Bill Clements

William Perry "Bill" Clements Jr. ( born April 17, 1917 in Dallas, Texas, † May 29, 2011 ) was an American politician. He was from 1979 to 1983 and from 1987 to 1991 Governor of Texas from 1971 to 1977 and Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States.

Early years

Bill Clements studied at Southern Methodist University. After his parents had lost their farm during the Great Depression, he began in 1937 in the oil fields of Texas to work. He was attracted to this industry and began a long career in this field. Later he founded the company SEDCO, one of the largest Ölbohrgesellschaften worldwide whose CEO he was.

Political career

Clements was a member of the Republican Party. Under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, he was from 1971 to 1977 as Deputy Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In 1978 he was elected as the first Republican since Edmund J. Davis, who had held office from 1870 to 1874 as governor of his state. Clements began his first four-year term on 16 January 1979. During this time it was to be his company SEDCO, which caused by an oil spill enormous environmental damage. Otherwise, the governor continued to improve the school system and the fight against crime a.

In 1982, Clements was not re-elected in the face of a new economic crisis. Therefore, he resigned from the post on 18 January 1983. But four years later he managed once again to jump into the highest office in his state. His second term as Governor, he was able to complete between 20 January 1987 and 15 January 1991. During this time he worked to overcome the economic problems. He tried to create new jobs by lured companies from outside of Texas. He also worked on the improvement of the relations of his country with Mexico and continued his fight against crime continues. In his second term, he was implicated in a scandal involving payments to individual football player, who brought him to the brink of impeachment. Then he resigned in 1990 to another candidacy.

Further CV

After the end of his governorship to Clements withdrew from active politics and took care of his two ranches on which he ran cattle. But he put himself in the following years for the respective candidates of his party who applied to higher government offices. Even at the age of 90 years he still supported the unsuccessful presidential campaign of John McCain in 2008. Ex - Governor Clements was married twice and has two of its own and four stepchildren. His biological son B. Gill Clements was murdered in October 2010 at the age of 69 years on his farm in Athens ( Texas).