|
| Affiliation | Democratic |
|
| Name | Dolph Briscoe |
| Address |
Uvalde, Texas , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
April 23, 1923 |
| Died |
June 27, 2010
(87 years) |
| Contributor | Not in Public Domain |
| Last Modifed | David
Apr 24, 2021 01:09am |
| Tags |
|
| Info | Elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 77th District in 1948 and 1950.
Elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 79th District in 1952 and 1954.
Dolph Briscoe Jr., who served as Texas governor from 1973 to 1979, has led a distinguished career in public service, business, and ranching. A lifelong resident of Uvalde, Texas, Briscoe was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1948 and served as a state representative (District 77) from 1949 to 1957. As part of the reform movement in state politics stemming from the Sharpstown scandals, Briscoe won election as governor in 1972. During his six years as governor, Briscoe presided during a period of reform in state government as Texas's population and commerce boomed. Following his two terms as governor, Briscoe returned to the cattle ranching and banking business in Uvalde. He is recognized as one of the leading citizens of the state and a benevolent supporter of many civic, cultural, and educational institutions in Texas and the nation. Most recently, the former Texas governor established the Dolph and Janey Briscoe Fund for Texas History at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Briscoe family settled in Texas in what is now Fort Bend County in 1832. Andrew Briscoe signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, led a company of volunteers in the battle of San Jacinto, and was appointed the first judge of Harris County by Sam Houston. Dolph Briscoe Sr. and his wife, Georgie, moved from their home in Fort Bend County to Uvalde in 1910, where Briscoe Sr. became a cattle rancher, mohair merchant, and banker. Dolph Briscoe Sr. was a close associate of Humble Oil Company founder, Texas Gov. Ross Sterling. During Gov. James Allred's term, the senior Briscoe was appointed chairman of the Texas Racing Commission. From 1930 to 1933, he served on the board of directors of First State Bank of Uvalde with the community's most famous member, congressman and future vice president John Nance Garner.
Dolph Briscoe Jr. was born on April 23, 1923. After his graduation from Uvalde High School as valedictorian, Dolph Briscoe Jr. attended the University of Texas. He was active in many campus organizations, including the Friars and Chi Phi Fraternity, and was editor of the Cactus yearbook. While at the university, he met fellow student Janey Slaughter of Austin, and they were married in 1942. The couple had three children, Janey Briscoe Marmion, Dolph Briscoe III, and Cele Briscoe Carpenter.
After his graduation from the University of Texas in 1943 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Briscoe enlisted as a private in the United States Army. He served in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II and advanced in rank to become an officer.
When he returned from the service, he returned home to Uvalde and the ranching business. He soon rekindled his interest in politics. Briscoe was first attracted to politics at an early age. Thanks to his father's relationship with Gov. Ross Sterling, the young Briscoe traveled to Austin and the Governor's Mansion in 1932. At the age of nine, Governor Sterling invited Briscoe to stay at the mansion and sleep in Sam Houston's bed. Briscoe later recalled, "I sort of liked the place and I always wanted to go back." Briscoe counted Vice President John Nance Garner, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, House Speaker Sam Rayburn, and Governor Ross Sterling as his political mentors.
Briscoe's first step into elective politics began with a race for state representative in 1948. He won his first election and served from 1949 to 1957. He became best known as the author of the Colson-Briscoe farm-to-market road system. He also held key chairmanships for the agriculture and highway committees.
Briscoe was recognized as an effective debater and knowledgeable legislator during his four terms. When his father passed away in 1954, Briscoe returned home to head the family ranching business instead of running for a fifth term.
Upon his father's death in 1954, Dolph Briscoe Jr. became the owner and manager of one of the largest and most diverse ranches in Texas. By 1972, he was the state's largest individual landowner. As the youngest person to become president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in 1960, Briscoe and the organization raised $3 million in voluntary contributions to encourage the federal and state governments to launch a screwworm eradication program in Texas and the Southwest. Livestock growers consider the program to be the most important and beneficial development in the history of the industry, saving livestock producers millions of dollars annually. Briscoe is still active in all phases of cattle ranching and serves as senior chairman of the board of First State Bank of Uvalde.
Briscoe attempted to reenter the political arena in 1968, when he joined a crowded field of candidates seeking to replace retiring Texas Gov. John Connally. Briscoe finished fourth in the Democratic primary that year. Four years later, when the Sharpstown bank scandal rocked state government, Briscoe ran as a reform candidate and defeated incumbent Gov. Preston Smith and Lt.Gov. Ben Barnes in the primary. He later bested another reform candidate, state Rep. Frances "Sissy" Farenthold, in the runoff election. He ran on a platform of honesty and integrity in government and opposed any new state taxes. After his victory in the Democratic primary, he defeated state Sen. Henry Grover, the Republican nominee, and Ramsey Muniz, the standard bearer for La Raza Unida in the 1972 general election. Notably, Briscoe won his contest while President Richard Nixon easily defeated Democratic nominee George McGovern by nearly a two-to-one margin in Texas.
During his two terms as governor, Briscoe balanced increasing demands for more state services and a rapidly growing population. As the governor elected during a period of social unrest and skepticism about the motives of elected officials, he helped restore integrity to a state government that had fallen into disgrace as a result of the Sharpstown scandals. Briscoe's terms as governor led to a number of landmark events and achievements, including the most extensive ethics and financial disclosure bill in state history, passage of Open Meetings and Open Records legislation, and strengthened laws requiring lobbyists. Briscoe added $4 billion in new state funds for public education and higher education, and increased teacher salaries by the highest percentage in history and increased salaries for state employees. He expanded services to handicapped Texans by the department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and established the first toll-free hotline for runaway children. He appointed a large number of women and minorities than any previous administration, and appointed the first African American members to state boards and appointed the first African American district judge. No new state taxes were passed during Briscoe's terms as governor, making the first governor since World War II to hold the line on new state taxes or increasing existing state taxes.
In addition to his accomplishments as governor, Briscoe served as chairman of the Southern Governors Association, presided over the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, served on the National Petroleum Council, and was on the executive committee of the National Governor's Association.
During her husband's terms as governor, Janey Briscoe served as an active first lady and often drew press attention for her activities. Janey Briscoe, who had received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in education from the University of Texas at Austin, later served on the University of Texas System's Board of Regents. Both Dolph and Janey Briscoe received Distinguished Alumni recognition by the University of Texas at Austin.
[Link] |
|
 |
| Date | Firm | Approve | Disapprove | Don't Know |
 | BOOKS |
 |
|
| Title |
Purchase |
Contributor |
|
| INFORMATION LINKS |
|
|
|
