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He was earlier the Deputy Secretary of Defense for the [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Gerald Ford]] administrations, with partial service under [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]], whom whom Clements sometimes quarreled. For thirty-nine days, he was the acting Secretary of Defense. Clements was later the chairman of the board governors at [[Southern Methodist University]], which he had briefly attended as a student in his earlier years.

He was earlier the Deputy Secretary of Defense for the [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Gerald Ford]] administrations, with partial service under [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]], whom whom Clements sometimes quarreled. For thirty-nine days, he was the acting Secretary of Defense. Clements was later the chairman of the board governors at [[Southern Methodist University]], which he had briefly attended as a student in his earlier years.

In his first attempt at reelection in 1982, the last year that Texas [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] won all statewide offices, Clements was unseated by his political rival, [[Mark White]], then the Texas attorney general. Clements was hurt by a decline that year in the petroleum industry in which he had become a multi-millionaire. Ernest Angelo, a former [[mayor]] of [[Midland]] who was a Texas co-chair of [[Ronald W. Reagan]]'s attempt in 1976 to wrest the Republican presidential nomination from Gerald Ford, said that Clements' defeat in 1982 was his own greatest disappointment in politics even though Angelo himself lost a bid for the Texas State Senate in that same election.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo Jr. of Midland and the 96–0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," [West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'', now known as ''West Texas Historical Review'', Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 82-83.</ref> Clements, however, turned the tables on White in the 1986 gubernatorial [[general election]], when he won a second term in the office. Clements was considered an [[establishment]] Republican with strong [[conservative]] appeal. He claimed to oppose [[abortion]] except in cases of [[rape]], [[incest]], or if the life of the woman bearing the child would be threatened by carrying the pregnancy to term.

Clements won his first term as governor over the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee, John Luke Hill, who had unseated Governor [[Dolph Briscoe]] in the primary election. In the 1978 general election, [[John Tower]], the first Republican [[U.S. Senator]] to have been popularly elected from Texas, narrowly won his fourth and final victory by defeating the Democrat Bob Krueger, later an interim appointed senator.

 

In 1982, when Clements sought reelection, he was unseated by his political rival, [[Mark White]], then the Texas attorney general. He was weakened by a decline that year in the petroleum industry in which he had become a multi-millionaire. The 1982 race was the last in which Democrats won all statewide offices in Texas. Ernest Angelo, a former [[mayor]] of [[Midland]] who was a Texas co-chair of [[Ronald W. Reagan]]'s attempt in 1976 to wrest the Republican presidential nomination from Gerald Ford, said that Clements' defeat in 1982 was his own greatest disappointment in politics even though Angelo himself lost a bid for the Texas State Senate in that same election.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo Jr. of Midland and the 96–0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," [West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'', now known as ''West Texas Historical Review'', Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 82-83.</ref> Clements, however, turned the tables on White in the 1986 gubernatorial [[general election]], when he won a second term in the office. Clements was considered an [[establishment]] Republican with strong [[conservative]] appeal. He claimed to oppose [[abortion]] except in cases of [[rape]], [[incest]], or if the life of the woman bearing the child would be threatened by carrying the pregnancy to term.

Clements' second term was marred by a [[football]] slush fund scandal at SMU, with questionable payments "phased out" but still continued for some time because pf prior commitments to the athletes. The scandal caused the NCAA to cancel football at SMU in the 1987 season, and team did not compete in 1988 as well. It was not until 2009 that SMU received a subsequent bowl invitation. The isse brough Clements at loggerheads with then SMU President L. Donald Shields.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1310625.html|title=Clements apologizes for SMU role; governor fails to name others involved in football payments|author=T. James Munoz|publisher=''[[The Washington Post]]''|date=March 11, 1987|accessdate=October 7, 2017}}</ref>

Clements' second term was marred by a [[football]] slush fund scandal at SMU, with questionable payments "phased out" but still continued for some time because pf prior commitments to the athletes. The scandal caused the NCAA to cancel football at SMU in the 1987 season, and team did not compete in 1988 as well. It was not until 2009 that SMU received a subsequent bowl invitation. The isse brough Clements at loggerheads with then SMU President L. Donald Shields.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1310625.html|title=Clements apologizes for SMU role; governor fails to name others involved in football payments|author=T. James Munoz|publisher=''[[The Washington Post]]''|date=March 11, 1987|accessdate=October 7, 2017}}</ref>