Mark White (Texas politician)
Mark White | |
---|---|
43rd Governor of Texas | |
In office January 18, 1983 – January 20, 1987 | |
Lieutenant | William P. Hobby Jr. |
Preceded by | Bill Clements |
Succeeded by | Bill Clements |
46th Attorney General of Texas | |
In office January 19, 1979 – January 18, 1983 | |
Governor | Bill Clements |
Preceded by | John Hill |
Succeeded by | Jim Mattox |
74th Secretary of State of Texas | |
In office January 19, 1973 – October 27, 1977 | |
Governor | Dolph Briscoe |
Preceded by | V. Larry Teaver Jr. |
Succeeded by | Steven C. Oaks |
Personal details | |
Born | Mark Wells White Jr. March 17, 1940 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Resting place | Texas State Cemetery Austin, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Linda Thompson (m. 1966) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Baylor University (BBA, JD) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Unit | Texas Army National Guard • 36th Infantry Division |
Mark Wells White Jr. (March 17, 1940 – August 5, 2017) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 43rd governor of Texas from 1983 to 1987. He also held office as Secretary of State of Texas (1973–1977), and as Texas Attorney General (1979–1983).
White was elected governor in the 1982 gubernatorial election, defeating the incumbent Bill Clements.[1] A member of the Democratic Party, White sought to improve education, transportation, water resources, law enforcement, and taxes to lure new industry to Texas. He appointed the first Hispanic woman to serve as a judge of a district court in Texas, Elma Salinas Ender.[2] In the 1986 gubernatorial election, White lost to former Republican Governor Clements, 52.7% to 46.0%.[3]
Early life
White was born in
White attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he was a member of the Tryon Coterie Club (now the Texas Lambda chapter of Phi Delta Theta).[8] He subsequently graduated from Baylor Law School in 1965.[8] He was a member of University Masonic Lodge 1190 in Austin, Texas.
Early roles in state government
White served as the state's assistant attorney general from 1966 to 1969.[9][10] He later returned to Houston to begin private practice.[9] By 1972, he was working for the Joe Reynolds firm in Houston. White became interested in state government again upon the election of Dolph Briscoe to the Governor's Mansion in 1972.[11]
Texas Secretary of State
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
In 1973, White was appointed as Texas Secretary of State under Governor Briscoe and also served in the 36th Infantry Division of the
Briscoe explained on his appointment of White as the 74th Texas Secretary of State: "When I began to consider candidates for secretary of state, I realized that it was crucial to appoint someone with legal training who shared my political views and who was loyal, energetic, and personable," Briscoe wrote in his memoirs. "Mark was a brilliant and ambitious young lawyer as well as an extremely personable young man. I felt that he would make an excellent secretary of state." Briscoe asked White to come to Austin. But White, Briscoe later recalled, thought the conversation would be about serving in the secretary's office and not actually being secretary and was "shocked" to be chosen for the office.
Briscoe wrote: "In my opinion, Mark White made a fine secretary of state as any governor has ever had.... During the legislative sessions, he served as my liaison with [Lieutenant Governor] Bill Hobby. Whenever things weren't going well with one of our bills in the Senate, Mark was always ready to go to work on the senators who were having problems supporting the bill. He was a persuasive advocate for our program... He enjoyed doing it, and he had excellent relations with members of the Senate. Mark White's talent and ambition would eventually lead to his election as attorney general in 1978 and governor in 1982."
During his tenure as the state's chief elections officer, he streamlined the legal operations and made the services more responsive to the public during his tenure. White was elected president of the National Association of the Secretaries of State in 1977, this was the association's highest office — and White was elected secretary and treasurer earlier.
Texas State Attorney General
White served as secretary of state until 1977, when he resigned to run for state
As the state's chief enforcement officer, he co-chaired the Federal-State Enforcement Coordinating Committee and was a member of the Governor's Organized Crime Prevention Council.[12] On the national level, he was elected Chairman of the Southern Conference of Attorneys General in May 1981.[12]
Governor (1983–1987)
1982 gubernatorial election
White declined to seek a second term as state attorney general, but chose to seek the governorship in 1982 against fellow Democrat
Tenure
As the state's 43rd chief executive from January 18, 1983, to January 20, 1987, White worked to "preserve and enhance... resources so that Texas would not fall back, but go forward as a state of the future".[4] His main concerns were the economy and education. By focusing on Texas' resources, White was able to work on many problems facing the state in the early 1980s. The Texas economy during the early and mid-1980s was volatile. The price of oil declined and pushed Texas into a recession. This led Governor White to "lay the groundwork for a more diversified economy—one less reliant upon the ... swings of a single industry".[12]
White served as governor during
Among White's appointments was
When he took office, Texas was ranked as one of the lowest performing states for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) also in teachers' salaries.[18] After taking office, White immediately appointed a committee on Public Education, called a special session of the legislature in 1984, and worked with lawmakers to pass the Educational Opportunity Act (EOA).[19]
By focusing on education, White was able to make Texas a "state of the future" with regard to its most important resource, its children.[18] Through his diligent work as Governor of Texas, many of the problems of the present and future were alleviated.[14][16]
Alaska
In 1983 Gov. White reportedly used the phrase "cold, barren place"[20] about the largest American state. The words "we’ll split Alaska in two and make Texas the third largest state" predate this by over a decade.[21] In 1994 The Economist printed about "Texas representatives who were trying to block Alaska's statehood" and a similar threat: "we'll divide Alaska."[22]
1986 gubernatorial election
In the 1986 gubernatorial election, White lost to former Republican Governor Clements, 52.7% to 46.0%.[3] Some believe that the wildly unpopular "no-pass, no-play" policies of the White administration, which prohibited any high school student athletes from participating in varsity sports if they were failing any single element of their overall class load, sealed the doom of a second term.[18] Clements polled 1,813,779 votes (52.7%) to White's 1,584,515 votes (46.1%) in the November 1986 general election and left office on January 20, 1987.[3]
Post-governorship
Following his departure from office, White worked for the law firm
White practiced law and was chairman of the board of the Houston Independent School District Foundation, a non-profit organization which supports the public schools. White endorsed Houston City Council candidate Jolanda Jones in the 2003 and 2007 city elections. The latter endorsement helped lead to Jones winning an at-large seat on the council. He also endorsed then-United States Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) in the Texas primaries for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, which Obama went on to win the presidency.
In 2010, White voiced support for a posthumous exoneration of Cameron Todd Willingham, who is believed by many to be wrongfully convicted and executed for arson and murdering his three daughters. For the first time, White, who had before been a strong supporter of the death penalty and presided over 22 executions as governor, expressed openness to abolition of the death penalty under the reason of the possibility of innocent people being wrongfully executed.[25]
In 2011, White publicly opposed
Death
White died from a heart attack at his home in Houston on August 5, 2017.[10][27] He was survived by his wife Linda Gale and his three children.[27] At the time of his death, White had been suffering from kidney cancer for many years.[14]
At his funeral on Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at Second Baptist Church Worship Center in Houston, the officiant was Pastor
On August 10, 2017, White's remains lay in state for three hours in the
He is interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, where a private graveside ceremony was held.[12]
Legacy
Mark White Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District elementary school, opened in August 2016.[29]
Mark White's son Andrew announced a run for Governor of Texas in 2018. In the March 6, 2018 Democratic Party primary, he placed second, forcing a runoff with Lupe Valdez on May 22, 2018.[30] White lost the runoff election, 52% to 47%.
References
- ^ Texas Almanac
- ^ a b "Judge Salinas Ender announces her retirement", June 29, 2011". laredosun.us. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
- ^ The Politico. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ a b Moritz, John C. (August 5, 2017). "Former Texas Gov. Mark White dead at 77". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ Meeks, Flori (May 6, 2014). "Switch to Montessori proved pivotal for Wilson school". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- ^ White, Mark; Goldstein, David (November 23, 2009), "Governor Mark White Oral History", Houston Oral History Project, Houston Library, archived from the original on August 6, 2017, retrieved March 11, 2017,
Then we went to junior high school at Sidney Lanier and then on to Lamar High School.
- ^ "Distinguished HISD Alumni." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Candidate - Mark White". Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ a b "29. Mark White". The Texas Politics Project. 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Astor, Maggie (August 6, 2017). "Mark White, Texas Governor Who Championed Public Education, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ Slaughter, George (November 14, 2017). "White, Mark Wells, Jr. (1940–2017)". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Mark Wells White". Texas State Cemetery. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Vertuno, Jim (August 6, 2017). "Former Democratic Texas Gov. Mark White Dies at 77". Associated Press. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
- ^ Kennedy, J. Michael (May 4, 1986). "Rematch for Governor's Job : White, Clements Headed for Victory in Texas Races". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ Dallas News. August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ Godines Fitzgerald, Valerie (December 31, 2012). "Historic Path: Judge Ender retires from post". Laredo Morning Times. pp. 1, 14A.
- ^ a b c "Former Texas Governor Mark White, education reformer, dies at 77". Reuters. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ Ratcliffe, R.G. (August 5, 2017). "Education Governor Mark White Dies at 77". Texas Monthly. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
- ^ "Quote". The Palm Beach Post. March 23, 1983.
- ^ "Man in Alaska". La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wisconsin). January 29, 1972.
- ^ P. Wesel (November 26, 1994). "Statesmanship". The Economist. p. 8.
Those Texans — if they don't quit their bragging
- ^ Applebome, Peter (December 10, 1988). "Parties in Texas Girding For 1990 Election Fights". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Gottschalk, Marie (March 16, 2011). "Is Death Different?". The New Republic.
- ^ Schwartz, John (October 15, 2010). "Willingham Family's Bid to Clear Name Frames Execution Debate". The New York Times.
- Star-Telegram. August 17, 2011. Archived from the originalon March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Ward, Mike; Rhor, Monica; Dempsey, Matt (August 5, 2017). "Former Texas Gov. Mark White dead at 77". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Paul Cobler, "Texas turns out to honor former Gov. Mark White: Friends, family admirers line up to pay respects," San Antonio Express-News, August 11, 2017, pp, A3, A7.
- ^ Baird, Annette (June 10, 2014). "Planned HISD elementary to relieve crowding". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
- ^ Svitek, Patrick. "Valdez, White headed to runoff in Democratic gubernatorial primary." Texas Tribune. Mar. 6, 2018. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2018.
External links
- Photos of Mark White, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Briscoe, Dolph. "Modern Texas: Part 2, 1973-1991". state.tx.us. State of Texas.
- Governor Mark White's press conference on No Pass, No Play, August 8, 1985
- O.L. McCotter letter to Governor White on state prisons, July 8, 1985
- White, Mark; Goldstein, David (November 23, 2009), "Governor Mark White Oral History", Houston Oral History Project, Houston Library, archived from the original on March 4, 2016, retrieved July 3, 2012
- Texas Attorney General Race-November 7, 1978 at ourcampaigns.com
- Texas Governor Democratic Primary Race-May 1, 1982 at ourcampaigns.com
- Texas Governor Race-November 2, 1982 at ourcampaigns.com
- Texas Governor Race-November 4, 1986 at ourcampaigns.com
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Governor Mark White's personal website [1]
- Mark White at Find a Grave