Ann Richards Totally Explained

Everything about Ann Richards totally explained

This article is about the American politician/teacher, for the Australian-American actress, see Ann Richards (actress). For the American jazz singer, see Ann Richards (singer). Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was defeated for re-election in 1994 by George W. Bush. Born during the start of the Depression in rural Texas, she died in Austin from esophageal cancer at the age of seventy-three. Ann Richards was the second female governor of Texas.

Early life

Dorothy Ann Willis was born in Lakeview (now part of Lacy-Lakeview), McLennan County, the only child of Robert Cecil Willis and Mildred Iona Warren. She grew up in Waco, participated in Girls State, and graduated from Waco High School in 1950. She attended Baylor University on a debate scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree. After marrying high school sweetheart David "Dave" Richards, she moved to Austin, where she earned a teaching certificate from the University of Texas. David and Ann Richards had four children: Cecile, Daniel, Clark, and Ellen.
Richards taught social studies and history at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin from 1955-1956. She campaigned for Texas liberals and progressives such as Henry B. Gonzalez, Ralph Yarborough, and future U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes.

Political career

By the 1970s, Richards was an accomplished political worker, having worked to elect liberal Democrats Sarah Weddington and Wilhelmina Delco to the Texas Legislature, and having presented training sessions throughout the state on campaign techniques for women candidates and managers. She supported ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, presenting the amendment to the delegates of the National Women's Conference, held in Houston (1977). (The amendment was never ratified by enough states to become part of the Constitution.)
In 1976, Richards ran against and defeated a three-term incumbent on the four-member Travis County, Texas Commissioners' Court; she took 81.4 percent of the vote against Libertarian opponent Laurel Freeman to win re-election in 1980. During this time, her marriage ended, in part because of the strain of politics on the relationship. Richards' drinking became more pronounced, and she sought and completed treatment for alcoholism in 1980. David Richards is a prominent civil rights attorney in California.
After the incumbent state treasurer, Warren G. Harding (no relation to the former U.S. president of the same name), became mired in legal troubles in 1982, Richards won the Democratic nomination for that post. Winning election against a Republican opponent in November that year, Richards became the first woman elected to statewide office in more than fifty years. In 1986, she was re-elected treasurer without opposition. Richards was a popular and proactive treasurer who worked to maximize the return of Texas state investments. Richards said that when she took office, the Treasury Department was run something like a 1930s country bank, with deposits that didn't earn interest. At the 1984 Democratic National Convention, Richards delivered one of the nominating speeches for nominee Walter Mondale, and she campaigned actively for the Mondale/Ferraro ticket in Texas, even though President Ronald Reagan enjoyed great popularity in her state.

1988 Democratic National Convention

Richards's keynote address to the 1988 Democratic National Convention put her in the national spotlight. The speech was highly critical of the Reagan Administration and then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. Her address was notable for including several humorous remarks displaying her down-home Texas charm such as: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
and "When we pay billions for planes that won't fly, billions for tanks that won't fire, and billions for systems that won't work, that old dog won't hunt. And you don't have to be from Waco to know that when the Pentagon makes crooks rich and doesn't make America strong, that it's a bum deal." Richards's convention address has been cited by rhetorical experts as a historically significant speech.
The speech set the tone for her political future; she was a real Texan who established herself as a candidate who appealed to suburban voters as well as to the traditional Democratic base that included African Americans and Hispanics. In 1989, with co-author Peter Knobler, she wrote her autobiography, "Straight from the Heart: My Life in Politics and Other Places".

Governorship

In 1990, Texas' Republican governor, Bill Clements, decided not to run for re-election. Richards painted herself as a sensible progressive, and won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against Attorney General (and former congressman) James Albon "Jim" Mattox of Dallas and former Governor Mark White of Houston. Mattox ran a particularly abrasive campaign against Richards, accusing her of having had drug problems beyond alcoholism. The Republicans nominated multi-millionaire rancher Clayton Wheat Williams, Jr. After a brutal campaign and a series of legendary gaffes by Williams (most notably a remark about rape) in the final weeks before the election, Richards narrowly won on November 6 1990 by a margin of 49-47 percent; she was inaugurated governor the following January. She was a "minority governor" because her popular vote was below 50 percent. Although officially she was the second woman to hold Texas's top office, Richards is considered the first woman elected governor in her own right, since twice-elected Miriam "Ma" Ferguson is often discounted as having been a proxy for impeached governor James E. "Pa" Ferguson, her husband.
   The Texas economy had been in a slump since the mid-1980s, compounded by a downturn in the U.S. economy. Richards responded with a program of economic revitalization, yielding growth in 1991 of 2 percent when the U.S. economy as a whole shrank. Richards also attempted to streamline Texas's government and regulatory institutions for business and the public; her efforts in the former helped to revitalize Texas's corporate infrastructure for its explosive economic growth later in the decade, and her audits on the state bureaucracy saved $6 billion. As governor, Richards reformed the Texas prison system, establishing a substance abuse program for inmates, reducing the number of violent offenders released, and increasing prison space to deal with a growing prison population (from less than 60,000 in 1992 to more than 80,000 in 1994). She backed proposals to reduce the sale of semi-automatic firearms and "cop-killer" bullets in the state.
   During her first term, she signed into law the amendment of the Texas Financial Responsibility Law where renewal of a motor vehicle's registration (also covers initial registration of a motor vehicle), safety inspection sticker, driver's license, and/or obtaining new license plates require that a motorist must have a valid auto insurance policy. The law, which passed on September 1, 1991, broadens the 1982 law where a police officer will request a driver's license and proof of insurance during a traffic stop.
   She appointed then State Representative Lena Guerrero of Austin to a vacancy on the Texas Railroad Commission. The Hispanic Guerrero (1957-2008) was the first non-Anglo to serve on the commission in history. However, problems over falsification of her resume led to her resignation from the commission and defeat by the Republican Barry Williamson in the 1992 general election.
   The Texas Lottery was also instituted during her governorship - advocated as a means of supplementing school finances; Ann Richards purchased the first lottery ticket on May 29, 1992, in Oak Hill near Austin. School finance remained one of the key issues of Richards' governorship and of those succeeding hers; the famous Robin Hood plan was launched in the 1992-1993 biennium which attempted to make school funding more equitable across school districts. Richards also sought to decentralize control over education policy to districts and individual campuses; she instituted "site-based management" to this end.
   She was famous for her personal charisma, for her ease with the public, and even for her see-through wispy white hairdo. It was said that many people who knew her personally saw little if any difference between her public and private personas. Her sense of humor was often part of her day-to-day political life. Regarding a concealed weapons bill, she was asked if she didn't think the women of Texas might feel safer if they could carry guns in their purses. She replied, "Well I'm not a sexist, but there isn't a woman in this state who could find a gun in her handbag, much less a lipstick." On the subject of women in politics, Richards observed during her 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote address that "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."
   She was unexpectedly defeated in 1994 by George W. Bush, winning 46 percent of the vote to Bush's 53 percent, despite spending 23% more than the Bush campaign. The Richards campaign had hoped for a misstep from the relatively inexperienced Republican candidate, but none appeared, and Richards created one of her own in calling Bush "some jerk". In their book, James Moore and Wayne Slater allege that Bush and his advisor, Karl Rove, also resorted to using a smear campaign against Richards. Other people attribute her loss to the fact that she vetoed the Concealed Carry Bill that would have allowed licensed citizens to carry guns for self-defense inside public establishments without the owner's permission. Bush would thereafter sign a concealed-gun law, which was pushed by a future Republican lawmaker, state Representative Suzanna Hupp of the Killeen-based district. Another factor may have been President Bill Clinton and the national democratic party's unpopularity in Texas at the time, as Richards had played a prominent role in the 1992 Democratic National Convention and the Bush campaign successfully associated her with the national party.

Post governorship

Beginning in 2001, Richards was a senior advisor to the communications firm Public Strategies, Inc. in Austin and New York. From 1995 to 2001, Richards was also a senior advisor with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand

, a Washington, D.C.-based international law firm. Richards sat on the boards of the Aspen Institute, J.C. Penney, and T.I.G. Holdings.
One of her daughters, Cecile Richards, also a liberal activist, became president of Planned Parenthood in 2006. Ann Richards demonstrated interest in social causes such as equality, abortion, gay rights and women's rights.
She was a tireless campaigner for Democratic candidates throughout the United States. In the 2004 presidential election, Richards endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic nomination, and campaigned on his behalf. Richards later stumped for Democratic nominee John Kerry, highlighting the issues of health care and women's rights. Some political pundits mentioned her as a potential running mate to Kerry; however, she didn't make his list of top finalists, and he selected North Carolina Senator John Edwards. Richards for her part said she was "not interested" in any degree of a political comeback.

Teaching

Ann Richards had taught social studies and history at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin (1955-1956). She continued teaching in later years.
   Richards served at Brandeis University as the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Politics from 1997 to 1998. In 1998 she was elected as a trustee of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, she was reelected in 2004, and continued to hold the position until her death.
   She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 1996, having lost 3/4 inch in height and broken her hand and ankle. She changed her diet and lifestyle, and then her bone density stabilized. She spoke frequently about this experience, teaching or advocating a healthier lifestyle for women at risk of the disease. In 2004, she authored I'm Not Slowing Down, with Dr. Richard U. Levine (M.D.), which describes her own battle with osteoporosis and offers guidance to others with the disease.
   In a review of I'm Not Slowing Down by Steve Labinski,
   the book was described as inspiring women to fight the disease with various tactics, such as:

identifying factors that might increase vulnerability to osteoporosis including lack of estrogen, menopause, and usage of drugs related to caffeine, tobacco and alcohol; She was involved with the Texas Film Hall of Fame from the beginning. At the first ceremony, she inducted Liz Smith. She was emcee every subsequent year but had to cancel at the last minute in 2006 because of her diagnosis with cancer. Richards said, "I’ve been a friend to Texas film since the number of people who cared about Texas film could have fit in a phone booth." She was an advocate for the Texas film industry, and traveled to Los Angeles to market her state. Gary Bond, director of the Austin Film Commission, noted, "She was far from being the first governor to appoint a film commissioner; I think she was the first that really brought the focus of Hollywood to Texas."
She was also a mentor to other women. She advised Rebecca Campbell, executive director of the Austin Film Society, "Whenever you speak in public you’ve got to tell them what you need from them."
She put the spotlight on film as a genuine industry, brought more focus to Texas, and had a tremendous network of people in the entertainment industry. She brought the Film Commission into the Governor’s office, where it remains today. She gave more focus to film as a business than had been done in the past. Evan Smith, editor of Texas Monthly Magazine and president of the Austin Film Society board of directors, commented about Ann Richards and the film industry:

"I came to know Ann first as a moviegoer. I’d walk into various movie theaters and see the white hair up above the stadium seating. That’s how you’d know she was there. People do all kinds of things to get noticed in politics, but Ann wasn’t there for anyone but Ann. She was someone who loved the movies, loved the tactile experience of being in the movie theater, loved talking about movies, loved meeting filmmakers — I think she was more excited to meet filmmakers than foreign dignitaries. At the Texas Film Hall of Fame, she was as much as celebrity at that event as anyone honored. People paid money to see her as much as anyone else there. She would often ride down to Austin on the New York plane with the celebrities being honored. One year it was with Ethan Hawke. All she wanted to talk about, at the pre-party, was that “Ethan Hawke is so cute.” She loved him. This wasn't something that could be faked. She was starstruck. She loved these guys … (Watching a clip from Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” at a Hall of Fame ceremony), she's mesmerized by this image. I mean, her eyes are glued to that screen. Again this isn't something that you can fake. And she looked at me and she said “I love the movies” with this childklike voice, this passion. Standing next to me at that moment wasn't the former governor, a political swordsman... she was like all the rest of us, just someone who loved the movies. It’s a terrible loss for Texas in so many ways, but for the cultural community to have an advocate in that position, you don’t have that but once a generation, if you’re lucky." — Evan Smith The Alamo Drafthouse still uses it today, with an addition at the end in honor of Ann Richards.
Ann Richards was active in the Austin City Limits Festivals, and the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival: the interactive, music, and film festival, held each year in Austin.

Final year

In 2006, the Austin Independent School District announced the opening of The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, a college preparatory school for girls, with grades 6-12 which opened in the fall of 2007. The intellectual focus is math, science and technology, while the physical focus is building strength through good nutrition, exercise and other wellness strategies.
In March 2006, Richards disclosed that she'd been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She received treatment at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (External Link

). She died from the esophageal cancer on September 13, 2006, at night in her home in Austin, surrounded by her family.
She was survived by her four children, their spouses, and eight grandchildren.

Awards

During her career, Ann Richards received many awards and honors including: Baylor Distinguished Alumna, the Texas NAACP Presidential Award for Outstanding Contributions to Civil Rights, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award, the Orden del Aguila Azteca (Order of the Aztec Eagle) presented by the government of Mexico, the Maurice N. Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award from the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame honoree for Public Service.
The Ann Richards Middle School in La Joya, Texas is named for Governor Richards.
On November 16, 2006, The City of Austin changed the official name of Congress Avenue Bridge to "Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge."

Memorial services

Three services for Ann Richards were held:

A short service occurred on Saturday, September 16, 2006, in Austin, Texas, when former President Bill Clinton gave a eulogy after the casket of Ann Richards was carried into the Texas Capitol Rotunda, to lie in state for two days: with visits from 9:30-8 p.m. on Saturday and 9-8 p.m. on Sunday (September 17).

A full memorial service occurred on Monday, September 18, 2006, from noon-1:30 p.m., in the Frank Erwin Special Events Center on the University of Texas-Austin campus, with Ron Kirk, Liz Smith, Henry Cisneros, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, and her granddaughter Lily Adams speaking. The event included a video tribute to Ann Richards, and the music included blues, jazz, processional, gospel choir, and operatic arias. � Recorded blues and jazz songs were played for hours, including Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," At the time, there were also allegations of cocaine abuse by the candidates.

Issue over Death Penalty

Under state law, Texas governors don't have the power to commute death penalty sentences, only to briefly postpone an execution pending further review by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (most members of which are appointed by the governor - including the chairman, who according to the Texas Administrative Code serves "at the pleasure of the governor" (RULE §141.1)). Bowing to the reality of the pro-death penalty Texas legislature, Ann Richards wasn't a vocal critic of the Texas death penalty law while governor. While campaigning for governor, she was asked if she supported or opposed the death penalty. She said, "I will uphold the laws of the State of Texas." The reporter then asked, "But what would you do if the Legislature passed a bill repealing the death penalty?" to which she replied, "I would faint." Her stance disappointed various human rights groups including Amnesty International. Among other death penalty cases, those executed while Richards was Governor were Johnny Frank Garrett, a man whom Amnesty cited as being "extremely mentally impaired, chronically psychotic and brain-damaged." The organization further states that a mental health expert described Garrett as "one of the most virulent histories of abuse and neglect...I have encountered in 28 years of practice."

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