Twilight of the Texas Democrats: The 1978 Governor's Race

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Gov. Preston Smith poses in the governor’s office in 1969. Smith’s unpretentious, grandfatherly demeanor won him many supporters during his four years as governor. Gov. Dolph Briscoe and his wife, Janey, appear at his inaugural parade in January 1973. Briscoe often credited his wife with his political success and relied on her advice and support throughout his career. Gov. Briscoe and his wife, Janey, host the Southern Governors’ Conference in San Antonio in August 1978. In spite of his bitter loss to Atty. Gen. John Hill in the Democratic primary, the Briscoes tried to keep a positive face in public. Gov. Briscoe at a press conference, circa 1976. In a proud family moment, Atty. Gen. John Hill swears in his daughter, Melinda Hill, to the state bar in 1978, as wife Elizabeth “Bitsy” Hill looks on. Though Hill would fall short in his quest to become governor that year, he served as Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1985 to 1988. In January 1979, the newly inaugurated Gov. Bill Clements and his wife, Rita, walk through the traditional saber arch provided by the Ross Volunteers of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets. Portrait of four Texas governors, circa 1981. From left to right, Gov. Preston Smith (1969–73), Gov. Bill Clements (1979–83, 1987–91), Gov. John Connally (1963–69), and Gov. Allan Shivers (1949–57). ...