Bill Clements
Encyclopedia
William Perry "Bill" Clements, Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was the 42nd and 44th Governor of Texas, serving from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991. Clements was the first Republican
to have served as governor
of the U.S.
state of Texas
since Reconstruction. Clements' eight years in office were the most served by any Texan governor prior to current Governor Rick Perry
.
and worked as an oil
driller for many years. He founded SEDCO in 1947, the world's largest offshore drilling
company and technical leader of the offshore drilling industry, developing dynamically positioned drilling rigs, top drives, and many other offshore drilling innovations. In 1984, SEDCO was sold to Schlumberger Ltd.
, and its assets combined with their drilling contractor subsidiary, Forex, under Schlumberger management, to form Sedco Forex Schlumberger. Sedco Forex Schlumberger was acquired by Transocean Ltd.
in 1999 and combined with their existing fleet. He entered politics as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
under Presidents Richard Nixon
and Gerald Ford
, in the latter administration under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
(1975–1977).
Dolph Briscoe
as governor of Texas. To win the position, he first defeated State Representative
Ray Hutchison
in the Republican primary by a lopsided vote of 115,345 to 38,268. Hutchison, a prominent Dallas attorney
, is the second husband of Texas State Treasurer
(1991–1993) and U.S. Senator
Kay Bailey Hutchison
, who has served since 1993. Clements won the November 1978 general election by narrowly defeating Democratic former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice John Hill
, who was the two-term Texas Attorney General for six years. Clements polled 1,183,828 votes (49.96 percent) to Hill's 1,166,919 ballots (49.24 percent). The La Raza
nominee, Mario C. Compean, and two other minor candidates shared 18,942 ballots. Clements' margin over Hill was 16,909. Therefore, Clements fell just under a simple majority, making him another "minority governor." The more liberal Hill, who had also once been the appointed secretary of state, had defeated Briscoe in the primary.
In winning, Clements achieved victory with 350,158 ballots less than the 1972 GOP nominee, Henry Grover
went down to defeat with, because turnout was much lower in the 1978 off-year election than it had been during the aforementioned presidential election year. The 1972 Texas governor's race was the last to coincide with a presidential election because when the terms went to four years, the gubernatorial elections were also set to coincide with the off years between presidential elections.
Clements ran for reelection in 1982, but he was defeated by Democratic Attorney General Mark White
by more than 327,000 votes because of sagging economic indicators and weak support from minority voters, who historically tend to support Democratic candidates. White received 1,697,870 (53.2 percent) to Clements' 1,465,537 (45.9 percent). In addition, the Republican down-ballot candidates were all defeated in 1982, including George Strake, Jr.
, a Houston
businessman who had been Clements' former secretary of state
. Strake ran for lieutenant governor
against the incumbent Democrat, Bill Hobby
. After the 1982 campaign, Strake was named to replace Chet Upham
of Mineral Wells
as the Republican state chairman, a position that he filled from 1983-1988.
in Dallas. He ran again in 1986 and won a contested GOP primary against U.S. Representative Thomas Loeffler of New Braunfels
, the seat of Comal County
, and former Democratic turned Republican Congressman Kent Hance
of Lubbock
. In the fall, Clements unseated Governor White, who was hurt by the unpopularity of the "no pass/no play" policy involving high school athletics and proposed teacher competency testing. In gaining his second term, Clements polled 1,813,779 ballots (52.7 percent) to White's 1,584,512 (46.1 percent). Clements had turned the tables on White in a near mathematical reversal of the 1982 results and was inaugurated for a second nonconsecutive term on January 20, 1987, just after White came "Striding up to Clements in the Capitol rotunda" and extended a hand for a handshake with congratulations and Clements simply shook it without comment and turned away.
, became the first inmate ever to be executed by lethal injection
(December 1982). Clements faced heavily Democratic state legislatures during his tenure. In 1979, the legislature overrode one of his vetoes, the last time that Texas lawmakers have 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.
During his second term, Clements worked to reduce crime, improve education, boost the Texas economy, and to foster better relations with Mexico
, especially on issues important to the mutual borders, such as immigration and the War on Drugs
.
However, he did not push as pledged for the initiative
and referendum
reforms advocated by State Senator Walter Mengden
of Houston
, based on the principle of California
's Proposition 13.
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 continue payments to 13 football players
from a slush fund
provided by a booster. Clements said that the board agreed to "phase out" the slush fund at the end of the 1986 season, but that it felt duty-bound to honor prior commitments to the players. The decision to continue the payments ultimately led to the NCAA shutting down the football program for the 1987 season—the so-called "death penalty." SMU then opted not to field a team in 1988 as well, claiming it could not put together a competitive squad. The shutdown and other sanctions left the once-proud Mustang football program in ruin; SMU has had only two winning seasons since returning to the field, and would not procure another bowl bid until 2009. A few months later, the College of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
released a report detailing an investigation of its own into the scandal. It revealed that Clements had met with athletic director Bob Hitch, and the two agreed that the payments had to continue because the football program had "a payroll to meet."
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 of 1985 in Shields' 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 when hearing that they could, telling him in no uncertain terms "Then 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").
A week later, Clements apologized for his role in continuing the payments. He said the 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 shut the payments down 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.
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
.
. Clements was known for his acerbic, energetic personality, which Democrats abhorred but Republicans tended to cheer. In 1993, he had supported the conservative Congressman Joe Barton
in the special election for the U.S. Senate to succeed newly-resigned Democrat Lloyd Bentsen
. Barton lost out to Kay Bailey Hutchison. Clements also supported the embattled Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith
, who was purged by Governor Rick Perry in the 2004 Republican primary.
Whereas Governor Perry first endorsed former Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City
for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Bill Clements was as early as 2006 already raising funds for the eventual nominee, U.S. Senator John McCain
of Arizona
. After Giuliani withdrew from the race, Perry joined Clements in endorsing McCain.
In June 2009, Clements donated $100 million to UT Southwestern Medical Center, the largest civic donation in Dallas history. On February 16, 2010, Clements and his wife both endorsed Governor Rick Perry's re-election campaign in the 2010 Texas Republican gubernatorial primary against Kay Bailey Hutchison.
In October 2010, Clements' son, B. Gill Clements (born 1941), was murdered at the age of 69 near his ranch in Athens
in Henderson County
in 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' first wife.
weekend in 2011, Clements died at age 94 in a Dallas hospital from natural causes. In addition to his wife Rita, Clements was survived by a daughter, Nancy Clements Seay.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to have served as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
since Reconstruction. Clements' eight years in office were the most served by any Texan governor prior to current Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
.
Early career
Clements was born in DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and worked as an oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
driller for many years. He founded SEDCO in 1947, the world's largest offshore drilling
Offshore drilling
Offshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
company and technical leader of the offshore drilling industry, developing dynamically positioned drilling rigs, top drives, and many other offshore drilling innovations. In 1984, SEDCO was sold to Schlumberger Ltd.
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
, and its assets combined with their drilling contractor subsidiary, Forex, under Schlumberger management, to form Sedco Forex Schlumberger. Sedco Forex Schlumberger was acquired by Transocean Ltd.
Transocean
Transocean Ltd. is one of the world's largest offshore drilling contractors. The company rents floating mobile drill rigs, along with the equipment and personnel for operations, to oil and gas companies at an average daily rate of US$282,700...
in 1999 and combined with their existing fleet. He entered politics as the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
The Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Deputy Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate...
under Presidents Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, in the latter administration under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
(1975–1977).
Texas' first GOP governor since Reconstruction
On January 16, 1979, Clements succeeded DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Dolph Briscoe
Dolph Briscoe
Dolph Briscoe, Jr. was a Uvalde, Texas rancher and businessman who was the 41st Governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979....
as governor of Texas. To win the position, he first defeated State Representative
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...
Ray Hutchison
Ray Hutchison
Elton Ray Hutchison, known as Ray Hutchison , is a prominent Dallas, Texas, attorney, who served in the Texas House of Representatives in the 1970s and is married to the state's senior Republican senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison. In 1957, Hutchison graduated from Southern Methodist University in...
in the Republican primary by a lopsided vote of 115,345 to 38,268. Hutchison, a prominent Dallas attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, is the second husband of Texas State Treasurer
Texas State Treasurer
Texas State Treasurer was a political office in the U.S. state of Texas, established in the Constitution of 1876. It was abolished in 1996.-History:...
(1991–1993) and U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....
, who has served since 1993. Clements won the November 1978 general election by narrowly defeating Democratic former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice John Hill
John Hill (Texas politician)
John Luke Hill, Jr. , was a Texas lawyer, Democratic politician, and judge. He is thus far the only person to have served as Secretary of State of Texas, Texas Attorney General, and Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court....
, who was the two-term Texas Attorney General for six years. Clements polled 1,183,828 votes (49.96 percent) to Hill's 1,166,919 ballots (49.24 percent). The La Raza
La Raza
In the Spanish language the term Raza translates to "race". Its meaning varies amongst various Spanish-speaking peoples. For instance, in Spain, "Raza" may denote specifically Spanish and often of a something or someone of a European Christian heritage. The Francoist film Raza, from 1944, which...
nominee, Mario C. Compean, and two other minor candidates shared 18,942 ballots. Clements' margin over Hill was 16,909. Therefore, Clements fell just under a simple majority, making him another "minority governor." The more liberal Hill, who had also once been the appointed secretary of state, had defeated Briscoe in the primary.
In winning, Clements achieved victory with 350,158 ballots less than the 1972 GOP nominee, Henry Grover
Henry Grover
Henry Cushing "Hank" Grover , was a conservative politician from the U.S. state of Texas best known for his relatively narrow defeat as the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1972. Grover was born in Corpus Christi. He died in Houston of Alzheimer's disease.Grover lived as a youth in San Antonio...
went down to defeat with, because turnout was much lower in the 1978 off-year election than it had been during the aforementioned presidential election year. The 1972 Texas governor's race was the last to coincide with a presidential election because when the terms went to four years, the gubernatorial elections were also set to coincide with the off years between presidential elections.
Clements ran for reelection in 1982, but he was defeated by Democratic Attorney General Mark White
Mark White
Mark Wells White is an American lawyer, who served as the 43rd Governor of Texas from January 18,1983-January 20,1987.-Biography:...
by more than 327,000 votes because of sagging economic indicators and weak support from minority voters, who historically tend to support Democratic candidates. White received 1,697,870 (53.2 percent) to Clements' 1,465,537 (45.9 percent). In addition, the Republican down-ballot candidates were all defeated in 1982, including George Strake, Jr.
George Strake, Jr.
George William Strake, Jr. , is a Houston, Texas, businessman and philanthropist who served as Texas secretary of state from January 16, 1979–October 6, 1981, during the administration of Republican Governor William Perry Clements, Jr...
, a Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
businessman who had been Clements' former secretary of state
Secretary of State of Texas
The Secretary of State of Texas is one of six state officials designated by the Texas Constitution to form the executive department of that U.S. state...
. Strake ran for lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
against the incumbent Democrat, Bill Hobby
William P. Hobby, Jr.
William Pettus “Bill” Hobby, Jr., is a Texas Democratic politician who served a record eighteen years as the 37th Lieutenant Governor...
. After the 1982 campaign, Strake was named to replace Chet Upham
Chet Upham
Chester Robert Upham, Jr., known as Chet Upham , was an oil and natural gas businessman from Mineral Wells, Texas, who served as the chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1979–1983, corresponding with the first gubernatorial administration of his friend, William P. "Bill" Clements, Jr...
of Mineral Wells
Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,946 at the 2000 census. The city is named for mineral springs in the area, which were highly popular in the early 1900s...
as the Republican state chairman, a position that he filled from 1983-1988.
Staging the 1986 comeback
In between his two terms as governor, Clements was chairman of the board of governors of Southern Methodist UniversitySouthern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in Dallas. He ran again in 1986 and won a contested GOP primary against U.S. Representative Thomas Loeffler of New Braunfels
New Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...
, the seat of Comal County
Comal County, Texas
Comal County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 108,472. Its seat is New Braunfels.Comal County is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History Timeline:...
, and former Democratic turned Republican Congressman Kent Hance
Kent Hance
Kent "The Hancellor" Ronald Hance is a lobbyist and lawyer who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from West Texas, having served from 1979 to 1985...
of Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. In the fall, Clements unseated Governor White, who was hurt by the unpopularity of the "no pass/no play" policy involving high school athletics and proposed teacher competency testing. In gaining his second term, Clements polled 1,813,779 ballots (52.7 percent) to White's 1,584,512 (46.1 percent). Clements had turned the tables on White in a near mathematical reversal of the 1982 results and was inaugurated for a second nonconsecutive term on January 20, 1987, just after White came "Striding up to Clements in the Capitol rotunda" and extended a hand for a handshake with congratulations and Clements simply shook it without comment and turned away.
Clements as governor
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. (See "Oil Rig Disasters at: http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/ixtoc1.htm and "Incident News", NOAA site at: www.incidentnews.gov/incident/6250 ) During this time, Charlie Brooks, Jr.Charles Brooks, Jr.
Charles Brooks, Jr. was a convicted murderer who was the first person executed by the state of Texas since it resumed capital punishment. Brooks was also the first person in United States to be executed using lethal injection.-Biography:Brooks was raised in a well-off Fort Worth, Texas family and...
, became the first inmate ever to be executed by lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
(December 1982). Clements faced heavily Democratic state legislatures during his tenure. In 1979, the legislature overrode one of his vetoes, the last time that Texas lawmakers have completed an override. In 1980, Clements commuted the death sentence of Randall Dale Adams
Randall Dale Adams
Randall Dale Adams was wrongly convicted of murdering police officer Robert W. Wood, and was subsequently sentenced to death. He served more than 12 years in prison, at one point coming within 72 hours of being put to death...
to life in prison. Adams, the subject of The Thin Blue Line
The Thin Blue Line (documentary)
The Thin Blue Line is a 1988 documentary film by Errol Morris, depicting the story of Randall Dale Adams, a man convicted and sentenced to die for a murder he did not commit. Adams' case was reviewed and he was released from prison approximately a year after the film's release.-Synopsis:The film...
, an Errol Morris
Errol Morris
Errol Mark Morris is an American director. In 2003, The Guardian put him seventh in its list of the world's 40 best directors. Also in 2003, his film The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Early life and...
documentary film, was exonerated in 1989 after serving twelve years in prison.
During his second term, Clements worked to reduce crime, improve education, boost the Texas economy, and to foster better relations with Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, especially on issues important to the mutual borders, such as immigration and the War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
.
However, he did not push as pledged for the initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
and referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
reforms advocated by State Senator Walter Mengden
Walter Mengden
Walter Henry Mengden, Jr. , is an attorney and oilman in Austin and Houston, Texas, who is a Republican former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature from Harris County.-Early years:...
of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, based on the principle of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's Proposition 13.
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 continue payments to 13 football players
Southern Methodist University football scandal
The Southern Methodist University football scandal was an incident in which the football program at Southern Methodist University was investigated and punished for massive violations of NCAA rules and regulations. The most serious violation was the maintenance of a slush fund used for "under the...
from a slush fund
Slush fund
A slush fund, colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money...
provided by a booster. Clements said that the board agreed to "phase out" the slush fund at the end of the 1986 season, but that it felt duty-bound to honor prior commitments to the players. The decision to continue the payments ultimately led to the NCAA shutting down the football program for the 1987 season—the so-called "death penalty." SMU then opted not to field a team in 1988 as well, claiming it could not put together a competitive squad. The shutdown and other sanctions left the once-proud Mustang football program in ruin; SMU has had only two winning seasons since returning to the field, and would not procure another bowl bid until 2009. A few months later, the College of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
released a report detailing an investigation of its own into the scandal. It revealed that Clements had met with athletic director Bob Hitch, and the two agreed that the payments had to continue because the football program had "a payroll to meet."
According to the report, in late 1985 then SMU President L. Donald Shields
L. Donald Shields
L. Donald Shields was the President of California State University, Fullerton from 1971 to 1980, and of Southern Methodist University from 1980 to 1986.-Biography:...
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 of 1985 in Shields' 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 when hearing that they could, telling him in no uncertain terms "Then 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").
A week later, Clements apologized for his role in continuing the payments. He said the 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 shut the payments down 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.
Clements faced calls for his impeachment
Impeachment in the United States
Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...
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
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
.
Post-political life
After leaving the governorship, Clements lent considerable personal effort to support a variety of Republican candidates seeking office in Texas. He resided in Dallas with his second wife, the former Rita Crocker (born October 30, 1931), who was first lady of Texas during both of his administrations. She was subsequently appointed to the University of Texas Regents by Governor George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Clements was known for his acerbic, energetic personality, which Democrats abhorred but Republicans tended to cheer. In 1993, he had supported the conservative Congressman Joe Barton
Joe Barton
Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton is a Republican politician, representing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus...
in the special election for the U.S. Senate to succeed newly-resigned Democrat Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
. Barton lost out to Kay Bailey Hutchison. Clements also supported the embattled Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith
Steven Wayne Smith
Steven Wayne Smith , is a Republicanformer Texas Supreme Court associate justice, who was defeated for renomination in 2004 through the active opposition of Governor Rick Perry. He was unseated by Paul W. Green. Smith again lost – very narrowly – a bid for nomination to the court in the March 7,...
, who was purged by Governor Rick Perry in the 2004 Republican primary.
Whereas Governor Perry first endorsed former Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Bill Clements was as early as 2006 already raising funds for the eventual nominee, U.S. Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. After Giuliani withdrew from the race, Perry joined Clements in endorsing McCain.
In June 2009, Clements donated $100 million to UT Southwestern Medical Center, the largest civic donation in Dallas history. On February 16, 2010, Clements and his wife both endorsed Governor Rick Perry's re-election campaign in the 2010 Texas Republican gubernatorial primary against Kay Bailey Hutchison.
In October 2010, Clements' son, B. Gill Clements (born 1941), was murdered at the age of 69 near his ranch in Athens
Athens, Texas
Athens is a city in Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,710. It is the county seat of Henderson County. According to the Texas Legislature, Athens is the "Original Home of the Hamburger"...
in Henderson County
Henderson County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 73,277 people, 28,804 households, and 20,969 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile . There were 35,935 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...
in 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' first wife.
Death
On Memorial DayMemorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend in 2011, Clements died at age 94 in a Dallas hospital from natural causes. In addition to his wife Rita, Clements was survived by a daughter, Nancy Clements Seay.
Further reading
- Bridges, Kenneth William. "The Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor's Race," Ph.D. dissertation, University of North TexasUniversity of North TexasThe University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...
, 2003, 281 pages; AAT 3117260 in ProquestProQuestProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electronic publisher and microfilm publisher.It provides archives of sources such as newspapers, periodicals, dissertations, and aggregated databases of many types. Its content is estimated at 125 billion digital pages...
External links
- Papers of Governor William P. Clements at Texas A&M University
- 'Bill Clements Dies at 94; Set Texas on G.O.P. Path', James C. McKinley, Jr.James C. McKinley, Jr.James Courtwright McKinley, Jr. is an American journalist who is the Houston bureau chief of The New York Times, a position he was appointed to in 2008.-Personal:McKinley is a son of James C...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 30 May 2011