William Perry Clements Jr. (13 April 1917-29 May 2011) was the Republican Governor of Texas from 16 January 1979 to 18 January 1983 (succeeding Dolph Briscoe and preceding Mark White) and from 20 January 1987 to 15 January 1991 (succeeding White and preceding Ann Richards).
Biography[]
William Perry Clements Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas in 1917, and he served in the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War II before founding an offshore drilling company in 1947. A Republican, he served as Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford's Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 1977 and acting Secretary of Defense from 24 May to 2 July 1973. In 1978, he defeated the liberal Democrat John Hill to become the first Republican Governor of Texas since Reconstruction, but a sagging economy and weak support from ethnic minorities cost him re-election in 1982. He staged a comeback in 1986, and he went on to serve as Governor from 1987 to 1991, prioritizing reducing crime, improving education, boosting the Texas economy, and fostering better relations with Mexico on issues such as illegal immigration and the War on Drugs. He retired in 1991 and died in 2011.