Mark White

Mark Wells White ( born March 17, 1940 in Henderson, Rusk County, Texas) is an American politician. He was from 1983 to 1987 Governor of the State of Texas.

Early years and political rise

Mark White's parents moved early on to Houston. There he attended the public schools and then to 1958 the Lamar High School. He then studied under law at Baylor University. In 1965 he was admitted to the bar. After that, he worked as Deputy Attorney General of Texas, and then for four years as a lawyer in a law firm in Houston. He also became a member of the National Guard of Texas.

White was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1973 he was appointed Secretary of State of Texas. In 1977 he became president of the National Association of executive officials of all states ( National Association of Secretaries). From 1979 to 1983 he was Attorney General of Texas. In this role, he was a member of several associations of his colleagues in the other U.S. states and among the advisers of the Governor in the field of combating organized crime. In 1982 he was elected governor of his state.

Governor of Texas

Mark White took up his new post on 18 January 1983. As Governor, he supported a reform of the education system and measures to promote economic development. In the education sector, among others, teachers' salaries were increased and improved curricula. That put Texas in the federal statistics to some places forward. In the business sector, he continued the policy of his predecessor Bill Clements, by trying to bring foreign companies to Texas. But in the gubernatorial elections of 1986 he lost again against Clements, who thus became his successor.

Further CV

After his governorship Mark White is working again as a lawyer. In 1990 he applied unsuccessfully to re- nomination of his party for the office of governor. Today, he is also chairman of a foundation that supports public schools in Houston (Houston Independent School District Foundation), and he became president of GeoVox Security, Inc. Mark White is married to Linda Gale Thompson, with whom he has three children.