Ann Richards: A Tribute

In celebration of Women's History Month, MLCPA's Knightly News produced a special segment on a true Texas History Maker: Governor Ann Richards.
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SCRIPT: She was a silver-haired, saucy, plain-spoken activist who, despite being born in one of the smallest towns in the entire state, rose up to become the first woman elected in her own right as Governor of Texas.
By the time Ann Richards moved into the Governor's Mansion in Austin in 1991, she had been involved in state and local politics in Texas for years. But it was her keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention transformed her into a national figure who became a vocal champion of civil rights for minorities, women and the LGBT community.
Dorothy Ann Willis was born Sept. 1, 1933, an only child, in Lakeview, Texas. Her father, she always said, came from a town called Bugtussle, her mother from Hogjaw. During her teenage years, her parents moved into town, so she could attend Waco High School… where she met her future husband, David Richards.
She got her first taste of politics at Girls State, where she got to visit the White House and shake hands with President Harry Truman.
She went on to graduate from Baylor University and married her high school sweetheart, David. They moved to Austin where she earned a teaching certificate from the University of Texas. Richards taught social studies at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin and volunteered for several political campaigns.
She and David had four children: Cecile, Daniel, Clark and Ellen.
In the early 1960’s, Richards and a handful of other young Democrats founded North Dallas Democratic Women in an effort to give more power to women in the party. And in 1972, she ran her first campaign, helping elect to the Texas Legislature, Sarah Weddington, who had successfully argued Roe v. Wade before the United States Supreme Court.
She ran for office herself for the first time in 1976 when she successfully challenged an incumbent Travis County commissioner. Richards was making a name for herself across Texas, but her political involvement put a strain on her marriage, which ended in divorce. She also began drinking heavily. Her friends eventually forced her into rehabilitation, and she credited their intervention with saving her life and her political career.
In 1982, she was elected Texas State Treasurer. Receiving the most votes of any statewide candidate, she became the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas in 50 years.
She was reelected in 1986 and in 1988 gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that electrified progressives across the country. Two years later she became the first woman elected in her own right as Governor of Texas. She was idealistic and inspiring, but also tough-minded and practical, Washington writer Celia Morris recalled.
As governor, among other achievements, she fulfilled her campaign promise to bring more blacks, Hispanics and women into public office. She appointed the first black regent to the University of Texas and installed the first blacks and women on the state’s legendary police force, the Texas Rangers.
As the mother of two daughters, she was proud of the fact that she smashed gender barriers for a generation of Texas women pursuing professional careers. It was the "New Texas," she proclaimed.
In 1994, Richards’ ran for reelection but underestimated her young Republican challenger from West Texas, George W. Bush. She later acknowledged that Mr. Bush had been more effective than she at “staying on message” and that he had made none of the mistakes that her campaign had expected. She was beaten 53 percent to 46 percent.
Even once she was out of office, Richards continued speaking out and working on issues she cared about. She wrote several books, was a commentator on TV and worked to establish the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, a public college preparatory school in Austin.
In September of 2006, Ann Richards passed away after a six month battle with cancer. Her close friend and former president Bill Clinton escorted her casket to the Texas State Capitol where thousands of people came to pay their last respects to one of the greatest politicians in Texas history.
Reporting for Knightly News, I’m Michael Pelton.
SOURCES:
Ann Richards, Plain-Spoken Texas Governor Who Aided Minorities, Dies at 73
New York Times
Sept. 14, 2006
www.nytimes.com...
Former Texas Governor Ann Richards Dies
The Washington Post
Sept. 14, 2006
www.washingtonp...