Dale Bumpers

Dale Bumpers, a former U.S. senator and governor of Arkansas, has died, according to The Associated Press. He was 90.

Bumpers died Jan. 1, 2016, in Little Rock, Arkansas, of natural causes. He had been under hospice care after breaking a hip in a recent fall, according to his son, Brent Bumpers.

Known in political circles as "the giant killer" for winning elections against powerful incumbents, Bumpers was elected governor of Arkansas in 1970 after defeating former Gov. Orval Faubus for the Democratic nomination. He then went on to win the general election, defeating two-term Republican incumbent Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller.

In 1974, he pulled off a similar feat in his U.S. Senate bid. He held onto the seat until his retirement in 1999. At the end of his tenure, he received national attention for giving the closing speech in support of then-President Bill Clinton, who was facing impeachment proceedings. In the speech, Bumpers characterized the matter as a sex scandal rather than a breach of the public trust. Clinton was acquitted in the Senate.

"For more than 40 years, Hillary and I cherished his friendship," Clinton said in a statement after learning of Bumpers' death. "I am grateful that his advice made me a better governor and president."

Before his political career, Bumpers was an attorney for the Charleston, Arkansas, School Board, who advised the board to vote immediately for desegregation in 1954 following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. It was the first school board in a former Confederate state to do so.

"We did it because we thought it was the right thing to do," Bumpers told The Associated Press in 2007.

Throughout his tenure in the Senate, Bumpers received a reputation as a staunch defender of the U.S. Constitution, never voting for an amendment.

"He often listed that as among his proudest battles; he fought against many efforts to amend the Constitution. He revered it so much," Brent Bumpers said.

Bumpers is survived by his wife, Betty Bumpers, two sons and a daughter.