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==Background==

==Background==

Crichton was born on a [[cotton]] plantation in the community of Crichton near Coushatta in Red River Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]].His parents were Thomas Jack Crichton, who died in 1929 when Jack was thirteen, and Mary Crichton. He graduated in 1933 from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in [[Shreveport]] and then enrolled at [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]]. He played [[tennis]], [[basketball]], and ran cross country track. His classmates included future industrialist Harry Roberts "Bum" Bright (1920-2004) and Earle Cabell (1906-1975), later a [[mayor]] of Dallas, who unseated veteran Republican [[U.S. Representative]] Republican Bruce Reynolds Alger (1918-2015) in the 1964 landslide for [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. At TAMU, Crichton wrote an award-winning essay, "The Political Career of [[Huey Long|Huey P. Long]]".<ref name=spartacus>{{cite web|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/MDcrichton.htm|title=Jack Alston Crichton|publisher=Spartacus-educational.com|accessdate=October 9, 2015}}</ref>

Crichton was born on a [[cotton]] plantation in the community of Crichton near Coushatta in Red River Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]].His parents were Thomas Jack Crichton, who died in 1929 when Jack was thirteen, and Mary Crichton. He graduated in 1933 from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in [[Shreveport]] and then enrolled at [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]]. He played [[tennis]], [[basketball]], and ran cross country track. His classmates included future industrialist Harry Roberts "Bum" Bright (1920-2004) and Earle Cabell (1906-1975), later a [[mayor]] of Dallas, who unseated veteran Republican [[U.S. Representative]] Bruce Reynolds Alger (1918-2015) in the 1964 landslide for [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. At TAMU, Crichton wrote an award-winning essay, "The Political Career of [[Huey Long|Huey P. Long]]".<ref name=spartacus>{{cite web|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/MDcrichton.htm|title=Jack Alston Crichton|publisher=Spartacus-educational.com|accessdate=October 9, 2015}}</ref>

Crichton served TAMU as the president of the Lettermen's Association and chairman of the Development Foundation. He also served on the board of the Association of Former Students from 1965 to 1968, was the association president in 1967, and in 1983 was named a "Distinguished Alumnus."<ref name=tamu>"Association past president Jack Crichton  '37 passes away, Aggienetwork.com, accessed April 8, 2010; no longer on-line.}}</ref> He later obtained a [[Master of Science]] degree from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], at which he was affiliated with Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.<ref name=dmn/>

Crichton served TAMU as the president of the Lettermen's Association and chairman of the Development Foundation. He also served on the board of the Association of Former Students from 1965 to 1968, was the association president in 1967, and in 1983 was named a "Distinguished Alumnus."<ref name=tamu>"Association past president Jack Crichton  '37 passes away, Aggienetwork.com, accessed April 8, 2010; no longer on-line.}}</ref> He later obtained a [[Master of Science]] degree from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], at which he was affiliated with Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.<ref name=dmn/>