The Power of the Texas Governor: Connally to Bush (review)

2010Book Reviews421 cerns of public accessibility, natural degradation of the resources, and adequate and dynamic interpretation. One aspect ofthe book diat will be particularly appreciated by public historians is the inclusion of information on the contributions of park staff members over the years. Their selfless work for the common good too often goes unnoticed, but as the author observes and clearly understands, dedicated staff members are often the best means of ensuring a positive visitor experience , regardless of the budget or current park management philosophy. Dinosaur Highway is a worthy companion for those visiting Dinosaur Valley State Park for the first time or for those returning to seek new perspectives on the ancient past. My recommendation would be to find your perfect spot in the park, be it campsite, scenic overlook, backcountry trail, or river's edge, and spend some quality time connecting with the unique state park and its equally unique history. PflugervilleDan K. Utley TL· Power oftL· Texas Governor: Connally to Bush. By Brian McCaIl, foreword by William P. Hobbyjr. (Austin: University ofTexas Press, 2009. Pp. 172. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 978o2g27i8g82, $24^5 cloth.) The author sets out to examine the use of power, in a supposedly weak office, on the part of the seven governors who served from ig63 to iggg. McCaIl establishes that Texas's resourceful governors wield considerable power through lineitem veto threats and appointing some two thousand individuals to various boards and commissions. John Connally purportedly changed the Texas governorship, taking office at a time when the state ranked woefully low in per capita income and public education . He brought in businessmen to serve on panels to study the state's educational needs, knowing that he would be soliciting their approval to raise taxes to pay for the needed reforms. What is not mentioned is that Texas's rankings did not change under Connally, and the business community was not asked to bear any of the tax burden in the bill that passed. Preston Smith is depicted as the master of pork-barrel politics and not having much on his mind except boosting higher education in Lubbock. Dolph Briscoe is also perceived as a caretaker, who was able to levy no new taxes because of the rising tax revenues of the booming ig70S. Bill Clements, the first Republican governor in 105 years, was most successful in building a two-party system, especially through his appointments of several hundred Republican judges across the state. The booming economy and inflation allowed Briscoe and Clements in particular to boost public education expenditures. The author isjudicious in his descriptions of these three governorships. Mark White initiated, or signed onto, a host of reforms. The author mentions the major reforms in utility regulation, mental health, parks and wildlife, prisons , criminaljustice, industrial development, and state water planning. And there were the educational reforms, two ofwhich—teacher literacy tests and no-pass-noplay —backfired against him. There were others the author does not mention— state-funded kindergartens, accident and unemployment compensation for farm 422Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary workers, tougher pesticide regulations, health insurance for retired teachers, the extension of insurance policies for widowed or divorced spouses, higher nursing home standards, and several more. Ann Richards strengthened environmental and ethics laws, brought running water to the colonias in the Rio Grande Valley, appointed a host of women and minorities to office, and put through comprehensive insurance reform. A day before a court order would have shut down Texas schools, she signed the legislature 's "Robin Hood" bill that compelled rich school districts to subsidize poor ones. The state's financial needs seemed so dire that Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock proposed that Texas adopt a personal income tax. Richards flady rejected it, as the author notes. But that refusal to even consider taxing wealdiy individuals (as forty-three other states did) guaranteed that Texans would continue to depend on the inequitable combination of the business franchise tax, uneven property taxes, and the ever-growing burden of regressive sales taxes. George Bush was successful in passing bills allowing Texans to carry concealed handguns, limiting damages that injured people could collect, and toughening criminaljustice practices. He put through the largest tax cuts in Texas...