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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name= Susan Baker Weddington |birth_date=April 6, 1951 |birth_place= City missing, Michigan, USA |religion=Christian |office=Chairm..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Susan Baker Weddington
|birth_date=April 6, 1951
|birth_place= City missing, [[Michigan]], USA
|religion=[[Christian]]
|office=Chairman of the [[Republican Party]] of [[Texas]]
|term_start=1997
|term_end=2003
|preceded=Tom Pauken
|succeeded=Tina Benkiser
|alma_mater=Alamo Heights High School
Trinity University (both in [[San Antonio]])
|spouse=(1) Ernest L. "Ernie" Caldwell, Jr. (divorced)<br>
(2) George Robert "Bob" Weddington (married 1983-2015, his death)
|children=From first marriage:<br>
Sean Ernest Caldwell<br>
Three grandchildren <br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Louis C. and Elaine Baird Baker
|residence=Fredericksburg, Texas<br>
San Antonio, Texas
|occupation=[[Business]]woman}}
:''No relation to the Texas [[attorney]] in the 1973 ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' [[abortion]] opinion, Sarah Weddington''
'''Susan Baker Weddington''' (born April 6, 1951)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vehicle.codes/vin/susan-weddington.88448128.html|title=Susan B. Weddington|publisher=vehicle.codes|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> is a retired [[business]]woman who from 1997 to 2003 was the [[Texas]] state chairman of the [[Republican Party]] during the administrations of [[Governor]]s [[George W. Bush]] and [[Rick Perry]].
==Background==
Born in [[Michigan]], Weddington moved to [[San Antonio]] before she was eighteen months of age and hence considers herself a native Texan.<ref name=laj/> She is one of two children of the late Louis C. Baker and the former Elaine Baird (1919-2011). She has a brother, David Baker.<ref name=mothersobit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?n=elaine-baker&pid=155009437&fhid=8909|title=Elaine Baker obituary|publisher='The San Antonio Express-News''|date=December 12, 2011|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>Weddington graduated in 1969 from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahh69.com/class_classmates.cfm|title=Alamo Heights High School (Class of 1969)|publisher=ahh69.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> and thereafter from the private Trinity University in San Antonio, from which she received a bachelor's degree in communications and was for a time an instructor of photojournalism.<ref name=laj>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/news/080397/texas.htm|title=Texas Republicans elect state's first female party chief|author=Mary Alice Robbins|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=August 2, 1997|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>
==Political life==
Weddington was formerly employed by the firm Kinetic Concepts owned by her fellow San Antonio Republican James R. Leininger (born 1944), who was a major donor to Governor Perry, other Republican candidates, and [[conservative]] causes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2011/08/26/who-perry-supporter-james-leininger/|title=Who is James Leininger?|date=August 26, 2011|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref> A [[Christian]] conservative [[Activism|activist]], Weddington became interested in politics as the mother of a teenaged son visiting the Texas State Capitol in [[Austin]]. Her particular interests at the time were education and product liability laws, which had caused her problems in her own business.<ref name=chairstarrole>{{cite web|url=http://madmax.lmtonline.com/textarchives/072900/s6.htm|title=Texas GOP chair has star role|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> In 1990, Weddington in 1990 placed a black wreath that read “Death to the Family” at the door of the campaign headquarters in Austin for the successful [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] gubernatorial nominee, [[Ann Richards]], the departing state treasurer who that year defeated Republican [[oil]]man Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr. (1931-2020), of [[Midland]]. A strong Williams supporter, Weddington placed a black wreath that read "Death to the Family" at the door of Ann Richards's campaign headquarters in Austin. At the state Republican convention that year, sheparticipated in a prayer rally and called upon the Almighty to "watch over the caucus rooms and the convention hall."<ref name=tmonthly/>
In 1997, Weddington was unanimously elected state chairwoman by the 62-member Republican State Executive Committee to succeed conservative Tom Pauken of [[Dallas]], who resigned after three years in the position to run, unsuccessfully as it developed for state attorney general.<ref name=laj/> She was Pauken's choice as his successor. For part of her tenure, the vice chairman was the conservative author and activist David Barton (born 1954).<ref name=zoominfo/> The post ultimately went to [[John Cornyn]], now the long-serving senior [[U.S. Senator]] for Texas. Weddington held strength from both the religious conservative wing of her party and the fiscal conservatives as well. Chuck Anderson, then the executive director of the [[Christian Coalition]], described Weddington as "very, very well respected by members of the party from all ideological stripes." In 2000, Republicans held 1,600 of the approximately 4,000 elected offices in Texas but all statewide offices. Weddington said that she was determined to bring the party to long-term majority status, with particular emphasis on the state legislature.<ref name=chairstarrole/>
In 2002, Weddington broke with tradition as state chair when she became involved in a heated Republican [[primary]] for the state Senate. One of her predecessors, [[Fred Meyer]] of Dallas, had pointedly refused to become involved in such primary races but stood with the [[general election]] nominees regardless of policy positions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20120924-fred-meyer-businessman-who-helped-lead-gop-to-dominate-dallas-politics-dead-at-84.ece|title=Fred Meyer, who built Dallas and Texas GOP into dominant force, dies at age 84 |publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|author=Gromer Jeffers, Jr., and the [[Moderate Republican]] incumbent Jeff Wentworth for the District 25 seat. A strong [[abortion]] supporter, Wentworth, nevertheless won once more but was unseated a decade later in the 2012 Republican primary by conservative challenger [[Donna Campbell]], a [[physician]] from [[New Braunfels]]."<ref>{{cite web|author=Kolten Parker|title=New Sen. Campbell emphasizes conservatism | url = http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/New-senator-emphasizes-conservatism-4147849.php#photo-3700942 | publisher =''San Antonio Express-News''|date =December 27, 2012 |accessdate=December 27, 2012}</ref>
When she stepped down as state chairwoman in 2003, her party had gained a firm footing on major political offices in Texas. Weddington for six years then headed the OneStar Foundation, a [[non-profit organization]] formed by Governor Perry to connects such organizations with resources and expertise to accomplish their missions and to promote volunteerism.<ref name=onestar>{{cite web|url=http://www.faithworksconference.com/speakers/susanweddington.html|title=Susan Wedding President/CEO OneStar Foundation|publisher=faithworksconference.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name=zoominfo>{{cite web|url=http://www.zoominfo.com/s/#!search/profile/person?personId=1182705&targetid=profile|title=Susan Weddington|publisher=zoominfo.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> She was succeeded as chairwoman by another woman, Tina Benkiser, a lawyer from [[Houston, Texas|Houston]].
==Personal life==
Weddington retired in 2009, and Perry named Elizabeth Seale as her successor at the OneStar Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/san-antonio-exec-named-president-onestar-foundation-403156/1|title=San Antonio Exec Named President of OneStar Foundation|date=February 12, 2009|publisher=''Fund Raising Success Magazine''|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>In the 2010 Republican gubernatorial [[primary]], Weddington came out of retirement to endorse Rick Perry, who defeated two female challengers, including U.S. Senator [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]].<ref>Former Texas GOP Chair Susan Weddington Endorses Gov. Perry for Re-election | Texans for Rick Perry". Rickperry.org. October 15, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2010</ref>
Weddington retired to Fredericksburg in Gillespie County in the Texas Hill Country with her second husband, George Robert "Bob" Weddington (1932-2015), a microbiologist originally from Antlers, [[Oklahoma]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148953110/george-robert-weddington|title=George Roert Weddington|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref> whom she married on April 1, 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmarriagerecords.org/marriage-of-george-weddington-and-susan-baker.html|title=The Marriage of George Weddington and Susan Baker|publisher=texasmarriagerecords.org|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>
She had a son, Sean Ernest Caldwell (1972-2018), and three grandchildren from her first marriage to Ernest L. "Ernie" Caldwell, Jr. (1947-2015), a native and lifelong resident of San Antonio.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-antonio-tx/sean-caldwell-7724913|title=Sean Ernest Caldwell|publisher=dignitymemorial.com|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref><ref name=mothersobit/> Her husbands died three months apart. Since her second husband's death, she returned to San Antonio.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weddington, Susan}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Christians]]
|name= Susan Baker Weddington
|birth_date=April 6, 1951
|birth_place= City missing, [[Michigan]], USA
|religion=[[Christian]]
|office=Chairman of the [[Republican Party]] of [[Texas]]
|term_start=1997
|term_end=2003
|preceded=Tom Pauken
|succeeded=Tina Benkiser
|alma_mater=Alamo Heights High School
Trinity University (both in [[San Antonio]])
|spouse=(1) Ernest L. "Ernie" Caldwell, Jr. (divorced)<br>
(2) George Robert "Bob" Weddington (married 1983-2015, his death)
|children=From first marriage:<br>
Sean Ernest Caldwell<br>
Three grandchildren <br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Louis C. and Elaine Baird Baker
|residence=Fredericksburg, Texas<br>
San Antonio, Texas
|occupation=[[Business]]woman}}
:''No relation to the Texas [[attorney]] in the 1973 ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' [[abortion]] opinion, Sarah Weddington''
'''Susan Baker Weddington''' (born April 6, 1951)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vehicle.codes/vin/susan-weddington.88448128.html|title=Susan B. Weddington|publisher=vehicle.codes|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> is a retired [[business]]woman who from 1997 to 2003 was the [[Texas]] state chairman of the [[Republican Party]] during the administrations of [[Governor]]s [[George W. Bush]] and [[Rick Perry]].
==Background==
Born in [[Michigan]], Weddington moved to [[San Antonio]] before she was eighteen months of age and hence considers herself a native Texan.<ref name=laj/> She is one of two children of the late Louis C. Baker and the former Elaine Baird (1919-2011). She has a brother, David Baker.<ref name=mothersobit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sanantonio/obituary.aspx?n=elaine-baker&pid=155009437&fhid=8909|title=Elaine Baker obituary|publisher='The San Antonio Express-News''|date=December 12, 2011|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>Weddington graduated in 1969 from Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahh69.com/class_classmates.cfm|title=Alamo Heights High School (Class of 1969)|publisher=ahh69.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> and thereafter from the private Trinity University in San Antonio, from which she received a bachelor's degree in communications and was for a time an instructor of photojournalism.<ref name=laj>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/news/080397/texas.htm|title=Texas Republicans elect state's first female party chief|author=Mary Alice Robbins|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=August 2, 1997|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>
==Political life==
Weddington was formerly employed by the firm Kinetic Concepts owned by her fellow San Antonio Republican James R. Leininger (born 1944), who was a major donor to Governor Perry, other Republican candidates, and [[conservative]] causes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2011/08/26/who-perry-supporter-james-leininger/|title=Who is James Leininger?|date=August 26, 2011|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=March 18, 2015}}</ref> A [[Christian]] conservative [[Activism|activist]], Weddington became interested in politics as the mother of a teenaged son visiting the Texas State Capitol in [[Austin]]. Her particular interests at the time were education and product liability laws, which had caused her problems in her own business.<ref name=chairstarrole>{{cite web|url=http://madmax.lmtonline.com/textarchives/072900/s6.htm|title=Texas GOP chair has star role|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> In 1990, Weddington in 1990 placed a black wreath that read “Death to the Family” at the door of the campaign headquarters in Austin for the successful [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] gubernatorial nominee, [[Ann Richards]], the departing state treasurer who that year defeated Republican [[oil]]man Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr. (1931-2020), of [[Midland]]. A strong Williams supporter, Weddington placed a black wreath that read "Death to the Family" at the door of Ann Richards's campaign headquarters in Austin. At the state Republican convention that year, sheparticipated in a prayer rally and called upon the Almighty to "watch over the caucus rooms and the convention hall."<ref name=tmonthly/>
In 1997, Weddington was unanimously elected state chairwoman by the 62-member Republican State Executive Committee to succeed conservative Tom Pauken of [[Dallas]], who resigned after three years in the position to run, unsuccessfully as it developed for state attorney general.<ref name=laj/> She was Pauken's choice as his successor. For part of her tenure, the vice chairman was the conservative author and activist David Barton (born 1954).<ref name=zoominfo/> The post ultimately went to [[John Cornyn]], now the long-serving senior [[U.S. Senator]] for Texas. Weddington held strength from both the religious conservative wing of her party and the fiscal conservatives as well. Chuck Anderson, then the executive director of the [[Christian Coalition]], described Weddington as "very, very well respected by members of the party from all ideological stripes." In 2000, Republicans held 1,600 of the approximately 4,000 elected offices in Texas but all statewide offices. Weddington said that she was determined to bring the party to long-term majority status, with particular emphasis on the state legislature.<ref name=chairstarrole/>
In 2002, Weddington broke with tradition as state chair when she became involved in a heated Republican [[primary]] for the state Senate. One of her predecessors, [[Fred Meyer]] of Dallas, had pointedly refused to become involved in such primary races but stood with the [[general election]] nominees regardless of policy positions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20120924-fred-meyer-businessman-who-helped-lead-gop-to-dominate-dallas-politics-dead-at-84.ece|title=Fred Meyer, who built Dallas and Texas GOP into dominant force, dies at age 84 |publisher=''The Dallas Morning News''|author=Gromer Jeffers, Jr., and the [[Moderate Republican]] incumbent Jeff Wentworth for the District 25 seat. A strong [[abortion]] supporter, Wentworth, nevertheless won once more but was unseated a decade later in the 2012 Republican primary by conservative challenger [[Donna Campbell]], a [[physician]] from [[New Braunfels]]."<ref>{{cite web|author=Kolten Parker|title=New Sen. Campbell emphasizes conservatism | url = http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/New-senator-emphasizes-conservatism-4147849.php#photo-3700942 | publisher =''San Antonio Express-News''|date =December 27, 2012 |accessdate=December 27, 2012}</ref>
When she stepped down as state chairwoman in 2003, her party had gained a firm footing on major political offices in Texas. Weddington for six years then headed the OneStar Foundation, a [[non-profit organization]] formed by Governor Perry to connects such organizations with resources and expertise to accomplish their missions and to promote volunteerism.<ref name=onestar>{{cite web|url=http://www.faithworksconference.com/speakers/susanweddington.html|title=Susan Wedding President/CEO OneStar Foundation|publisher=faithworksconference.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref><ref name=zoominfo>{{cite web|url=http://www.zoominfo.com/s/#!search/profile/person?personId=1182705&targetid=profile|title=Susan Weddington|publisher=zoominfo.com|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref> She was succeeded as chairwoman by another woman, Tina Benkiser, a lawyer from [[Houston, Texas|Houston]].
==Personal life==
Weddington retired in 2009, and Perry named Elizabeth Seale as her successor at the OneStar Foundation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/san-antonio-exec-named-president-onestar-foundation-403156/1|title=San Antonio Exec Named President of OneStar Foundation|date=February 12, 2009|publisher=''Fund Raising Success Magazine''|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>In the 2010 Republican gubernatorial [[primary]], Weddington came out of retirement to endorse Rick Perry, who defeated two female challengers, including U.S. Senator [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]].<ref>Former Texas GOP Chair Susan Weddington Endorses Gov. Perry for Re-election | Texans for Rick Perry". Rickperry.org. October 15, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2010</ref>
Weddington retired to Fredericksburg in Gillespie County in the Texas Hill Country with her second husband, George Robert "Bob" Weddington (1932-2015), a microbiologist originally from Antlers, [[Oklahoma]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148953110/george-robert-weddington|title=George Roert Weddington|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref> whom she married on April 1, 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmarriagerecords.org/marriage-of-george-weddington-and-susan-baker.html|title=The Marriage of George Weddington and Susan Baker|publisher=texasmarriagerecords.org|accessdate=March 19, 2015}}</ref>
She had a son, Sean Ernest Caldwell (1972-2018), and three grandchildren from her first marriage to Ernest L. "Ernie" Caldwell, Jr. (1947-2015), a native and lifelong resident of San Antonio.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/san-antonio-tx/sean-caldwell-7724913|title=Sean Ernest Caldwell|publisher=dignitymemorial.com|accessdate=June 26, 2020}}</ref><ref name=mothersobit/> Her husbands died three months apart. Since her second husband's death, she returned to San Antonio.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weddington, Susan}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Christians]]