Gov. John Bowden Connally

About

JOHN BOWDEN CONNALLY JR. was born in Floresville, Texas. When Connally was 10 years old, the family moved to San Antonio. Connally attended the University of Texas at Austin where he served as campus coordinator for the congressional campaign of Lyndon B. Johnson. When Johnson won, Connally interrupted his studies to work for him in Washington, D.C. In 1941, he received his LLB degree, after which he entered the naval reserve during World War II as an ensign, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and received a Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Presidential Unit Citation. After the war, Connally started KVET radio station. In 1948, he assisted in Johnson’s successful bid for a Senate seat. After the election, he worked as a lawyer and then joined Sid Richardson, an independent oil producer. In 1962, he won his first political race as a candidate for governor of Texas. On November 22, 1963, he was critically wounded by the assassin who killed President John F. Kennedy, but recovered to win reelection in 1964 and 1966 by overwhelming margins. During his tenure, Governor Connally chaired the Southern Governors’ Association, from 1964 to 1965 and served on the National Governors Association. After leaving office, Governor Connally served President Richard Nixon, first as a member of the President’s Foreign-Intelligence Advisory Board and, from 1971 to 1972, as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. In 1982, he returned to private law practice and ran his own cattle ranch. Connally passed away on June 15, 1993 and was buried in the State Cemetery.

Source

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

Texas State Library & Archives Commission

Governors of Texas, 1846-present