Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar [source]

Georgia
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was born in Georgia in 1798. He grew up on a cotton plantation and was a voracious reader. Though he was accepted to Princeton College, he chose not to attend. Instead he went into business, first as a merchant, then running a newspaper, but was unsuccessful at both. In 1823, he became secretary to Georgia Governor George Troup, his first foray into politics.

Tragedy
Lamar married Tabitha Jordan in 1826, but his wife’s health was poor and he soon resigned his post with Governor Troup to take care of her. Lamar reentered politics in 1829, running for state senator, but after his wife’s death in 1830, he declined to run for reelection. Instead, he turned to travel and writing, publishing some of his best known poems. After time had softened his grief, Lamar turned his attention to studying law and passed the bar in 1833. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1832 and 1834, but his brother’s suicide in 1834 set him wandering once again.

Texas
Lamar followed James Fannin, Jr., an old friend, to Texas in 1835. Lamar threw himself wholeheartedly into the Texas Revolution, writing poems supporting the cause. He had to return to Georgia to settle his affairs, but quickly returned in 1836 after the news of the Alamo and the massacre at Goliad to join the Texas army. On April 20, 1836, he was involved in a skirmish with the Mexican Army where he distinguished himself and was promoted to Colonel and given command of the cavalry. After the Battle of San Jacinto, Lamar was a vocal supporter of executing Santa Anna. He was briefly put in command of the entire Texas Army, but the men did not accept him and he quickly retired. Lamar ran for President in the first election for the Republic of Texas, but lost to Houston and became his Vice President. In 1838, with Houston ineligible and the other two candidates having committed suicide, Lamar won the Presidency almost unanimously.

President
Lamar succeeded Sam Houston as President of the Republic of Texas in 1838. Houston reportedly gave a three hour “Farewell Address,” after which Lamar was indisposed and his aide read his inaugural remarks. Lamar was a bit of a mixed bag as a president. He moved the capital to its present location in Austin (largely to get it out of Houston), and set aside land to fund higher education in Texas, what would become UT and A&M. However, he was also determined to drive the Cherokee and Comanche out of Texas, believing they needed to be exterminated to allow for white settlement. This led to several battles and massacres. Lamar also drastically drove up Texas’s debt, up to $7 million, one of the factors leading to Texas’s eventual annexation by the US. Houston was reelected in 1943, and attempted to undo much of what Lamar had done, including moving the capital back to Houston, which led to the very short Archives War. The same year, Lamar’s daughter, back in Georgia, died at only 16.

Post Presidency
Lamar retired for while to his plantation in Richmond, where he began writing poetry again. Lamar passionately defended slavery and eventually advocated for Texas’s annexation to the US because he thought it would preserve slavery in the US. He served in the US army during the Mexican-American War and as a state legislator for the first few years of Texas statehood. He remarried in 1851 to Henrietta Maffitt, and the couple had a daughter shortly thereafter. In 1857, Lamar published a poetry collection and, later that year, President Polk appointed Lamar as ambassador to Nicaragua, then simultaneously to Costa Rica. Lamar served in Managua for almost two years, before returning to Texas due to his failing health. He died in December of 1859.

Beauford Jester

Beauford Jester, 1949. [source]

School, War, and Law
Beauford Jester was born into a political family: his father had been lieutenant governor under Governor Culberson. Following in the tradition, Jester attended Harvard Law School, but put his studies on hold to serve in World War I as a captain in the Army. When the war ended, he returned to his studies at the University of Texas. He earned his law degree in 1920 and returned to Corsicana to start a practice and help run the family ranch. Jester served on the UT Board of Regents and, in 1933, became the youngest chair of that board. He undertook a massive building campaign, giving the UT campus many of its iconic buildings, including the UT Tower.

Campaign ad for Beauford Jester, [source]

Politics
In 1942, Jester was appointed to the Railroad Commission, a position he kept in the next election. From there, Jester campaigned for governor in the 1946 election. There was a wide field, but he won the Democratic primary and then the state election. Jester’s two terms saw a few milestones in Texas history, including the first budget over $1 million. He worked for increased funding for education, rural roads, and state parks. Jester supported anti-lynching measures and a repeal of the state poll tax, though he opposed civil rights legislation on the national level. He also supported making Texas a right-to-work state, preventing union dues from being deducted automatically from paychecks, and prohibiting mass picketing, all of which earned him a reputation as anti-union.

A Fateful Train Ride
A few months into his second term in office, Jester took the train from Austin to Houston to take advantage a vacation after the legislative session and complete what he called a “secret mission.” It had been a hectic session, with members of the legislature calling for Jester’s impeachment and Jester threatening a special session. Jester was supposed to stop at a Galveston clinic for a physical, something he needed after the stress of the session. He would never make it to his appointment. Sometime after leaving Austin late on the night of July 10th, Jester suffered a heart attack and died, presumably in his sleep. Despite traveling with several state troopers as bodyguards, Jester’s death wasn’t discovered until a porter attempted to wake him at the train’s arrival in Houston.

Allan Shivers [source]

Jester’s body was flown back to Austin, where a short funeral service was held in the Senate Chamber. It was then taken back to his home town of Corsicana where he was buried. Jester was succeeded as governor by a man with perhaps one of the most appropriate last names, Allan Shivers.

George H.W. Bush

By Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Naval Photographic Center. (09/18/1947 – ?) – File:George Bush – NARA – 558524.jpg, Public Domain, [source]

War and School
George H.W. Bush was one of those Texans who wasn’t born here, but got here as fast he could. He was born in Massachusetts in 1924 to a wealthy family. He enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18, putting off his studies to fight in World War II. He was commissioned as a naval aviator just three days before his 19th birthday, making him the youngest naval aviator to that time. He was discharged in 1945, having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. He married Barbara Pierce shortly before his discharge and the two settled into an apartment in New Haven, Connecticut while he attended Yale University. George W. Bush was born there in 1948, shortly before Bush graduated and the whole family moved to West Texas.

George HW Bush, seated in a Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft, c. 1944. U.S. Navy photo H069-13, Public Domain, [source]

Oil Boom
Bush used his father’s business connections to gain a foothold in the oil business. He started as a salesman for oil field equipment, but started his own company a few years later. During this time the young Bush family moved frequently, all over West Texas. Eventually, Bush’s company joined with another to create the Zapata Petroleum Company, where Bush would be president of a subsidiary, the Zapata Offshore Company. Bush took the subsidiary independent in 1959. By 1966, when he shifted to politics full time, Bush was a millionaire.

President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush at the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas August 23, 1984. NARA, Reagan Library, [source]

Politics
Bush got into Houston politics in 1963, when he was elected chairman of the Harris County Republican Party. The following year, with much urging from fellow Republicans, Bush ran against sitting Senator Ralph Yarborough and lost, though by a relatively small margin for a state that was still a Democrat stronghold. During the campaign, Bush spoke against President Johnson’s Civil Rights legislation, though he later said he regretted the hard line stance he had taken during the campaign and did later vote for Civil Rights bills. He did win the election to the US House of Representatives in 1966, serving two terms. In 1970, Nixon convinced Bush to run against Yarborough for the Senate again, but, once again, Bush lost. Nixon then appointed Bush as ambassador to the UN. After that followed a series of positions, based on the needs of Nixon and later Ford, including chairman of the Republican National Committee, Liaison to China, and head of the CIA. Despite their short terms, these positions helped to ground Bush’s foreign policy. In 1976, Carter was elected president and Bush was out of a job.

“Ready My Lips: No New Taxes!”
Bush returned to the business world after Carter’s election, but soon turned to running for President. Though he campaigned hard through 1979, he couldn’t compete with Ronald Reagan and formally dropped out in May of 1980. In a last minute decision, Reagan picked Bush as his running mate and Bush became the vice president in 1981. Bush spent much of his time outside the US, talking with leaders all over the world, but particularly in the USSR and former Soviet Bloc countries. After Reagan’s second term, Bush campaigned for president once again, most notably with the promise “Read My Lips: No New Taxes!” He won the 1988 election in a landslide. Bush excelled with his foreign policy. He continued to improve relations with the Soviet Union and former Soviet bloc countries. His presidency saw the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the USSR, marking the end of the Cold War, as well as the signing of NAFTA. It also saw the brief Gulf War in 1990, where the US joined with many other countries to liberate Kuwait from an invasion by Iraq. Bush had trouble gaining support for the war at first, but after its end was often criticized for not continuing it until the Iraq government was overthrown. Despite the criticisms, the incident led to an incredible surge in his popularity. It wouldn’t last. Reagan had left a large deficit and Bush was forced to work with Democrats to raise taxes to handle it. Breaking his promise of “No New Taxes” hurt him with the public and probably led to his loss of the 1992 election.

President Barack Obama meets with former President George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010. Photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza. [source]

“To Make Kinder the Face of the Nation”  
The loss of the 1992 election blindsided Bush. Though many signs pointed to his waning popularity, he still felt that he could win up until Election Day. After his defeat, he largely retired from politics, though not necessarily from the public eye. He continued to visit countries to improve relationships that he had helped build. He continued to be involved in causes he had begun as president, such as Points of Light, an organization that recognized ordinary Americans doing great things in their communities. He stayed in the background during his son’s presidency and continued to be reserved when it came to politics over the next years, though he did come out in support of the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and his son, Jeb Bush. Bush came to be good friends with former president Clinton and showed solidarity with former and current presidents. In the 2016 presidential election, he was an outspoken critic of Trump and said that he had voted for Hillary Clinton, despite saying in 2008 that he would campaign against her vigorously if she ever initiated a presidential bid. Bush suffered from Parkinson’s disease, though that didn’t keep him from living an active life, including many rounds of golf and sky diving on his 90th birthday. He passed away in December 2018 at the age of 94, and is buried at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, next to his wife Barbara. Many believe that as Reagan’s legacy begins to tarnish, Bush will be remembered as one of the most successful one term president in US history.

Choctaw Code Talkers

Members of the 142nd Regiment, including some of the Choctaw Code Talkers, ePhoto courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society [source]

Joining the War
In 1917, the US entered into World War I and men from around the country were mustered into service. The 142nd Infantry Regiment began as the 7th Infantry Regiment, Texas National Guard, then joined with the 1st Oklahoma Infantry Regiment to create the 142nd. The unit trained at Camp Bowie and was sent overseas in May of 1918. At this point, the war was far from won, especially since the Germans kept breaking the Allied codes.

A New Tool
Many of the men who came from Oklahoma were Native Americans, particularly from the Choctaw Nation. One day, Colonel Alfred Bloor overheard two of the men speaking Choctaw and realized that if he couldn’t understand them, how much more confused would the Germans be? With the Choctaw soldiers’ support, he set about training Choctaw Code Talkers. For the most part, the code talkers used very little code, since the Choctaw language was code enough. They did create code words for some things that the Choctaw language had no word for, such as “twice big group” for a battalion and “fast shooting gun” for a machine gun. The Choctaw Code Talkers did all this despite the fact that none of these men would be given the rights of citizens until 1924. Not to mention the fact that their children were being beaten in boarding schools for speaking the language that was helping win the war.

A Successful Test
On October 16, 1918, Bloor began the first combat test of the Choctaw Code Talkers. He used them to cover a delicate withdrawal of two companies of men which was completed successfully. A couple of days later, the Code Talkers were used heavily in an attack on Forest Ferme and the Germans were completely baffled, allowing the Allies to turn the tide of the battle. The Choctaw Code Talkers continued training, but with the end of the war only a month later, they never really got to use the codes they had devised, though they did lay the foundation for the heavy use of Native American Code Talkers in World War II. Altogether, 19 Choctaw men trained as Code Talkers. Though men from other nations used their native languages to confuse the Germans, only the Choctaw trained and created codes to do so in a systematic way, earning them the distinction of being the first Native American Code Talkers.

Delayed Recognition
The Choctaw Code Talkers have never earned the recognition that the Navajo Code Talkers would later receive in World War II. There were small write-ups in local newspapers about their unusual service after their return and in 1986, the Choctaw Nation honored them with Choctaw Medals of Valor, with France honoring them similarly shortly thereafter. It wasn’t until 2008 that these men were honored by the US Government, along with all the other Native Code Talkers, with Congressional Gold Medals.

442nd Regimental Combat Team

Go For Broke, DA Poster 21-91, US Army [source]. “Go for Broke” was the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

“Go For Broke”
The 442nd was the most decorated unit in WWII and is still the most decorated American unit in any war. It was composed entirely of Japanese-Americans from Hawaii and from the Japanese internment camps. The 442nd served with great bravery and distinction, even though they were repeatedly thrown into the heaviest fighting in Europe, living up to their motto “Go for Broke.” In October of 1944, the 442nd took two towns of the German border in almost two weeks of non-stop fighting and heavy casualties. After less than two days in reserve, they were ordered back in to rescue the “Lost Battalion.”

The Lost Battalion
Also known as the Alamo or Texas Battalion, the 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry was ordered to battle in the Vosges Mountains on October 23rd of 1944. By the 24th, they had been surrounded by German forces. Supplies were airdropped for the unit, but efforts to reach them failed. On October 24th, the 442nd were ordered in. After five days of battle, the 442nd was able to reach the Lost Battalion and bring out 211 men. In the course of the rescue, the 442nd suffered 800 casualties.

Recognition
Three members of the 442nd were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions rescuing the Lost Battalion. Originally these were lesser awards, but they were reviewed in the 1990s and awarded the Medal of Honor they should have gotten. Altogether, the 442nd was awarded 21 Medal of Honors and 9,486 Purple Hearts, leading to the nickname “Purple Heart Battalion.” In 1962, Texas Governor John Connally made the 442nd “Honorary Texans” in honor of their rescue of the Lost Battalion.

Sgt. Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez

Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez, circa 1965-1968 [source]

A Young Marine in Vietnam
Alfredo Cantu Gonzalez was born in 1946 in Edinburg, Texas. Right after graduating high school in 1965, he joined Marine Corps. He served for a year in Vietnam in 1966 before returning to the US as an instructor for the Marines. In 1967, he learned that most of his platoon had been killed in an ambush in Vietnam and requested to be sent back to the fight. In early 1968, he was involved in the Battle of Huế. From January 31st to February 4th, he led his men in clearing the area. Despite repeatedly receiving wounds, he continued to fight, eventually checking the North Vietnamese advance and destroying one of their fortifications. On February 4th, he was wounded by the last enemy rocket and passed away shortly after. For his actions in the Battle of Huế, Gonzalez was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, which was presented to his mother, Dolia Gonzalez, in October of 1969.

The guided missile destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) underway in the Atlantic Ocean, 2003 [source]

The USS Gonzalez
In 1996, the US Navy commissioned the destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), the first US ship named after a Mexican-American. Gonzalez’s mother has become a “mother” to the USS Gonzalez. The crew write letters to her and often call her during their deployments. They also save her a seat at most of the major ceremonies involving the ship. According to Dolia Gonzalez, “It means life in my blood; it’s for my boy. This is my life. My son is here with me.” 

Cmdr. Brian Fort, commanding officer of USS Gonzalez, presents Dolia Gonzalez with a painting of her son before turning command of the ship over to Cmdr. Lynn Acheson at Naval Station Norfolk. The ship’s crew commissioned the painting as a gift for Dolia Gozalez’s upcoming 80th birthday. [source]

The Texas “Horse Marines”

Continuing Conflict
Santa Ana may have been captured, but that didn’t mean Mexico agreed the war was over. Secretary of War Thomas Jefferson Rusk knew that Texas couldn’t let down her guard and, with so many miles of coastline, a water invasion seemed a likely event. He sent about 30 mounted rangers, commanded by Isaac Watts Burton to patrol a likely landing site on the north side of Matagorda Bay.

An Unlikely Strategy
The men heard of a Mexican ship in Copano Bay and headed to meet it. Pretending to be distressed soldiers, they waited for the ship to fly Mexican colors before responding. When the ship sent out a rescue boat, the Texans captured the captain and used the boat to board the ship with no resistance. A few weeks later they would use the ship to capture two more Mexican ships. All three ships were taken to Velasco as prizes, but eventually returned to their American owners.

A Household Phrase
The men were quickly dubbed the “Horse Marines,” a term that was apparently already in common usage to mean something (or someone) uncommon or impossible. For example, a group of mounted rangers capturing a ship. Though probably not inspired by the Texas Horse Marines, “I’m Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines” is still a fun tune from the post Civil War era that references the original usage of the phrase.

Albert Parsons

Martyr of the Haymarket Affair

Engraving of the Haymarket Affair from Harper’s Weekly [source]

Haymarket Square Bombing
On May 4th of 1886, a group of labor activists met in Haymarket Square in Chicago to protest abysmal working conditions and petition for legislation protecting workers. At 10:30pm, as the speeches were wrapping up, police began to disperse the crowd. A bomb was thrown into the police formation and confusion and gunfire reigned. Seven policemen and at least 4 protesters were killed and more than a hundred others were wounded. Eight men were eventually arrested and tried for the conspiracy. Four men were hanged, including Albert Richard Parsons, who had spoken earlier that night.

Albert Richard Parsons, c. 1880 [source]

Albert Parsons
Parsons was born in Alabama in 1848, but moved to Texas to live with his brother when he was five. When the Civil War broke out, he followed his brother into the Confederate Army, eventually serving in his brother’s brigade as a scout. After the war, he became a Radical Republican, advocating for African-American rights and even traveling around central Texas to registered newly freed slaves to vote. He married a mixed-race woman, Lucy Eldine Parsons, and the couple faced incredible prejudice and violence in Texas. In 1871, the Parsons moved to Chicago to work with the Labor movement. Albert Parsons attempted to run for public office, but had much more success as a union organizer. On May 1st, 1886, Parsons, his wife Lucy, and their children led a march of 80,000 people in support of the eight hour workday. A few days later, violence between police and workers prompted another rally, the May 4th Haymarket Square Affair.

The execution of August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, and George Engel on November 11th, 1887. Artist unknown. [source]

Trial and Execution
Parsons was charged in the Affair and gave himself up voluntarily, in solidarity with his fellow protesters. Throughout the trial, Parsons declared that he was innocent, even refusing to ask for mercy from Governor Richard J. Oglesby of Illinois, though Oglesby had commuted the sentences of two of the other men. Parsons was hanged with three other protesters. The four men were buried in the Forest Home/Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park and a monument was later erected. Governor John Peter Altgeld would later pardon the men still living, declaring that “the evidence does not show any connection whatsoever between the defendants and the man who threw [the bomb].”

Howard E Butts and H-E-B

By HEB Grocery Company, LP – http://www.hahmp.org/, Public Domain, source

Ask any Texan where they get their groceries and odds are good they’ll answer with three letters: H-E-B. These letters are the initials of founder Howard E. Butts. Born in Tennessee, Butts moved with his family to Texas when he was small. Butts grew up working in his mother’s small grocery store in Kerrville, TX and took over the store after returning from service in WWI. He shifted the model from credit-and-delivery to cash-and-carry, which was considered a risk at the time but proved wildly successful. Butts quickly began attempts to expand the store into a chain, but they failed until 1926, when he successfully opened a second store in Del Rio, TX. He would then open several more stores in the Rio Grande Valley, changing the name to Howard E Butts Grocery, and then, simply to H-E-B. The chain grew quickly and is now is ubiquitous throughout Texas and Northern Mexico. The chain is headquartered in San Antonio and offers a number of “Made in Texas” items. Today, the initials are often transformed into the chain’s slogan: “Here, Everything’s Better.”

Oveta Culp Hobby

Early Interest in the Law
Oveta Culp Hobby grew up in the world of law and politics. Her father, Ike Culp, had a law practice in Kileen, Texas and Hobby often stopped in his office to discuss his work and read his many law books. In 1919, Ike Culp served in the state legislature and brought 14 year old Oveta with him to Austin, where she was a keen observer of the legislature. After graduating college, she would return to Austin as the parliamentarian for the House of Representatives. She then became a clerk for several committees before turning to campaigning for Democratic candidates. In 1936, she married former governor William Hobby and worked as an editor for the Houston Post-Dispatch, which the couple later bought. Hobby threw herself into life in Houston, serving as the president of the League of Women Voters of Texas, on numerous boards for arts organizations, and on citizen’s committees.

“Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby, First Director, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, seated at desk.” (1942) Rice University: http://hdl.handle.net/1911/78559.

The WAACs
In 1941, the draft was invoked and women across the US wrote to Washington asking what they could do to help. Hobby was asked to chair the Women’s Interest Section to respond to these concerns. When war was declared in December, General Marshall asked her to come up with a list of jobs for women in the military and command the resulting Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. She crisscrossed the country encouraging women to enlist and fought discrimination in Washington to get the resources the WAACs needed. She expanded women’s roles in the army from 1 (nurses) to more than 200. Hobby earned the rank of colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her efforts. She resigned her post in 1945, completely exhausted by the work.

Col. Oveta Culp Hobby (right) talks with Auxiliary Margaret Peterson and Capt. Elizabeth Gilbert at Mitchel Field  (New York State) / World Telegram & Sun photo by Al Aumuller. 1943. [source]

Not Done Yet
Hobby returned to Houston after the war, working at the family’s newspaper and radio station, coordinating Armed Forces Day celebrations, contributing to philanthropic organizations, and fighting for civil rights for African-Americans in Houston. When Eisenhower ran for president in 1952, the Hobbys helped gather Democratic support for the Republican candidate. Eisenhower wanted Hobby in Washington and she returned, first as the chairwoman of the Federal Security Agency, then as the first Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (today the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education). Once again, Hobby was tasked with creating a new government agency from scratch. It wasn’t an easy task. As recorded by Time Magazine in 1953:

Oveta Culp Hobby being sworn in as the first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1953. Social Security Administration. [source]

“In the name of the President and the Public Health Service, she manages one of the world’s greatest medical research centers, provides operations for harelipped children and blue babies, maintains hospitals for merchant seamen and dope addicts, an insane asylum and a leprosarium. Through the Office of Education, she distributes funds to land-grant colleges and administers the teacher-student exchange program with foreign countries. She is legally concerned with the problem of tapeworm control among Alaskan caribou, with cancer research, and with the attitude of Congress toward fluoridation of children’s teeth. She prints Braille books, extends credit to deserving citizens, bosses the nation’s largest Negro university (Howard, in Washington), and brings out new editions of the Government’s most durable bestseller. (The Children’s Bureau’s InfantCare, which is published in eight languages, has sold 8,519,000 copies over the past 39 years.)”

Retirement (Sort of)
In 1955, Governor Hobby fell ill and Hobby felt that she needed to return to her family. She resigned her post in Washington, which prompted Eisenhower to call a press conference to express his sorrow at her leaving. Hobby returned to the family newspaper business, but would continue to serve on many, Many, MANY, committees, boards, and commissions. In 1967, she received one of her favorite honors: the library at Central Texas College in her hometown of Killeen, Texas was named after her. Hobby died in 1995, leaving an incredible legacy of service to her country.