Changes

| predecessor2=[[Dolph Briscoe]]

| predecessor2=[[Dolph Briscoe]]

| successor2=Mark White

| successor2=Mark White

| office3=United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

| office3=United States Deputy<br> Secretary of Defense

| term_start3=January 30, 1973

| term_start3=January 30, 1973

| term_end3=January 20, 1977

| term_end3=January 20, 1977

'''William Perry Clements, Jr.''', known as '''Bill Clements''' (April 13, 1917 &ndash; May 29, 2011), was an [[United States|American]] [[business]]man, university executive, and [[politician]] from his native [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]. After making his fortune in [[petroleum]] through the SEDCO Company, Clements served as the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[governor]] of his state in 105 years, with two nonconsecutive terms from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991.  

'''William Perry Clements, Jr.''', known as '''Bill Clements''' (April 13, 1917 &ndash; May 29, 2011), was an [[United States|American]] [[business]]man, university executive, and [[politician]] from his native [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]. After making his fortune in [[petroleum]] through the SEDCO Company, Clements served as the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[governor]] of his state in 105 years, with two nonconsecutive terms from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991.  

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. He 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.

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.