Peter Bensinger flashed the cape in his hands at the charging bull, slipping out of the animal’s path at the last second.
He was 14 years old at a farm in Seville, Spain, being cheered on by family and one of the most important bullfighters in the country. Mr. Bensinger was a natural.
Mr. Bensinger “exhibited grace, style and bravery at that moment,” recalled his brother, Roger Bensinger, 91, who also took a turn in the pen against the bull.
In another life Peter Bensinger might have followed his love for bullfighting, which the brothers inherited from their father. But Mr. Bensinger chose a different path, one dedicated to serving the public. Still, he threw himself into that arena with the same zeal and bravery he demonstrated when he looked the bull in the eyes as a teenager.
“That was kind of his nature. If there was something that caught his attention, he would jump into it,” said lifelong friend Andy Block.
Mr. Bensinger, a native Chicagoan and longtime Lake Forest resident, led the DEA under three presidents, helping transform how the agency tackled the illicit drug trade. Before that, he dedicated himself to reducing recidivism as the director of the Department of Corrections in Illinois. After leaving the DEA he pioneered the use of workplace assistance programs for employees dealing with drug issues.
Mr. Bensinger died Tuesday after a lengthy illness surrounded by family at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 88.
Mr. Bensinger was born in Chicago in 1936 to Benjamin Edward Bensinger Jr and Linda Galston Bensinger. He grew up the youngest of three boys on the Near North Side. He attended many Cubs and Blackhawks games. Lincoln Park was like his backyard.
“We could play catch there and on occasion played touch football there,” said Block, 86, who grew up in the same building as the Bensinger family. Peter was known as Casey to friends, a nickname he got because of his love for trains. His mother started calling him Casey after locomotive engineer and American folk hero Casey Jones.
Mr. Bensinger attended the Chicago Latin School and then Phillips Exeter Academy, where he ran track. He excelled in the broad jump at Yale University, becoming the Ivy League Champion in 1956. After graduation, he worked for the family business, Brunswick Corp., one of the most important companies in Chicago.
It was founded in 1845 and has been based in the Chicago area since about 1850. Peter’s father, who at one point served as the company’s chairman, was the great-grandson of the company’s founder. The Bensinger clan have been benefactors of Chicago institutions, including the Field Museum and Lurie Children’s Hospital, for generations.
Roger Bensinger said when they were growing up he and his brother were aware of their family’s deep philanthropic ties to the city. Their parents taught them that giving back to the community was a family’s responsibility.
Mr. Bensinger “was genuinely interested in using his talents to help solve society’s problems,” Roger Bensinger said.
That’s why Mr. Bensinger decided to leave his job at Brunswick in the late-1960s. He became friendly with Richard Ogilvie, who was running for governor of Illinois at the time. The two had struck up a conversation after an event where Ogilvie made a speech, and Mr. Bensinger became involved in his campaign.
As governor Ogilvie appointed Mr. Bensinger chairman of the juvenile detention division of the Department of Corrections in 1968. Mr. Bensinger then rose to director of the department. As director he was known as a reformer who implemented innovative approaches to prisoners’ rights with job training programs, work release and increase visiting hours.
Directors of prison systems across the country elected him as president of the Association of Prison Administrators. During his tenure as director prison recidivism fell by 40%.
It was during this time that Mr. Bensinger witnessed the devastating effects of drugs and began working on a solution to the problem.
“Drug use was a part of what affected both the juvenile population and the adult criminal population, so this was an issue as director of corrections that he was familiar with and was looking to develop programs to rehabilitate those in his care,” said Mr.. Bensinger’s son, Peter Bensinger Jr.
After his success as prison director Mr. Bensinger decided to run for Cook County sheriff in 1974. He lost despite being endorsed by all of the city’s major newspapers. But the race caught the attention of Washington.
In January 1976, Mr. Bensinger was appointed DEA administrator by President Gerald Ford and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Bensinger served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, leading the DEA under Presidents Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
He oversaw a shift in the DEA’s approach to fighting illegal drugs from a focus on total arrest numbers to a more investigative approach. He was instrumental in the passage of laws that expanded criminal forfeiture to include seizure of assets derived from illegal drug trafficking. This allowed investigators to target drug kingpins and their networks.
He continued his fight against drugs after he left the DEA in 1981 and moved to Lake Forest. Bensinger co-founded Bensinger, DuPont & Associates in 1982. The company provides workplace drug testing and pioneered employee counseling services.
In 2008 the Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association gave Mr. Bensinger a lifetime achievement award. It’s one of the many honors he received. In 2006 Mayor Richard M. Daley declared Aug. 10, 2006, as Peter Bensinger Day.
Friends and family remembered Mr. Bensinger as an altruistic person who treated others as equals, no matter their status in life.
“Once you became a friend of his you were a friend for life,” Block said.
As a lifelong Cubs fan he was a firsthand witness to the team’s highs and lows. As a child in 1945 he saw the Cubs lose the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. In 2016 he saw his beloved team lift the trophy in Cleveland.
At home Mr. Bensinger cherished gatherings with his cousins, brothers, children, grandchildren and continued the family traditions he learned as a child. He loved food and travel. He was as comfortable on the top of a mountain as he was in a boardroom. Mr. Bensinger was also an avid fisherman and a skilled poker player.
His son will cherish the lessons his father imparted and will try to live his life like his father did — in service of others.
“He would say to me use your talents on behalf of a cause greater than yourself,” Peter Bensinger Jr said. “That’s how I like to remember him.”
In addition to his brother and son, Mr. Bensinger is survived by his wife, Judith; three children; and five grandchlldren.