Bill Clements as a Governor of Texas - Essay Example

Bill Clements: Texas Governor Perception is an interesting thing. Although one person may perceive that an individual has performed well in a specific duty, another person might assess the individual’s performance as sadly lacking. When the task is something as simple as a small child placing a ball in a bin, the success factor is very easy to assess. When the task is something more abstract, such as how well the state was led during a particular term of office, determining whether someone did a good job or not becomes much more complicated. As a result, those attempting to assess job performance are forced to narrow the scope of investigation, basing their conclusions upon key areas of the individual’s leadership rather than their entire career. The way in which these key areas are identified and selected, as well as the ultimate judgment placed upon job performance in these areas, will largely depend, then, not on what was accomplished or not accomplished, but on what the assessor selects as important from their unique perspective. This difference of perception is a large part of the reason why historians frequently disagree on an individual’s relative performance levels. In attempting to assess the seemingly tumultuous career of William Perry ‘Bill’ Clements Jr, the first Republican to gain the governor’s seat in the state of Texas since the Reconstruction, it is necessary to understand the basics of his perspective as revealed through his biography as well as to compare the major strengths and weaknesses that characterized his term of office. Clements was born in Dallas in 1917. This was the year the United States finally became involved in what had been known as the Great War but, with the inclusion of the final great power on the globe, had just escalated to the First World War. In spite of this, Clements was born during a period of booming success for the state. Oil had been discovered many years earlier, and by the time Clements was born, much of the state was beginning to benefit from the several large strikes discovered. “For most Southerners the dominant theme of the 1920s was economic expansion” (Brown, 2008). However, problems in the cotton industry had already begun to sew disaster and the Clements family lost their farm during the Great Depression beginning in 1929 when Clements himself was just 12 years old (Texas State Library, 2008). To help support the family, Clements went to work in the oil fields as a roughneck. According to the Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary (2008), a roughneck is “a low-ranking member of the drilling crew. The roughneck usually performs semiskilled and unskilled manual labor that requires continual hard work in difficult conditions for many hours.” Through hard work and intelligent action, Clements pursued his career in drilling, going in with two partners on two drilling rigs in 1947, thus founding the world’s largest offshore drilling company SEDCO (Transocean Sedco Forex, 2008). After having established himself as a wealthy oilman, Clements dove into politics as the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Nixon (1968-1975) and Ford (1975-1977) administrations. This history establishes Clements as a man of action, perhaps a bit rough in his strategy and, thanks to his time of want, probably conservative in his approach. Although Clements has served as governor of the state of Texas for more years than any other governor until the end of current Governor Rick Perry’s most recent term, this does not necessarily represent his overall popularity or general success. When Clements won the governorship in 1979, it was only by a thin margin, 49.96 percent of the votes for Clements to 49.24 percent of the votes for Democratic candidate former Supreme Court Justice John Luke Hill (Bridges, 2008). During his first term as governor, Clements applied his business sense to the running of the government. He took a strong stance on solid budgeting and sound management policies. His background in defense and on the oilfields came into play with his policies on anti-crime measures, including permitting the first execution by lethal injection in December, 1982 of Charlie Brooks Jr. and starting a nationwide trend (Death Penalty, 2007). His conservative approach also manifested in his efforts to improve the teaching of basic education within the public schools while his diplomatic efforts helped to improve the United States’ relationship with Mexico. While his administration saw some improvements in Texas, particularly according to the view of conservatives who advocated harsher criminal penalties, more control over the school curriculum and delineated social understandings among the classes, Clements’ first governorship was also marred by controversy. Part of this controversy was the result of the largest oil blowout in history, in which SEDCO was intimately involved. In this incident, occurring in June of 1979, the SEDCO drilling platform 135F was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico when it encountered problems significant enough to attempt capping the well. The oil and mud erupting from the drilling hole igniting, eventually destroying the platform and causing it to sink. The sunken platform, with its attendant piping, prevented immediate efforts to contain the leakage and the well “continued to spill oil at a rate of 10,000 - 30,000 barrels per day until it was finally capped on March 23, 1980” (IXTOC I, 2003). Although this incident was in no way related to Clements’ job as governor, it was the worst oil spill in history up to that point and the damage caused was, in some ways, attributed to the founder of the company. In addition, Texas at the time was experiencing its greatest rate of joblessness at 8.6 percent and the public remained concerned about the significant power of the utility companies. “What beat Clements … was this revolt based on unemployment, Social Security and fear” (Jim Francis, Clements’ campaign manager, cited in Andersen, 1982). Thus, Clements’ first term as governor presented a virtual neutral impression on the public. He was seen on one hand as a champion of justice and a return to solid traditional and educational values and on the other as a typical corrupt ‘big cat’ politician interested only in their own profit and the profit of their already wealthy friends. Although Clements was defeated by White in 1982, he ran again for office in 1986 and secured the title of Governor for the second time. As in his earlier term, personal issues again threw a shadow over his position and were again associated with his activities immediately preceding his election. During the four years between elections, Clements had served on the Southern Methodist University’s Board of Directors. Within that capacity, he had agreed to a football payoff scheme that was obviously against NCAA rules. “The SMU president at the time, L. Donald Shields, was powerless. Clements reportedly told Shields that the board would take care of everything and that ‘we have a payroll to meet.’ That payroll, it would later be discovered, amounted to around $61,000” (McCollough, 2007). To understand the significance of this action, it is necessary to understand the importance of football as a tradition and the sanctity of the SMU team as an object of city and state pride, both of which can only fully be appreciated by those who have lived in the city all their lives (Wangren, 2007). As a result of the revelation, which Clements admitted to freely, the SMU football team was suspended the year of his second election and opted not to play the following year because of difficulties in fielding a team. The school’s club has not yet regained its former status, a situation that continues to be blamed on the former governor and unfairly factored into assessments of his overall job performance as governor. As governor, Clements’ focus continued to be devoted to strengthening crime laws, boosting education and improving the economy. “The recession in Texas continued to be severe, and Clements focused his attentions on job creation, economic diversification, and the recruitment of out-of-state companies” (Texas State Libraries, 2008). Again in keeping with his approach to defense, Clements supported national crime prevention efforts such as the War on Drugs and Neighborhood Watch programs. However laudable his original intention in these areas, though, Clements’ work was seen more as attempts to put out fires rather than taking proactive measures to address the problems. For example, his efforts within the prison system were perceived as the direct result of his tougher stance on criminal punishment. With more convictions and jail sentences, Clements inadvertently initiated a sudden increase in prison population, forcing him to spend his second term attempting to find a solution to prison overcrowding (Texas State Library, 2008). His efforts on education were not considered motivated by his own personal politics but rather as a response to a national mandate that the state do something to improve school financing. “Texas was ordered by the courts to find a more equitable way of funding public schools between rich and poor districts, and considerable efforts was spent trying to find a solution” (Texas State Library, 2008). The pressures of the office encouraged him to bow out of politics with the new election cycle of 1990. This decision was augmented by calls for impeachment at the time he made his SMU revelations and continued public criticism regarding his actions in this regard. While still interested in politics as seen in his continued support of various Republican campaigns, Clements has retired to his estate in Dallas with his wife. The general public consensus holds that he did not perform his job well, but it isn’t clear what this consensus is based upon. The tremendous unpopularity of his business associations – the largest oil spill in history and the destruction of one of the strongest traditions in the state – served to distract attention from his activities actually in office. While in office, he remained committed to the Republican conservative ideals, effectively toughening punishment for criminals and introducing standardization into schools as a means of boosting focus on the traditional basics. Assessing him simply in terms of his dedication to the ideals of his party and within the confines of his job performance, then, he would seem to have performed relatively well, at least during his first term. However, the programs he initiated in his first term can often be seen to have driven the focus of his second term and the frustration and disappointment of the public immediately following his second election further reduced his ultimate effectiveness. Because the effects of his initiatives introduced widespread use of the death penalty, which this author is against, and supportive of big business, which this author feels has had a detrimental effect upon the state’s middle and lower class population, it is difficult to view Clements in a non-biased light. Perhaps the best that can be said of him is that he was not any better or worse than other governors the state has elected in the past. Works Cited Andersen, Kurt. “Fresh Faces.” Time. November 15, 1982. Bridges, Kenneth. Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor’s Race. Austin, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2008. Brown, Norman D. “Texas in the 1920s.” The Handbook of Texas Online. TX: Texas State Historical Association, 2008. August 6, 2008 “Death Penalty.” Amnesty International USA, (December 6, 2007). August 6, 2008 McCollough, J. Brady. “A Death in Texas.” NCAA Top 25 August 26, 2007. “IXTOC I.” Incident News. NOAA, (June 3,1979). August 6, 2008 “Roughneck.” Oilfield Glossary. Schlumberger, 2008. August 6, 2008 Texas State Library. “Governors of Texas: Bill Clements.” Texas Politics. Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin, 2008. August 6, 2008 Transocean Sedco Forex Inc. Funding Universe, 2008. August 6, 2008 Wangrin, Mark. “20 years after SMUs football scandal.” San Antonio Express-News. March 3, 2007. Read More