FULBRIGHT DEAD AT 89

Former Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright, whose criticism of American "arrogance of power" in Vietnam made him a hero to young antiwar activists, died in his Washington home this morning from a stroke. Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 15 years until 1974, used the national pulpit to lash President Lyndon Johnson for "turning the Great Society into a sick society" with Vietnam. Later, he questioned whether the country had learned any lesson from the war. He was proudest, though, of having created the Fulbright Scholars program that has sent generations of young Americans abroad. President Clinton, who once worked for Fulbright and later called him a close friend, said: "If it hadn't been for him, I don't think I'd be here today."TIME contributor John Elsonnotes that "for someone who came from a state which was notorious -- then and now -- for having a low standard of politics, Fulbright was a symbol of dignity and high calling."