| Summary: | Alan Bible was born in Lovelock, Nevada, in 1909. He has had a long, distinguished career in state and national politics. A protege of Senator Patrick McCarran, Bible was successively district attorney of Storey County, deputy attorney general of Nevada, attorney general of the state, and United States senator. Overshadowed in Nevada history by flashier talents such as those of Pat McCarran and Key Pittman, his career as a United States senator was twenty years in duration. It is generally believed that Senator Bible would have been easily re-elected if he had chosen to run again in 1974. He was well respected by his Senate colleagues, and by voters of Nevada. Senator Bible is a highly likeable, rather self-effacing individual. He slides over issues, and does not speak too critically of anyone. This was a matter of policy with him, and it became part of his political style. "If I can't speak well of a person, I will not speak ill of him," he states in his oral history. There are many examples of this habit of his. Typical is the reference to the Civil War as the "misunderstanding" between the states. There were also, he assures us, the "misunderstandings" between the Pittman and McCarran wings of the Democratic Party. According to Bible, when he was attorney general of Nevada the legislators "were all very nice." He reminisces about Earl Warren, the controversial chief justice as "always with this great big smile on his handsome face." This surface blandness appears to be more a matter of policy than softness. People do not survive, and even prosper, in the political thicket as Bible has done without developing sharp powers of observation and an awareness of human frailty. There is considerable testimony to Bible's acuity. His observations of Senator Patrick McCarran, a man he knew well, are measured with cool professionalism. Only a perceptive observer could have picked up on some of McCarran's little political devices such as coming into a meeting at just the strategic moment. If there was to be a series of speeches, McCarran would insist that the others lead into his. He would arrange to have a small claque applaud during and after his speech. Bible notices these little tricks and comments on them. There is also a darker, more introspective side to Bible's character, although he does not always let us see it. After his surprising defeat by Thomas Mechling in the 1952 Democratic primary he felt ashamed of himself and even thought of leaving the state, which luckily he did not do. Bible accurately believed his defeat resulted from his not having worked hard enough, and from having been too confident of victory. He analyzed his mistake, learned from it, and never repeated it. This oral history is a primer on how to get ahead in Nevada politics. Very important to Bible was doing little favors for people. "I always had one guiding rule, which I hope I more or less met, and that was trying to help people." He tells us of other methods for political success-his belief in the value of debate and public speaking in education, how he valued and used his fraternity and university contacts, the importance of friends, the usefulness of his association with McCarran, and how he belonged to "practically every lodge in the world." Bible's memoir is particularly valuable for its revealing look into Nevada politics from the 1930s to the 1950s. The capstone of his career was his two decades as a United States senator. Yet the senator is more discreet when he discusses his activities-a certain veil is drawn over the period. Even here, however, some fascinating things come up. It was Lyndon Johnson who changed Alan Bible's mind about running again in 1956. Particularly illuminating is his great admiration for Senators Wayne Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska, the only two men in either house of congress to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. These two men were totally unlike the gentle and team-playing Bible, but there was something about them and their independence that earned his deepest respect and regards. Perhaps he wished he had been more like them. Alan Bible was on the inside of Nevada politics for forty years. He is shown in this oral history to be conscientious, wise, and discreet. This work of his fully merits attention and study.
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