Posted on 05/29/2011 10:58:21 PM PDT by Racehorse
Bill Clements, a blunt-spoken former roughneck who founded an international oil drilling company before becoming Texas' first Republican governor of modern times, died Sunday at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
He had been in declining health since suffering a stroke last year and had undergone surgery the day before his death. He was 94.
A statement released by his family said he also had been grieving over the death of his son, B. Gil Clements, who was murdered last year.
Clements had never held elective office before shocking the Texas political establishment in 1978 with a 17,000-vote victory over Democrat John Hill. Clements told friends and potential supporters that he ran for governor because he believed Texas needed a businesslike approach to state government.
Not only was Clements the first Republican to win the governor's office since Reconstruction, he also was only the second Republican to win any statewide office since that era in a state then dominated by the Democratic Party.
By the time he left public office for good 12 years later, the GOP had begun to make significant inroads in Texas, en route to the party's current domination of statewide politics. Clements' two terms as governor, from 1979 to 1983 and from 1987 to 1991, helped spark the transformation.
“That's a historic change, and I guess I'd like to say that I put a brick in place to bring that about,” he said in a 1990 interview with the Houston Chronicle.
“He was never a big party man, but he sure as hell built the Republican Party in Texas,” said Jack Rains, who served as Clements' secretary of state. “He didn't disrespect (party leaders); he paid them deference, but he was never all that partisan.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Rest in peace.
Prayers for the Family.
Clements was a tough, old school Texas politician. I recall this incident from the late 80s while he was Govenor. A bit humorous really. RIP Bill Clements.
October 14 1989 - GOVERNOR WITNESSES ROBBERY. Texas Gov. Bill Clements was among several patrons who witnessed an armed robbery in which shots were fired and a man injured, police said on Friday. The lone robber apparently did not recognize Clements, who was sitting at the back of the North Dallas restaurant Thursday evening without his usual police bodyguards. Clements was not hurt, but a customer who tried to stop the gunman in the restaurant’s parking lot was shot in the leg. Mike Toomey, an aide to Clements, a two-term Republican, said Clements left the restaurant before giving police a statement. ‘’The governor is particularly fond of hamburgers,’’ he said.
I'll be switching to diet rich in hamburgers. Maybe it'll help me make it to 94.
Until John Tower won LBJ’s old Senate Seat, Texans could not even imagine a Texas Republican in high political office. What Tower did in creating that foundation, Bill Clements built on and magnified in winning the office of Texas Governor. Most people who follow politics much and are of a certain age are aware of John Tower, but outside of Texas few are aware of Bill Clements. RIP
I’m sure a few SMU football fans aren’t going to miss him...
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