by Jan Reid
Chapter 14: The Speech. Ann’s correspondence with Bud Shrake about her periodontal surgery and his growing fondness for her is in the Richards Papers. Bill Cryer told me about the call from Ann that she had been invited to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1988; also see Straight from the Heart, 11–32. Cryer and Mary Beth Rogers told me about the marathon speech-writing sessions in Atlanta. The shifting drafts of the speech, the encouraging notes from Bud Shrake, the critique of the speech and recommendations on delivery by Kirk Adams, the rave in the New Yorker, Erma Bombeck’s column, Patricia Kilday Hart’s Texas Monthly story about Ann’s heightened gubernatorial prospects, Adam Perlman’s Boston Globe profile of Donna Alexander, and Ann’s letter to Shrake at the end of the Dukakis campaign are all in the Richards Papers.
Chapter 15: Dispatches. Doatsy Shrake told me about the end of her marriage to Bud. For details of Shrake’s near-fatal health breakdown and the necessity of ending his alcohol and drug abuse, see Davis, Land of the Permanent Wave, 258–259. More revealing is the interview that Shrake granted Brant Bingamon and his direction to a passage in his novel Custer’s Brother’s Horse, 259–260. Ann and Bud’s lively correspondence, Ann’s speech at the roast of Bum Phillips, Suzanne Coleman’s unsigned memo when she feared Ann was losing heart for what lay ahead, and the vicious anonymous letter to Baptist ministers and newspaper editors are in the Richards Papers. George Shipley told me about Ann’s meeting with Henry Cisneros before she decided to run for governor.
Chapter 16: Backyard Brawl. Her campaign manager, Glenn Smith, contributed an extensive and insightful interview concerning the 1990 Democratic primary. Monte Williams, Dorothy Browne, and I took part in the boat trip that launched Ann’s campaign for governor. The correspondence between Ann and Bud Shrake, Ellen Richards’s letter to a disenchanted supporter, and Mark McKinnon’s memo on capital punishment are in the Richards Papers.
Chapter 17: Answer the Question. In interviews, Glenn Smith, Dan Richards, Mary Beth Rogers, and Chris Hughes offered perspectives on the brutal turn in the 1990 campaign. Jane Hickie’s proprietary claim and Mark White’s protest about the controversial television ad about pockets being lined are in McCall, The Power of the Texas Governor, 96. Newspaper clippings about the race’s outcome are in the Richards Papers. For David Richards’s retrospective on Mattox, “Junkyard Jim,” see the Texas Observer, December 12, 2009.
Chapter 18: Bustin’ Rocks. Clayton Williams offered the biographical sketch in announcing his campaign. For information on his family, see Handbook of Texas Online. Gary Cartwright’s article on his ranching success, “The Last Roundup,” appeared in Texas Monthly, July 1986. Extensive newspaper clippings about his GOP primary race and gaffes in the general election are in the Richards Papers. Jan Jarboe’s campaign profile, “Clayton Williams: Onward to the Past,” was published in Texas Monthly, October 1990. Sources for the passages about Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rick Perry are their official websites and the extensive collection of newspaper clippings in the Richards Papers. George W. Bush’s fund-raising letter in behalf of Williams is in the Richards Papers.
Chapter 19: The Rodeo. Continued correspondence with Bud Shrake that lifted Ann’s spirits in the long-shot comeback is in the Richards Papers. In interviews, Glenn Smith, Mary Beth Rogers, and George Shipley described the transition of campaign managers, opposition research into Williams’s business record, and the “fraudulent honking goose” episode. Ann’s recollections about being inspired by the old woman in La Joya, news stories and correspondence related to the downfall of Jim Hightower, and the excited correspondence between Ann and Bud at the end of the race are in the Richards Papers. Also see Molly Ivins, “How Ann Richards Got to Be Governor of Texas,” in Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?, 275–284.
Chapter 20: The New Texas. Warm correspondence between Ann and Bud Shrake continued after the election. In interviews, Mary Beth Rogers described the sessions on South Padre Island, where the inner circle turned their attention from campaigning to governing. I took part in the march down Congress Avenue the morning of her inaugural speech and witnessed the encounter between the new gubernatorial staff of Ann and the departing one of Bill Clements. Abundant newspaper clippings and Bud Shrake’s remarks on his nervousness about waltzing bolstered my observations of the inaugural balls.
Chapter 21: Fast Start. In one of our conversations, David Richards reflected on the unlikely nature of Ann’s election. Richard Moya, Joy Anderson, and Joe Holley told me how they became members the governor’s staff. I witnessed Ann’s appointments of Ellen Halbert, Selden Hale, Josh Allen, and John Hall; Hale told me about taking Ann on a tour of Amarillo’s prison. Joe Holley’s A Blueprint for the New Texas and the State of the State address he crafted with Suzanne Coleman are in the Richards Papers, as are the resignation letter of James Saxton and details of Ann’s order of a moratorium on new hazardous-waste permits.
Chapter 22: Ethicists. Paul Burka’s rhapsodic “Ann of a Hundred Days” ran in Texas Monthly, May 1991. Newspaper clippings on the rejected nomination of Karl Rove and Ann’s appointment of Terry Hershey to the board of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are in the Richards Papers, as are the different views of Ann, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, and Barbara Jordan on the worth of the ethics bill of 1991. Also in the Richards Papers is Ann’s speech at the Waco reunion of the Texas Rangers.
Chapter 23: Odd Couples. Correspondence between Ann and Bud Shrake on movies, laughs, and love are in the Richards Papers. The reception for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip and the seating arrangements at the formal dinner are detailed at length in the Richards Papers. On the income tax proposal and the uproar that followed, see McNeely and Henderson, Bob Bullock, 174–175 and 184–185. On the consolidation of environmental agencies and the initiatives regarding clean air and natural gas, see the Richards Papers. Also, I was much involved in these matters while writing speeches and research papers for Garry Mauro and John Hall, and I have continued to follow the evolution of these areas. On the lieutenant governor’s bullying of Andy Sansom, see Bob Bullock, 228–229; I also interviewed Sansom about that and his relationship with the governor. For the lieutenant governor’s near fistfight with Dan Morales over redistricting, see Bob Bullock, 213–214. For the exasperation of his chief of staff, see Bob Bullock, 206–207 and 224–225. In interviews, Mary Beth Rogers and Chuck Bailey told me about the breakdown in relations between the governor and lieutenant governor. Chuck Bailey and Dave McNeely told me about the meeting with Bullock that Ann left in furious tears.
Chapter 24: Favorables. A video clip of Morley Safer’s October 1991 60 Minutes profile of Ann is in the Richards Papers, along with the poll conducted by Harrison Hickman and interpreted by Matthew Dowd and Mary Beth Rogers. Molly Ivins’s admiration of Ann’s former husband is conveyed in “David Richards,” in Who Let the Dogs In?, 163–165. Extensive files full of details on prison policy and the Ruiz lawsuit are in the Richards Papers, along with details of the murderous rampage of Kenneth McDuff. In addition to material found in the Richards Papers, Dorothy Browne briefed me extensively and shared documents on the launch of the most ambitious drug and alcohol treatment program in the nation’s prisons. Ann’s “Texas Facts” and “Texas Commitment” drives to bring new industries and jobs to Texas and prevent the closing of a General Motors plant, the stated approval of her probusiness outlook by Ken Lay, and her speech in support of NAFTA are in the Richards Papers. Mike Sharlot told me about the vacation at the Pacific retreat of Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
Chapter 25: White Hot. In an interview, Marlene Saritzky told me about meeting Ann and taking her to meet helpful people in Hollywood before she had become a national figure, and about Ann’s subsequent hiring of her as the Texas film commissioner. The Ann Richards roast in Port Arthur may be viewed in the C-SPAN Video Library, December 29, 1991. In the Richards Papers are details of Bud Shrake’s commitment to write Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book and news
paper clippings about Ann’s barbed joke about President George H. W. Bush at the Washington Gridiron Show. Files in the Richards Papers tell the story of DJ Stout’s brainstorm to put Ann on the July 1992 cover of Texas Monthly in white leather, riding a Harley-Davidson, and the star treatment Ann received in New York at the Democratic National Convention that nominated Bill Clinton and Al Gore. David Gergen’s mention of the Texas Monthly cover and Wayne Slater’s Dallas Morning News story about her arrival at Madison Square Garden are in the Richards Papers.
Chapter 26: Heartaches by the Number. Bud Shrake’s letter to Ann about folly and the Trojan horse, along with details of the downfall of Lena Guerrero, are in the Richards Papers; especially vivid are the description of the incident by Chuck McDonald, as told to Karl Rove biographers Wayne Slater and James Moore in Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential (New York: Wiley, 2004), and Barbara Jordan’s stern criticism of Guerrero’s ethical behavior in an interview by the Austin American-Statesman. Also in the Richards Papers are files on the scandal involving National Guard colonels Richard Brito and Danny Kohler. Dorothy Browne witnessed Ann’s demand that Selden Hale resign for ordering prison system employees to investigate another board member’s possible ethics conflict.
Chapter 27: Troubles by the Score. In an interview, George Shipley told me about Ann’s ill-fated attempt to appoint Henry Cisneros to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Lloyd Bentsen, whom Bill Clinton had appointed his secretary of the treasury. Details related to her eventual appointment of former congressman Bob Krueger and his eloquent memorandum of support for her positions on women’s choice and stem-cell research are in the Richards Papers. For the New York Times coverage of Kay Bailey Hutchison’s rout of Krueger in the ensuing special election and Jane Hickie’s amusement about Krueger’s appointment as ambassador to Burundi, see McCall, The Power of the Texas Governor, 108–109. For his brave and vindicating performance as U.S. ambassador during the genocide in central Africa, see Krueger and Krueger, From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi, 87–174.
The Houston Press and the New York Times detailed charges against Senator Hutchison in the indictment for official misconduct in February 1994. For Ann’s response to the indictment, see Paul Burka, “Sadder But Wiser,” Texas Monthly, April 1994. A GOP counterattack orchestrated by Karen Hughes resulted in an embarrassing memo about the improper use of telephones to Governor’s Office employees by the chief of staff, John Fainter, which is in the Richards Papers. Dick DeGuerin shared some details about his defense of Senator Hutchison. Also there are numerous press clippings that relate District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s apparent missteps that led to the ordered verdict of acquittal by the trial judge.
Chapter 28: Sass. I heard the newly elected governor George W. Bush blame Patrick Buchanan for his father’s defeat in a 1994 meeting with reporters. In an interview, attorney Shelton Smith told me about his lobbying in Washington for Ann in behalf of the Superconducting Super Collider and the meeting with President Clinton in which she threatened to sue him if Texas’s investment in the project was not returned. Ann’s difficulties with environmentalists, property-rights activists, and the federal Department of the Interior are detailed at length in the Richards Papers.
The governor and Bud Shrake kept their romance alive throughout these governmental difficulties, as demonstrated by letters in the Richards Papers. The GOP barrage of open-records requests and press releases written by Karen Hughes are in the Richards Papers. Former Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson e-mailed me about his amusing dustup with Governor Richards. Chief of Staff John Fainter kept an unsigned diary of the Branch Davidian standoff and tragedies. Also, Dick DeGuerin, who met with David Koresh and tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement, shared his perspective on the tragedy with me, as did an FBI agent who took part in the siege and assault. John P. Moore told me of his belief that the relationship of Ann and Bullock was damaged beyond repair when she led an invasion of reporters into his office to demand his position on the concealed-weapons bill.
Chapter 29: Collision Course. I learned details of the combat career of the young bomber pilot George H.W. Bush in official records of the U.S. Navy. George W. Bush wrote about his fury over a Newsweek cover depicting his father as a reputed “wimp” in Decision Points, 43–44. The Richards Papers contain abundant files on George W. Bush’s career as an oilman. In an interview, Bob Beaudine told me about Bush’s uncertainty about challenging Ann and his request to help him win the job as commissioner of Major League Baseball; also see Beaudine, The Power of Who (New York: Center Street, 2009), 6–9. Mary Beth Rogers told me about the totally different feel of the campaign and the performance of the candidate in 1994. The Richards Papers include a file labeled “The Jane Hickie Problem,” which includes her apology to rock star Don Henley in 1989, as well as Houston Post editorials alleging misconduct and calling for her resignation as director of the Office of State-Federal Relations. Samples of the correspondence Molly Ivins received, along with an undated, affectionate letter she wrote to Ann, are in the Molly Ivins Papers, in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. In an interview, Chuck Bailey discounted conjecture that Bullock helped Bush in his campaign against Ann. For Bullock’s long-held grudge against Barbara Jordan, see Bob Bullock, 85–88, and for his grudge against Max Sherman for the same reason, see Bob Bullock, 249–250. In an interview, George Shipley criticized Ann’s coterie of feminists, blaming them for failing to court Bullock’s favor, but said they were all at fault for underestimating the Bushes’ CIA-related skill in running a negative campaign.
Chapter 30: Queen Bee. In interviews, Mary Beth Rogers told me about George W. Bush’s early stumbles, and Joe Holley related his discomfort with how Ann’s inner circle operated and her apparent lack of fervor about winning another term. Ann’s increasingly defensive speeches are in the Richards Papers, along with details of her record on capital punishment. The letter of rebuke from Enron’s Ken Lay and the internal memos about Bill Ratliff’s denunciation of the appointment of “homosexual activists” are in the Richards Papers; John Ratliff’s unsigned summary of Bush and Rove’s campaign tactics in the 2000 presidential race is in Dubose, Reid, and Cannon, Boy Genius, 133–143. The progression of the polls and reports on the debate between Ann and George W. Bush are in the Richards Papers. R. G. Ratcliffe e-mailed me about the story he didn’t get to file about Howard Pharr. Details of Karl Rove’s allegations, along with verified highlights of the Bush-Richards debate, can be found in Wayne Slater’s online columns for the Dallas Morning News. In interviews, Mary Beth Rogers told me that she and Ann knew the race was likely lost when Ann called Bush “a jerk” in Texarkana; Karl Rove shared their opinion. Molly Ivins wrote about the incident and Ann’s prospects in a column reprinted as “Ann Richards vs. Shrub II,” in Who Let the Dogs In?, 171–173. Harold Cook told me about having to bring her the news she had lost. Slater attributes the poignant telephone conversation between the Bushes to Karl Rove in an online Dallas Morning News column.
In an article for Time, Hugh Sidey recorded George H. W. Bush’s exultation about his son’s payback for that insult about the silver spoon. Dorothy Browne shared the letter from the woman in Midland who wrote thanking Ann for the prison alcohol and drug abuse program that saved her son’s life. Bud Shrake told me about Frito-Lay’s offer of a million dollars to be in the Super Bowl commercial with Mario Cuomo, and Marlene Saritzky told me about accompanying Ann on the Doritos video shoot in California and being with Ann on her last day as governor.
Epilogue: Passages. Jim Henson shared the transcript of his incisive interview with Ann when she was seventy. I located Maureen Dowd’s Christmas Eve 1997 column excoriating Ann and former senators George Mitchell and Howard Baker for accepting high-dollar fees from tobacco companies. My examination of Ann’s lobbying activities is drawn from extensive, multisource research of the tobacco suit and its settlement; see especially the New York Times, December 15, 1997, and Public Citizen, “Burning Down the Houses: Big Tobacco�
��s 1997 Congressional Lobbying,” March 1998, http://www.citizen.org/congress/article_redirect.cfm?ID=908. Robert Bryce detailed the New Jersey wetlands-development dispute and lobbying in “Shattered Icon,” Austin Chronicle, October 24, 1997. Cecile Richards told me about the joy Ann experienced in traveling the world with her children. Shawn Morris told me about accompanying Ann to a speech to Democrats in Pueblo, Colorado, and Texas House representative Mark Strama wrote to Morris about Ann’s arrangement of a fund-raiser for him in New York. In the Richards Papers, I found Ann’s 1994 speech to the Southern Conference on Women’s History.
Dorothy Browne told me about Ann’s heart-rending call seeking an internship for a young woman she didn’t know the morning after she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. The letters of consolation and encouragement from Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Anita Perry, and Katie Couric are in the Richards Papers, as are her note to former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and her correspondence with her first love and husband of twenty-nine years, David Richards. Clark Richards told me about how her strength and resistance failed in six months in spite of her hope and the skill and treatment of doctors at M.D. Anderson.
