Dan Moody

Daniel James Moody, Jr. ( born June 1, 1893 in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas, † May 22, 1966 in Austin, Texas ) was an American politician and 1927-1931 Governor of the State of Texas.

Early years

Dan Moody visited by the Taylor High School 1910-1914 University of Texas, where he studied law among others. After his 1914 was admitted as a lawyer, he started with a partner in Taylor to work in his new profession. This activity was interrupted by the First World War, in which he participated as a soldier in the U.S. Army. After the war he worked as a lawyer again. Since 1920, he was then employed in the public service.

Political rise

From 1920 to 1922 he was district attorney in Williamson County, and from 1922 to 1925 he was a prosecutor in the 26th judicial district of Texas. In this role, he successfully sued several members of the Ku Klux Klan because of violent attacks. This triggered a broad public became aware of him for the first time. Against the resistance of the Klan Moody in 1925 was appointed by Governor Miriam A. Ferguson as the new Attorney General of Texas. This office he held until 1927. He also led the investigations against members of the Highway Commission, who were accused of accepting bribes and had to give up their posts. In 1926 he was elected as a candidate of his Democratic Party for governor of his state. He had prevailed in the primaries against Ferguson.

Governor of Texas

Dan Moody took up his new post on 18 January 1927. He was the youngest governor of Texas when he took office. In his tenure, the prison system was reformed. Run by the Ferguson's generous pardon policy was terminated and the Road Administration ( Highway Commission ) was restructured after the scandals under Governor Ferguson. At that time, the Court of the State of Texas was founded. The second part of his tenure was overshadowed by the global economic crisis, which has left its traces in Texas.

Further CV

After the end of his governorship on January 20, 1931, he became a lawyer in Austin. In 1935 he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, where he was to bring a few cases of tax evasion in Louisiana in court. In 1942 he applied unsuccessfully to re- nomination of his party for the office of governor. By the time Moody was an opponent of the New Deal policies of the President, and he also spoke out against a fourth presidential candidacy of Roosevelt in 1944. Although he remained a member of his party, he assisted in the years 1952 and 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon in 1960, the respective presidential candidate of the Republicans. Moody was also a member of several bar associations. He died in 1966 in Austin and was buried there. With his wife, Mildred Paxton he had two children.