Mark White (politician, 1940)

Mark White (1987)

Mark Wells White (born March 17, 1940 in Henderson , Texas , † August 5, 2017 in Houston , Texas) was an American politician . He was governor of the state of Texas from 1983 to 1987 .

Early years and political advancement

Mark White's parents moved to Houston early on. There he attended public schools and then until 1958 the Lamar High School . He then studied law at Baylor University, among other things. In 1965 he was admitted to the bar. He then worked as the Assistant Attorney General of Texas and then as a lawyer in a Houston law firm for four years. He also became a member of the Texas National Guard.

White became a member of the Democratic Party . In 1973 he was named Secretary of State of Texas. In 1977 he became president of the National Association of Secretaries . From 1979 to 1983 he was Attorney General of Texas. In this capacity, too, he was a member of several associations of his professional colleagues in the other US states and was one of the governor's advisors on the fight against organized crime. In 1982 he was elected the new governor of his state.

Texas Governor

Mark White took up his new office on January 18, 1983. As governor, he supported reform of the education system and measures to promote economic development. In the education sector, among other things, teachers' salaries were increased and curricula improved. That brought Texas up a few places in the federal statistics. In the business sector, he continued the policy of his Republican predecessor Bill Clements by trying to bring foreign companies to Texas. In the gubernatorial elections of 1986 he was defeated by Bill Clements, who also became his successor.

Another résumé

After his governorship, Mark White returned to practice as a lawyer. In 1990, he unsuccessfully applied for a new nomination for his party for the office of governor. He became chairman of a foundation that supports Houston public schools ( Houston Independent School District Foundation ). He also became President of GeoVox Security, Inc. Mark White was married to Linda Gale Thompson, with whom he had three children. His son Andrew will run for the post of governor in the 2018 Democratic primary .

He died of a heart attack at his Houston home in August 2017 .

Others

In the ninth season of the series Dallas White appeared as governor of Texas in 1985.

Web links

• Mark White at the National Governors Association (English)
• Mark White in the Texas State Cemetery database
• Mark White in nndb (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Former Democratic Texas Gov. Mark White dies at 77
2. ^ Patrick Svitek: Democrat Andrew White, son of late Gov. Mark White, announces gubernatorial bid. In: Texas Tribune , December 7, 2017; Miguel Suazo Jasmine C. Lee, Sarah Almukhtar, Matthew Bloch: Texas Primary Election Results. In: The New York Times , March 6, 2018.