Question: Who was the first Republican elected governor of Texas following Reconstruction?
Answer: Bill Clements. Born in Dallas in 1917, he founded an offshore drilling company after serving in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II and served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He was elected governor of Texas in 1978 but lost reelection to Democrat Mark White, whom he defeated in a rematch in 1986.
Shortly after taking office for a second time, Clements revealed that as a member of the board of governors of Southern Methodist University, he agreed to continue payments to star players of the school’s football team from funds provided by a prominent booster. He faced calls for his impeachment following the revelation, and the NCAA imposed the so-called “death penalty” on SMU’s football program for the 1987 season.
