Bill Clements
Bill Clements | |
---|---|
42nd & 44th Governor of Texas | |
In office January 20, 1987 – January 15, 1991 | |
Lieutenant | William P. Hobby Jr. |
Preceded by | Mark White |
Succeeded by | Ann Richards |
In office January 16, 1979 – January 18, 1983 | |
Lieutenant | William P. Hobby Jr. |
Preceded by | Dolph Briscoe |
Succeeded by | Mark White |
Acting United States Secretary of Defense | |
In office May 24, 1973 – July 2, 1973 | |
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | Elliot Richardson |
Succeeded by | James R. Schlesinger |
15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense | |
In office January 30, 1973 – January 20, 1977 | |
President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
Preceded by | Kenneth Rush |
Succeeded by | Robert Ellsworth |
Personal details | |
Born | William Perry Clements Jr. April 13, 1917 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Died | May 29, 2011 Dallas, Texas, U.S. | (aged 94)
Resting place | Grove Hill Memorial Park Dallas, Texas |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Dallas, Texas |
Alma mater | Southern Methodist University (dropped out) |
Profession | Oil driller |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
Years of service | 1941–1945 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole term served by Mark Wells White, a Democrat who defeated Clements in the 1982 election only to lose his campaign for reelection in 1986.
When Clements was first sworn in 1979, he became the first Republican to have served as governor of Texas since
Before he became Governor of Texas, Clements made his fortune in
Early life and career
Born in
In 1947, Clements founded the offshore drilling business Southeastern Drilling Company (SEDCO), which would expand to 20 countries and grow into the top drilling contracting company in the world before being sold to Schlumberger in 1984.[1][2] Clements had a personal wealth worth nearly $30 million by 1978, the year he first ran for Texas governor.[2]
From 1973 to 1977, Clements served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.[1] For 39 days in 1973, Clements served as acting Secretary of Defense.
Among the Secretaries of Defense he served under was Donald Rumsfeld, during the latter's first tenure in the office. The two men did not get along, yet when Rumsfeld was appointed, Clements resisted efforts to be moved to another department, even going so far as to threaten, if removed from his office, to hold a press conference and label his dismissal a "power play." Though Clements remained as deputy secretary, Clements later termed his time under Rumsfeld "very unpleasant."[3]
First Term as Governor of Texas (1979-1983)
On January 16, 1979, Clements succeeded
His first term was marked by SEDCO's involvement in the largest oil blowout in history, the Ixtoc I oil spill, which caused extensive environmental damage. Clements faced heavily Democratic state legislatures during his tenure. In 1979, the legislature overrode one of his vetoes, the last time that Texas lawmakers had completed an override. In 1980, Clements commuted the death sentence of Randall Dale Adams to life in prison. Adams, the subject of The Thin Blue Line, an Errol Morris documentary film, was exonerated in 1989 after serving twelve years in prison. Clements was also governor at the time of the execution of Carlos DeLuna, who was put to death in 1989; evidence questioning the findings of the facts that underlie DeLuna's conviction was published in 2012.
Clements ran for reelection in 1982 but was defeated by Democratic Attorney General Mark Wells White by more than 327,000 votes because of sagging economic indicators and weak support from minority voters, who historically support Democratic candidates. Clements was also damaged politically by the Ixtoc I oil spill disaster; the rig that failed was owned by SEDCO, but leased to Permargo (a Mexican drilling firm), which had an exploration contract with Pemex, despite his shares in SEDCO, being held in blind trust at the time.[4][5] His opponent, White, as attorney general, led the state's lawsuit against SEDCO. White received 1,697,870 votes (53.2 percent) to Clements's 1,465,537 (45.9 percent).
Staging the 1986 comeback
In between his two terms as governor, Clements was chairman of the board of governors of
Second term as Governor of Texas (1987-1991)
Clements's second term was marred by a startling revelation he made two months after taking office. On March 3, 1987, Clements admitted that he and the other members of the SMU board of governors had approved a secret plan to
According to the report, in late 1985, then SMU President L. Donald Shields and board of trustees chairman Edwin L. Cox wanted to stop the payments completely, in opposition to Clements and Hitch. The four held a "most important meeting" in August 1985 in Shields's office in the SMU administration building, Perkins Hall. Shields and Cox noted that although earlier in the year a phase-out of the payments had been agreed upon by SMU leadership, the NCAA had just enacted the "death penalty" for repeat violators (of which SMU was one, having been cited six times to that point by the organization and twice in the last five years) for violations occurring on or after September 1 of that year, and thus the situation had changed. But Clements, admitting his way would be "taking a chance," argued that if the payments were stopped immediately, star players receiving them would be sure to leave SMU and publicly announce why. Nothing was formally decided at the meeting, but afterwards, Clements and Hitch talked for about fifteen minutes in the Perkins Hall parking lot. Hitch remembered Clements asking him if the payments could be continued and, upon hearing that they could, telling him in no uncertain terms to "do it." And the payments continued (on at least two occasions starting in 1983, after President Shields expressed outrage over the payments and said they had to stop, Clements, an SMU dropout, told the PhD holder Shields to "stay out of it" and to "go run the university").[8]
A week later, Clements apologised for his role in continuing the payments. He said that he had learned about the slush fund in 1984, and an investigation by the board of governors revealed that players had been paid to play since the mid-1970s. Clements said that rather than shutting down the payments immediately, the board "reluctantly and uncomfortably" decided to continue paying players who had already been guaranteed payments. However, he said, in hindsight, the board "should have stopped (the payments) immediately," rather than merely phase them out.[9]
Clements faced calls for his impeachment as a result of these statements; two state legislators argued that he would have never been elected had he honestly addressed his role in the scandal. Under the circumstances, he opted not to run for a third term as governor and was succeeded on January 15, 1991, by Democratic State Treasurer Ann Richards.
During his second term, Clements worked to reduce crime, improve education, boost the Texas economy, and foster better relations with Mexico, especially on issues important to the mutual borders, such as immigration and the
Post-political life
In June 2009, Clements donated $100 million to
In October 2010, Clements's son, B. Gill Clements, was murdered at the age of 69 near his ranch in Athens in Henderson County, east Texas. An investor, Clements was also a graduate of Southern Methodist University, married, and the father of three children. He was predeceased by his mother, Pauline Allen Gill Clements, Bill Clements's first wife.[14]
Death
On May 29, 2011, Clements died at age 94 in a Dallas-area hospital from natural causes.[15] He is buried at Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas.
Electoral history
1978
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Clements | 115,345 | 72.82 | |
Republican | Ray Hutchison | 38,268 | 24.16 | |
Republican | Clarence Thompson | 4,790 | 3.02 | |
Total votes | 158,403 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Clements | 1,183,828 | 49.96 | ||
Democratic | John Luke Hill
|
1,166,919 | 49.24 | ||
Raza Unida | Mario C. Compeán | 14,213 | 0.59 | ||
Socialist Workers
|
Sara Johnston | 4,624 | 0.19 | ||
Total votes | 2,369,999 | 100.00 | |||
Republican gain from Democratic |
1982
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Mark White | 1,697,870 | 53.20 | ||
Republican | Bill Clements (incumbent) | 1,465,937 | 45.94 | ||
Libertarian | David Hutzelman | 19,143 | 0.60 | ||
Independent | Bob Poteet | 8,065 | 0.19 | ||
Total votes | 3,191,091 | 100.00 | |||
Democratic gain from Republican |
1986
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Clements | 318,808 | 58.53 | |
Republican | Tom Loeffler | 117,673 | 21.60 | |
Republican | Kent Hance | 108,238 | 19.87 | |
Total votes | 554,719 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Clements
|
1,813,779 | 52.70 | ||
Democratic | Mark White (incumbent) | 1,584,515 | 46.04 | ||
Libertarian | Theresa S. Doyle | 42,496 | 1.24 | ||
Independent
|
Charles Lee (write-in) | 531 | 0.02 | ||
Green
|
J. Muriel (write-in) | 139 | 0.00 | ||
Total votes | 3,441,460 | 100.00 | |||
Republican gain from Democratic |
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Slaughter, George. "Clements, William Perry, Jr. [Bill] (1917–2011)". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Stutz, Terrence (May 29, 2011). "Bill Clements, Texas' first GOP governor in more than a century, dies". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1586484217.
- UPI. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
- ^ William K. Stephens (September 23, 1979). "TEXAS POLITICS FEEL RESIDUE OF OIL SPILL". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
- ^ "Bill Clements, Texian to his toenails", Carolyn Barta, Eakin Press 1996, p. 336
- ^ Wangrin, Mark. 20 years after SMU's football scandal Archived August 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. San Antonio Express-News, March 3, 2007.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Munoz, T. James. Clements apologizes for SMU role; governor fails to name others involved in football payments. The Washington Post, March 11, 1987.
- ^ "Initiative and Referendum Institute". iandrinstitute.org. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
- ^ "News - Dallas News". Dallas News. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
- ^ "Clements Endorses Perry". The Texas Tribune. February 16, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ^ "The Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor's Race". UNT Digital Library. December 2003. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ^ Body found in shallow grave after East Texas shootout may be that of ex-Gov. Bill Clements' son. The Dallas Morning News. October 24, 2010.
- ^ James C. McKinley Jr. (May 30, 2011). "Bill Clements Dies at 94; Set Texas on G.O.P. Path". The New York Times.
- ^ Texas Almanac
- The Politico. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ "TX Governor Race - Nov 04, 1986". Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
Further reading
- Bridges, Kenneth William. "The Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor's Race," Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Texas, 2003, 281 pages; AAT 3117260 in ProQuest
- Cunningham, Sean P. Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right (2010)