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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.

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.

Clements won his first term as governor in 1978 over the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] nominee, John Luke Hill, who had unseated Governor [[Dolph Briscoe]] in the primary election. In the same [[general election]], [[John Tower]], the first Republican [[U.S. Senator]] to have been popularly elected from Texas, narrowly won his fourth and final term by defeating by a margin of 12,227 votes the Democrat Bob Krueger, later an interim appointed senator. Clements defeated Hill by 16,909 votes and hence outpolled Tower statewide 4,682. The results seemed to indicate little ticket splitting between the gubernatorial and senatorial contests that year.

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.

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.