Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe has died, state government officials said Sunday.
Briscoe, 87, was governor between 1973-79, according to the Texas library archives. Briscoe became governor after promising to clean up a scandal-tainted state government, the library said on its website.
Gov. Rick Perry said Briscoe was a mentor and a leader who put the state's needs first.
"He understood the importance of limited government and low taxes as a way to guard individual liberty and encourage the economic growth that creates jobs for families," Perry said in a statement.
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Always remember hearing a PSA on the radio quoting him: "This is Dolph Briscoe, drive friendly." Seemed like some good advice at the time that is still good today.
Crap...when I saw the headline "Former Texas Governor Dies" I was hoping it was that anti-American traitor Bush.
Get a job Bill.....
Stay classy
In that case, the headline would have read, "Unindicted War Criminal Dies"
"Unindicted War Criminal" applies to every political leader of practically every major (and many minor) power in world history.
Bill, you are either an idiot or a troll......probably both.
me too
rick perry said that? really? this texan says that's BS.
Well you see when some one dies you say good things about them and refrain from discussing your differences in politics, even if they were democrats as the good govenor was. Besides, this was the 70's, Texas was twice as die hard democratic in the 70's/80s as it was when it became republican in the clinton years.
Complete agreeance. All politicians serving now should go the way of Sen. Byrd. Let them all cross that line to taday, puleeze God!!!
damn!me too!
thought GWB had kicked the can!can only hope he does soon though!
it would be so pleasant to see the leader who is the single stupidest leader in the history of mankind die!
fwiw,good riddance to him and his family when he does
wait, Obama isn't done yet! The do nothing president will soon be a lame duck president come nov.
Good grief, people hoping for the death of a President whose politics they didn't like?
What happened to Fox News's normal sense of decorum?
Oh... it's CNN. My mistake. Carry on then, crazies! Still mad at old Bush, I see. Probably Palin too.
Briscoe wasn't the worst governor we had. Texas had some real problems with leadership just after his tenure. Today, Texas is led very competently. Rick Perry is hardly an inspiring figure, but conservatives rarely need one. They just need some sane spending policies and good leadership in a crisis, which is why Perry continues to be reelected despite his personal unpopularity.
Bush was actually an even better governor and I think he was a better President than we've had in a very long time. I don't really dig Obama's policies, but I, like most people who don't understand CNN, would never hope for his death. That's just creepy and pathetic.
I think you had a typo: best –> worst. Seriously. What did he do that was so much better than Clinton or his own dad, or his dad's boss (Reagan), since those are the only presidents you have to compare him to in the last 30 years. If you're comparing him to Obama then you're just being silly - Obama has been a middle of the road slightly conservative president, under *any* objective evaluation. His "policies" that you don't dig are so far from being liberal that it's ridiculous that so many neo-cons are painting them as ultra-left wing liberal policies. I don't see us out of Guantanamo, I don't see the Patriot Act rescinded, I don't see gays being allowed in the military, I do see naked body scanners being added into our airports blatantly violating our privacy rights guaranteed by the 4th Amendment. How can anyone call all this "liberal"? Oh, the healthcare reform you say? I call BS. Obama may have wanted a single payer system, but what we actually got is the furthest thing from a liberal European-style health care system, with the continuation of health decisions being made by corporations with a direct conflict of interest. That is not liberal. So please use your head before you start accusing Obama's current policies of being out of whack with your beloved Bush. He's really not that different when you actually examine it...
RIP Briscoe.
Cleaned up Texas politics? Uhhh, not really. I remember reading about an FM (Farm to Market) road that was paved only because Briscoe's ranch was at the end of that road (no other ranches were on that road). I also remember the magazine, Texas Monthly, once wrote the following ficticious and humorous statement from Briscoe at a UT graduation ceremony (but it kinda summed up his position rather nicely), "When I look out upon all your smiling faces, I think "DAMN, you could each be 4 yards of paved road!"
That was probably the most impersonal, unfeeling statement about the recently dead I've ever heard. At a time when a human being has just died, how is it possible you can insert an "economic growth" comment. Somebody wants to get re-elected more than honor the dead.
Brisco idea of limitied goverment was big prisons and poor services from your state.He was no where neer as bad as LBJ or eather of the Bush's but hay, there haven't been any good public servants in Texas (or in D.C.) in my life.That is what you get in this county.Better just learn to be screwed.
IT IS A VERY SAD DAY IN TEXAS TODAY.
MAY MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS BE WITH HIS FAMILY.
HERE WE GO WITH POLITICS. BILL WHITE HAS MY VOTE AFTER READING ALL THE COMPLAINTS PEOPLE HAVE... LET THIS GUY REST IN PEACE. HE BROUGHT MANY GAS AND OIL JOBS TO TEXAS IF YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH.....
RIP Gov. Briscoe. My heart felt condolences to his family.
Erik
Obama has been a middle of the road slightly conservative president, under*any* objective evaluation.
______________________________
your a freaking dumba$$
"your a freaking dumba$$"...it's "YOU"RE a freaking dumba$$". If YOU'RE going to call someone names, at least do it intelligently. As it turns out, YOU'RE the freaking dumba$$. I learned the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE in elementary school...it's time you learned it too.
Disted, Briscoe an interview, contends that he could have easily destroyed Bill Clements (R) in the 1978 general election if he had won the primary that year, which could have given him 10 years.
I did some good things as governor during the 6 years he was in Austin:
*the most extensive ethics and financial disclosure bill in state history
* passage of the Open Meetings and Open Records legislation
* adding $4 billion in new state funds for public education and higher education, and increased teacher salaries by the highest percentage in history and increased salaries for state employees.
* appointed a large number of women and minorities than any previous administration including appointing the first African American members to state boards and the first African American district judge.
* expanding services to handicapped Texans by the department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and established the first toll-free hotline for runaway children.
"...... appointing the first African American members to state boards and the first African American district judge."
And you think this was a good thing??
Oh, and what good things did YOU do as governor?