Changes

|birth_date=March 7, 1934

|birth_date=March 7, 1934

|birth_place=[[St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]]

|birth_place=[[St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]]

|residence=Bogalusa, [[Louisiana]]<br>

|residence=Bogalusa, Washington Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]<br>

Midland, Texas

Midland, Texas

|occupation=[[Oil]]man<br>

|occupation=[[Oil]]man<br>

'''Ernest Angelo, Jr.,''' known as '''Ernie Angelo''' (born March 7, 1934), is an [[United States|American]] [[oil]]man and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] who served from 1972 to 1980 as [[mayor]] of the West Texas city of [[Midland]] and was in 1976 the co-manager of the presidential [[primary]] campaign in [[Texas]] for [[Ronald W. Reagan]], who challenged sitting [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]].

'''Ernest Angelo, Jr.,''' known as '''Ernie Angelo''' (born March 7, 1934), is an [[United States|American]] [[oil]]man and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] who served from 1972 to 1980 as [[mayor]] of the West Texas city of [[Midland]] and was in 1976 the co-manager of the presidential [[primary]] campaign in [[Texas]] for [[Ronald W. Reagan]], who challenged sitting [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]].

With a 2–1 margin among voters in the state's first binding presidential primary, Reagan won all ninety-six delegate spots at stake. Coupled with a victory five weeks earlier in [[North Carolina]], the historic Texas upset revived Reagan's floundering campaign and made it possible for him to contest [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]], for their party's nomination, a selection made at the 1976 [[Republican National Convention]] held in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]. Without the Texas triumph, which occurred on May 1, 1976, and follow-up victories on May 4 in [[Indiana]] and [[Georgia]], Reagan could have been forced out of the race for the nomination. And without Angelo and his two co-chairmen, Ray Anderson Barnhart (1928-2013) of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], later the director of the Federal Highway Administration,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/administration/rbarnhart.htm |title=United States Department of Transportation: Ray Barnhart, Federal Highway Administrator |publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]] |accessdate=March 10, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Barbara Staff, chairman of the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of [[Dallas|Dallas County]],<ref>Ron Calhoun, "Reagan forces gearing for North Texas campaign," ''Dallas Times Herald'', December 21, 1975, p. F1.</ref> at the helm that year, Reagan might have become viewed as a non-entity with little credibility four years later, when he went on to win the presidency by a wide margin of [[electoral votes]] over the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]], who had unseated Ford in the 1976 election.<ref name="hathorn">Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo, Jr., of Midland and the 96-0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," 'West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'' Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 77–89.</ref>

With a 2–1 margin among voters in the state's first binding presidential primary, Reagan won all ninety-six delegate spots at stake. Coupled with a victory five weeks earlier in [[North Carolina]], the historic Texas upset revived Reagan's floundering campaign and made it possible for him to contest [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]], for their party's nomination, a selection made at the 1976 [[Republican National Convention]] held in [[Kansas City]], [[Missouri]]. Without the Texas triumph, which occurred on May 1, 1976, and follow-up victories on May 4 in [[Indiana]] and [[Georgia]], Reagan could have been forced out of the race for the nomination. And without Angelo and his two co-chairmen, Ray Anderson Barnhart (1928-2013) of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], later the director of the Federal Highway Administration,<ref> [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/|accessdate=March 10, 2011; no longer on-line.</ref> and Barbara Ruth Wright Staff (born 1924), chairman of the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of [[Dallas|Dallas County]],<ref>Ron Calhoun, "Reagan forces gearing for North Texas campaign," ''Dallas Times Herald'', December 21, 1975, p. F1.</ref> at the helm that year, Reagan might have become viewed as a non-entity with little credibility four years later, when he went on to win the presidency by a wide margin of [[electoral votes]] over the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Jimmy Carter]], who had unseated Ford in the 1976 election.<ref name="hathorn">Billy Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo, Jr., of Midland and the 96-0 Reagan Sweep of Texas, May 1, 1976," 'West Texas Historical Association Yearbook'' Vol. 86 (2010), pp. 77–89.</ref>

From 1976 to 1996, Angelo served as the [[Republican National Committee]]man for Texas, a position which made him an automatic member of the party's national committee]].<ref name="hathorn"/>

From 1976 to 1996, Angelo served as the [[Republican National Committee]]man for Texas, a position which made him an automatic member of the party's national committee]].<ref name="hathorn"/>

Angelo said that his defeat by Sims was a “blessing” because he needed to work full-time after 1983 on his business, and his being a state senator would have been too time-consuming to protect his company during a slump. Angelo recalls Clements' defeat by [[Mark White]] in 1982 as his own most personally disappointing election loss. Only two years earlier, his most exhilarating victory had been that of Reagan over President Carter just four years after Angelo, Barnhart, and Staff had worked to resurrect Reagan in the Texas primary.<ref name="hathorn"/>

Angelo said that his defeat by Sims was a “blessing” because he needed to work full-time after 1983 on his business, and his being a state senator would have been too time-consuming to protect his company during a slump. Angelo recalls Clements' defeat by [[Mark White]] in 1982 as his own most personally disappointing election loss. Only two years earlier, his most exhilarating victory had been that of Reagan over President Carter just four years after Angelo, Barnhart, and Staff had worked to resurrect Reagan in the Texas primary.<ref name="hathorn"/>

The political organization Americans for Prosperity] credits Angelo with "the courage to buck the Republican establishment and support Ronald Reagan. The rest is history. [Angelo should] write a book so we can know more of the details. Ernest Angelo had courage ... Had it not been for Ernest Angelo and Texas in 1976, Reagan may not have become President."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022311-ernest-angelo-shaped-history-helped-launch-reagans-presidential-bid# |title=Ernest Angelo shaped history, helped launch Reagan's Presidential bid |publisher=americansforprosperity.org |accessdate=March 10, 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310001844/http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022311-ernest-angelo-shaped-history-helped-launch-reagans-presidential-bid |archivedate=March 10, 2011 |df= }}</ref>

The political organization Americans for Prosperity credits Angelo with "the courage to buck the Republican establishment and support Ronald Reagan. The rest is history. [Angelo should] write a book so we can know more of the details. Ernest Angelo had courage ... Had it not been for Ernest Angelo and Texas in 1976, Reagan may not have become President."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americansforprosperity.org/022311-ernest-angelo-shaped-history-helped-launch-reagans-presidential-bid|title=Ernest Angelo shaped history, helped launch Reagan's Presidential bid |publisher=Americansforprosperity.org |accessdateApril 6, 2019}}</ref>

==Election as mayor==

==Election as mayor==