Bill Clements

William P. Clements Jr.
William P. Clements Jr.
Born	Template:Birth date; Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 29, 2011 (aged 94); Near Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, politician
Years active	1947–1991
Known for	Governor of Texas (1979–1983, 1987–1991); United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (1973–1977)

William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American entrepreneur and Republican statesman who held the office of governor of Texas during two separate periods: from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1987 to 1991. His administrations bookended the single term of Democrat Mark Wells White, who defeated Clements in the 1982 election but was subsequently unseated by him in 1986.

Clements holds the distinction of being the first Republican governor in Texas since the Reconstruction period. By the conclusion of his second tenure, his cumulative eight years in office represented the longest gubernatorial service in Texas until Rick Perry surpassed this record in 2009. He was also the pioneer governor elected to multiple four-year terms following the constitutional amendment of 1972. Later Republican governors with multiple terms include George W. Bush, Rick Perry, and Greg Abbott.

Prior to his political career, Clements amassed wealth through ventures in crude oil extraction and held the position of United States Deputy Secretary of Defense during President Richard Nixon’s administration. After completing his first term as governor, he assumed the role of chairman on Southern Methodist University’s Board of Governors. His leadership coincided with a significant pay-to-play controversy within the university’s football program, which severely impacted the team’s reputation and effectively ended his political ambitions.

Early life and career

A native of Dallas, Texas, Clements graduated from Highland Park High School in 1934. Though recognized as an all-state offensive guard, he took up work as an oil driller in South Texas after his father lost employment during the Great Depression. In the late 1930s, he briefly pursued engineering studies at Southern Methodist University before returning to his work in oil fields. During World War II, Clements served with the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

In 1947, he established Southeastern Drilling Company (SEDCO), specializing in offshore drilling operations. This enterprise grew to operate across twenty countries and became a leading global drilling contractor before being acquired by Schlumberger in 1984. By the time Clements sought election as governor in 1978, his personal wealth was estimated close to $30 million.

Between 1973 and 1977, Clements held the office of United States Deputy Secretary of Defense under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, including a brief 39-day period as acting Secretary of Defense in 1973. During this tenure, he worked alongside Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; despite personal disagreements and attempts to reassign him, Clements maintained his deputy secretary role and later described his experience working under Rumsfeld as "very unpleasant."

First Term as Governor of Texas (1979–1983)

On January 16, 1979, Clements took office as governor of Texas, succeeding Democrat Dolph Briscoe. He secured a decisive victory over state Representative Ray Hutchison in the Republican primary and narrowly defeated Democratic former Chief Justice John Luke Hill in the November 1978 general election, obtaining 1,183,828 votes (49.96%) compared to Hill’s 1,166,919 (49.24%).

His initial term was largely defined by the environmental disaster caused by the Ixtoc I oil spill, which remains one of history’s largest oil blowouts. The predominantly Democratic legislature frequently opposed his policy initiatives; notably, they overrode one of his vetoes in 1979—the last veto override recorded in Texas history. In 1980, Clements commuted Randall Dale Adams’ death sentence to life imprisonment; Adams was ultimately exonerated in 1989. Additionally, Clements was governor during the execution of Carlos DeLuna in 1989, a conviction that has since been scrutinized.

Clements was defeated for reelection in 1982 by Democratic Attorney General Mark Wells White, losing by a margin exceeding 327,000 votes amid economic challenges and limited minority voter support. The fallout from the Ixtoc I oil spill negatively affected his political standing; although his SEDCO shares were placed into a blind trust during his governorship, the rig involved was owned by SEDCO and leased to a Mexican company under Pemex contracts. White had spearheaded legal action against SEDCO on behalf of Texas. The final vote count stood at 1,697,870 (53.2%) for White and 1,465,537 (45.9%) for Clements.

Orchestrating the 1986 Political Return

During the interval between his gubernatorial terms, Clements took on the role of chairman for the board of governors at Southern Methodist University. In 1986, he emerged victorious in a contested Republican primary against U.S. Representative Thomas Loeffler and former Congressman Kent Hance. In the general election, Clements overcame incumbent Governor White, who was criticized for unpopular education policies such as "no pass/no play" and proposed teacher competency examinations. Clements amassed 1,813,779 votes (52.7%) compared to White’s 1,584,512 (46.1%), effectively reversing the result from 1982. He was sworn in for his second nonconsecutive term on January 20, 1987.

Second Tenure as Texas Governor (1987–1991)

Clements’s second term was largely defined by his March 3, 1987 confession that he and the SMU board had authorized ongoing payments to 13 football players from a booster-funded slush fund. Although the board planned to "phase out" these payments after the 1986 season, they felt obligated to fulfill existing commitments. This decision led to the NCAA imposing its "death penalty," which suspended SMU’s football program for the 1987 season; SMU also did not field a team in 1988 due to an inability to assemble a competitive roster. These sanctions severely damaged the program, delaying its next bowl appearance until 2009 and its return to a top-25 ranking for nearly twenty years.

An investigation by the United Methodist Church disclosed that in late 1985, SMU President L. Donald Shields and board chairman Edwin L. Cox attempted to terminate the payments altogether, opposing Clements and athletic director Bob Hitch. Despite NCAA regulations mandating stricter penalties for repeat offenders—SMU had multiple prior violations—Clements contended that halting payments risked losing key players who might reveal the scandal. After a crucial meeting in August 1985, Clements directed Hitch to continue disbursing funds, overruling Shields’s objections.

Subsequently, Clements expressed regret, acknowledging he had been aware of the slush fund since 1984 and that while the board reluctantly continued payments already promised, they should have ceased immediately. His admission provoked calls for impeachment, with detractors asserting that earlier transparency would have prevented his election victory. Choosing not to pursue a third term, Clements was succeeded by Democrat Ann Richards in 1991.

Throughout this period, Clements prioritized crime reduction, educational improvements, economic strengthening in Texas, and fostering better relations with Mexico regarding border issues such as immigration and drug enforcement. Nevertheless, he did not advance reforms related to initiative and referendum processes advocated by State Senator Walter Mengden.

Life After Politics

In June 2009, Clements made a historic $100 million donation to UT Southwestern Medical Center, representing the largest civic contribution ever made in Dallas. On April 13, 2012, UT Southwestern President Daniel K. Podolsky announced that the UT System Board of Regents had approved naming the new UT Southwestern University Hospital after Clements. On February 16, 2010, Clements and his wife publicly supported Governor Rick Perry’s re-election bid during the Texas Republican gubernatorial primary against Kay Bailey Hutchison. It is notable that Clements had secured the GOP nomination in 1978 by defeating Hutchison’s husband, Ray.

In October 2010, tragedy struck when Clements’s son, B. Gill Clements—a Southern Methodist University alumnus and investor—was fatally shot near his ranch in Athens, Texas. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pauline Allen Gill Clements, Bill Clements’s first wife.

Death

William P. Clements passed away on May 29, 2011, at the age of 94 in a hospital near Dallas due to natural causes. His final resting place is Grove Hill Memorial Park located in Dallas.

1982

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1986

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