr. Eddy had admitted to calling Mr. Boren and asking him for “compensation for my pain and suffering” and expressed regret for making that call.
Robbie Burke, an attorney for Mr. Boren, denied the allegations, stating, “Even though we have received no complaint, President Boren emphatically denies any inappropriate behavior or unlawful activity. He has committed over 50 years to public service, and his life is an open book in Oklahoma.”
The findings of the Jones Day investigation were never disclosed, and the allegations did not result in any criminal charges or civil lawsuits. Nevertheless, this situation led Mr. Boren to cut his ties with the university.
David Lyle Boren was born on April 21, 1941, in Washington to Representative Lyle H. Boren and Christine (McKown) Boren. He had one younger sister, Susan. His father, a member of the House from 1937 to 1947, was a conservative Democrat from Oklahoma who opposed government expansion and excessive federal spending.
David was raised in Seminole, Okla., and attended local schools before graduating from Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Md., in 1959. He then attended Yale University, where he majored in American history, was involved with the Yale Conservative Party, and served as president of the Yale Political Union. He completed his studies in 1963, graduating near the top of his class. As a Rhodes scholar, he obtained a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford in 1965.
Entering Oklahoma politics, Mr. Boren secured a position in the state’s House of Representatives in 1966, serving four two-year terms. He earned a law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968, served a decade in the Oklahoma National Guard achieving the rank of captain in charge of a supply company, and was the chair of the social sciences department at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee.
The Watergate scandal, which prompted President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation in 1974, had permeated the political landscape when Mr. Boren sought the governorship that year, positioning himself as a reformer in state government. He triumphed over the incumbent Democratic governor, David Hall, in a primary and defeated Republican James Inhofe in the general election. (Inhofe later served in both the House and Senate and passed away in July.)
At the age of 33, Mr. Boren became the youngest governor in the nation upon assuming office in January 1975.
During his governorship, he significantly reformed the state’s workers’ compensation legislation and oversaw numerous improvements in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, which had been struggling in the aftermath of a deadly riot at the overcrowded state penitentiary in McAlester in 1973 resulting in three fatalities and $20 million in damages.
His proposals captured national attention during the mid-1970s energy crisis, as he called for the deregulation of natural gas prices. President Carter appointed him to chair a task force aimed at investigating the issue, establishing a solid foundation for his subsequent transition to the Senate.
Shortly after graduating from law school in 1968, Mr. Boren tied the knot with Janna Lou Little, daughter of Reuel Little, who ran for governor on the American Party ticket in 1970. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976.
In 1977, Mr. Boren remarried Molly W. Shi, an Oklahoma county judge, in a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion.
He is survived by his wife; two children from his first marriage, David Daniel Boren and Carrie Headington; along with several grandchildren. His sister, Susan Boren-Dorman, passed away in 2020.
His son, Daniel Boren, was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2004 and served four terms before stepping away from public office.
In 1988, David Boren was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
As he concluded his 26-year political career in 1994, Mr. Boren penned an opinion piece for The New York Times titled “Why I Am Leaving the Senate,” expressing weariness after years filled with 14-hour workdays, leaving little room for reflection or personal relationships.
“I have come to believe that the revitalization of our nation will not come from Washington but from the grass roots — from those who become active in their own communities,” he stated. “If America gets everything else right but fails to provide for the education of the next generation, we will lose our strength as a society. In response to a reporter’s question, ‘Why would you give up power and influence to become a university president?’ my reply was: I believe I can do more good at the university at this point.”
In 2011, he authored “A Letter to America,” a brief book that cautioned about the nation’s struggles stemming from uncontrolled partisanship, the damaging influence of wealth in politics, and the widening gap between the affluent and the rest of society.
“In truth,” he asserted, “we are in grave danger of declining as a nation.”
Ash Wu contributed reporting.