Bill Clements

Bill Clements
Portrait of Clements, c. 1991
42nd & 44th Governor of Texas
In office
January 20, 1987 – January 15, 1991
LieutenantWilliam P. Hobby Jr.
Preceded byMark White
Succeeded byAnn Richards
In office
January 16, 1979 – January 18, 1983
LieutenantWilliam P. Hobby Jr.
Preceded byDolph Briscoe
Succeeded byMark White
Acting United States Secretary of Defense
In office
May 24, 1973 – July 2, 1973
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byElliot Richardson
Succeeded byJames R. Schlesinger
15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office
January 30, 1973 – January 20, 1977
PresidentRichard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Preceded byKenneth Rush
Succeeded byRobert Ellsworth
Personal details
Born
William Perry Clements Jr.

(1917-04-13)April 13, 1917
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
DiedMay 29, 2011(2011-05-29) (aged 94)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeGrove Hill Memorial Park Dallas, Texas
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Pauline Gill
(m. 1940; div. 1975)
(m. 1975)
Children2
Residence(s)Dallas, Texas
Alma materSouthern Methodist University (dropped out)
ProfessionOil driller
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army Corps of Engineers
Years of service1941–1945
Battles/warsWorld 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 Reconstruction. When Clements left office for good at the end of his second term in 1991, his eight years in office were the most served by any Texas governor until Rick Perry surpassed his total in 2009. Clements was the first governor to be elected to multiple terms since Texas changed its constitution in 1972 to extend its governor's term of office to four years. Since then, George W. Bush, Rick Perry, and Greg Abbott, also Republicans, have all won multiple terms.

Before he became Governor of Texas, Clements made his fortune in crude oil and served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for President Richard Nixon. After his first gubernatorial term ended, Clements joined the administrative staff at Southern Methodist University where he served as chairman of the Board of Governors. While there, he presided over a massive pay-to-play system in the school's football program that resulted in catastrophic consequences for the team and the end of his political career.