Dolph Briscoe Jr. (1923 - 2010)

Born 23 Apr 1923 in Uvalde, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 Jun 2010 in Uvalde, Texas, United States

Profile manager: Mark Burch [send private message]

Categories: Uvalde, Texas | Briscoe Rio Frio Ranch Cemetery, Uvalde, Texas | Texas Governors | Notables.

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Preceded by 40th Governor Preston Smith

Dolph Briscoe 41st Governor of Texas 1973—1979

Succeeded by 42nd Governor Bill Clements

Biography

Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman who was the 41st Governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Because of his re-election following an amendment to the Texas Constitution doubling the Governor's term to four years, Briscoe became both the last governor to serve a two-year term and the first to serve a four-year term.

A lifelong resident of Uvalde, Briscoe was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1948 and served as a state representative from 1949 to 1957. As part of the reform movement in state politics stemming from the Sharpstown scandal, Briscoe won election as governor in 1972. During his six years as governor, Briscoe presided during a period of reform in state government as Texas's population and commerce boomed. Following his two terms as governor, Briscoe returned to the ranching and banking business in Uvalde. He is recognized as having been one of the leading citizens of the state and a benevolent supporter of many civic, cultural, and educational institutions in Texas and the nation. Most recently before his death the former Texas governor established the Dolph and Janey Briscoe Fund for Texas History at the University of Texas at Austin. He was also the last Democratic Texan to be re-elected to the Governor's Mansion with his reelection landslide victory in 1974; fellow Democratic governors Mark White and Ann Richards lost their re-election bids respectively, in 1986 and 1994.

Dolph is the great grandnephew of Andrew Briscoe, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Sources

• Find A Grave Memorial# 54196158

• Dolph Briscoe on Wikipedia

• "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VDXF-XRS : 1 January 2015), Dolph Jr. Briscoe, 23 Apr 1923; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.

• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VS4N-6ZW : 20 May 2014), Dolph Briscoe, 27 Jun 2010; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

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