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ch apter four Ascent and Election in His Own Right 1949–50 many years later, price daniel recalled his feelings upon hearing of Jester’s death: “I figured I hadn’t been living right.” Shivers’s ascension presented problems for Daniel’s planned race for governor. The sudden shift in political fortunes required both to rethink their positions. While Shivers had likely planned to run for governor in 1950, his plans had not factored in incumbency. It offered some advantages, but precious few guarantees. Between July, 1949, and September, 1950, Shivers fought not just for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but for control over the party machinery itself. He succeeded through superb political intelligence and organization. A special legislative session allowed him to press a moderate reform agenda and appeal to rank-and-file Texas voters. However, he remained true to his conservative allies in his opposition to civil rights and his antifederal position in the developing controversy over offshore oil.1 Three months after becoming governor, Allan Shivers commissioned Austin public relations man J. J. “Jake” Pickle to do a detailed political reconnaissance of the state. Pickle was no stranger to politics. He, too, had been president of the University of Texas student body. He worked on Lyndon Johnson’s National Youth Administration staff and had assisted Johnson with his early political campaigns. After World War II, Pickle helped form the Austin-based public relations firm of Syers, Pickle, and Winn, which mainly catered to a political clientele. After accepting the governor’s commission, Pickle met with “leading citizens” in each county seat and large town in an effort to create a statewide network of key Shivers supporters. Pickle’s forays into the hinterland revealed problems for the governor. Some believed Shivers’s long service in the state senate had made him a pawn of special ...

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