Friday, July 2, 2010

Dolph Briscoe Jr., governor of Texas during 1970s oil boom, dies at 87


From The Washington Post-

Dolph Briscoe Jr., 87, who presided over Texas as governor during the oil and gas boom years before an upset in 1978, died June 27 at his home in Uvalde, Tex.

He had been hospitalized in January and had returned home recently, a family spokeswoman said, but the cause of death was not disclosed.

During the conservative Democrat's two terms as governor from 1972 to 1978, Texas experienced rising oil and gas revenue, and Mr. Briscoe kept his campaign pledge to not raise taxes.

"The necessity of fiscal responsibility in all levels of government is second only to world peace in our survival," he once said.

Mr. Briscoe lost to Attorney General John Hill in the Democratic primary in 1978. Hill lost in the general election to Bill Clements, Texas's first Republican governor since Reconstruction.

Years after the bitterness of the 1978 political campaign had worn off, Mr. Briscoe still said he could have defeated Clements.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/01/AR2010070106187.html

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