John Connally

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John Connally

40th Governor of Texas
In office January 15, 1963 – January 21, 1969
Lieutenant(s)	Preston Smith
Preceded by	Price Daniel
Succeeded by	Preston Smith

Born	February 27, 1917 Floresville, Texas
Died	June 15, 1993 (aged 76) Houston, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nellie Connally
Profession	Politician

Connally's signature, as used on American currency

John Bowden Connally, Jr. (February 27, 1917 – June 15, 1993) was a powerful American politician from the state of Texas. He was initially a member of the Democratic Party, but in 1973, at the height of the Watergate affair, he switched allegiance to the Republican Party.

Connally was born into a large family in Floresville, the seat of Wilson County located south of San Antonio. He graduated from The University of Texas School of Law where he was student body president. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was an aide to Lyndon Baines Johnson when the latter was a young congressman and maintained ties to Johnson throughout his career. During the Vietnam War, Connally hawkishly urged Johnson to "finish" it by whatever military means necessary.

1 From Navy Secretary to Governor
2 Secretary of the Treasury and Joining the Republican Party
3 Trivia
4 Mrs. Connally's book
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] From Navy Secretary to Governor

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy named Connally, at Johnson's request, as Secretary of the Navy. Connally resigned eleven months later in order to run for the Texas governorship. He was elected Governor of Texas in 1962 as a conservative Democrat, first defeating liberal Democrat Don Yarborough in a close primary, and then, in November 1962, turning back a determined bid by the Republican Jack Cox of Houston. Cox had run two years earlier in the Democratic primary against then Governor Marion Price Daniel, Sr. Connally received 847,036 ballots (54 percent) to Cox's 715,025 (45.6 percent). Connally served as governor from 1963 to 1969. He faced weak Republican opposition from Jack Crichton and T.E. Kennerly in the general elections of 1964 and 1966, winning those contests by margins of 73.8 percent and 72.8 percent, respectively.

On November 22, 1963, he was seriously wounded while riding in President Kennedy's car in Dallas, when the president was assassinated. He was wounded 5 times when a bullet entered through his chest, exiting below the right nipple, then entering the right wrist, shattering the radius bone, exiting, then embedding itself in his left thigh. Gov. Connally was hit by the second bullet, which was 4.9 seconds before the fatal head shot to Kennedy.

[edit] Secretary of the Treasury and Joining the Republican Party

Republican President Richard Nixon appointed Connally, a Democrat, as United States Secretary of the Treasury in 1971. That year he famously told a delegation of Europeans worried about exchange rate fluctuations that the dollar is "our currency, but your problem." [1] He served as secretary until 1972.

In 1973, when Lyndon Baines Johnson died, Connally took part in eulogizing his old friend during burial services, along with the minister who officiated the services, Rev. Billy Graham. Millions around the world viewed Connally's eulogy as the most famous moment of the four days that marked the death and state funeral of LBJ, because it was a reminder that he was wounded in the assassination that made his mentor and fellow Texan president.^{[citation needed]}

Later in 1973, he joined the Republican party. When Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned that same year, Connally was one of Richard Nixon's top choices for vice president. However, Nixon ultimately chose Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., the House Minority Leader from Michigan, probably because he knew that the moderate Ford could be easily confirmed by both houses of Congress whereas Connally would run into liberal Democratic opposition.

In 1975, Connally was acquitted of bribery charges. He had been accused of pocketing $10,000 for influencing a milk price decision by Texas lawyer Jake Jacobsen.

Connally announced in January 1979 that he would seek the Republican nomination for President in 1980. He was considered a great orator and strong leader, featured on the cover of Time magazine with the heading "Hot on the Trail", but his wheeler dealer image remained a liability. He raised more money than any candidate, but was never able to overtake the popular conservative front runner Ronald Reagan. Connally spent his money nationally, while George Bush targeted his time and money in early states and won the Iowa caucus, making him the alternative to Reagan. Connally eventually focused on South Carolina, an early primary state where he had the support of popular U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, but he lost there to Reagan 55 to 30 percent (15 percent for Bush) and withdrew from the race. After spending $11 million during the campaign, Connally secured the support of a single delegate, Mrs. Ada Mills of Arkansas, who became known as the "$11 million delegate". Connally quickly endorsed Reagan and helped him win a narrow primary victory over Bush in Bush's adopted home state of Texas. It was no secret that Connally and Bush despised each other, and Connally said as much in a 1988 60 Minutes interview on CBS.

In 1986, Connally filed for bankruptcy as a result of a string of business losses in Houston. He died in the summer of 1993.

In December of 1990 Connally and Oscar Wyatt, chairman of the Coastal Oil Corporation, met with President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Hussein had been holding foreigners as hostages (or "guests" as Hussein called them) at strategic military sites in Iraq. After the meeting Hussein agreed to let the hostages go, and they were released.

[edit] Trivia

Connally and his wife, whom he met at UT and married in 1940, admitted to being soap opera addicts. In a Time magazine article, January 12, 1976, the two were quoted as saying that they would not allow anything to interrupt them during their favorite "story", Love of Life. The couple were also fans of As the World Turns. [2]

[edit] Mrs. Connally's book

In 2003, Mrs. Connally wrote a memoir of her recollection of the assassination of President Kennedy and the simultaneous wounding of her husband. Her book is entitled From Love Field: Our Final Hours with President John F. Kennedy. The book is largely based on 22 pages of handwritten notes that she compiled at the Governor's Mansion about a week after the assassination. It was Nellie Connally who said the last words that President Kennedy heard in his motorcade were "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you."

Television personality Barbara Walters, a friend of Mrs. Connally's, said that the former First Lady of Texas was a woman of "courage, compassion, and character. For all her ups and downs, I've never heard a self-pitying word from her."

Mrs. Connally passed away on September 2, 2006.

[edit] See also

List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines

[edit] External links

Find-A-Grave profile for John Connally

Photos of John Connally, hosted by the Portal to Texas History

Kelley Shannon, Associated Press, "Connally Dies at 87," September 3, 2006.

Preceded by William B. Franke	United States Secretary of the Navy 1961	Succeeded by Fred Korth
Preceded by Marion Price Daniel, Sr., (D)	Governor of Texas 1963–1969	Succeeded by Preston Smith (D)
Preceded by David M. Kennedy	United States Secretary of the Treasury 1971–1972	Succeeded by George P. Shultz