Dining at the Governor's Mansion PDF Download

Author: Carl McQueary
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1585442542
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
You are invited to dine at the Texas Governor’s Mansion, to be the guest of the first ladies and two women governors of the Lone Star State, as they offer (through author Carl McQueary) some of their finest recipes and favorite stories of life in the heart of Austin. The ingredients in Dining at the Governor’s Mansion include one part culinary history and one part social history, along with a generous helping of recipes cooked by Texas first ladies, or (in later years) their personal chefs, from the completion of the Austin mansion in 1856 down to the present. Carl McQueary’s folksy cookbook offers a look at food and its preparation, entertaining at the Mansion, and the challenges the women faced keeping the old home together. It includes brief biographical sketches of the first ladies, who usually orchestrated food service for both family meals and social or political events, and considerable background on the mansion’s infrastructure challenges, interior decoration, landscaping, and restoration. The book also provides an intimate portrait of Texas life during the last century and a half, since the trends in food enjoyed by the governors and their families, especially in their private lives, have been surprisingly similar to those enjoyed by even the humblest of Texas citizens. Most of all, it presents dozens of tasty, appetizing, historic recipes tested by McQueary in his own kitchen and annotated for the contemporary cook. No matter how you slice it up—as Texas history, food history, women’s hisory, or cookbook—Dining at the Governor’s Mansion offers a palate-pleasing smorgasbord for your reading, dining, or gift-giving pleasure.

Author: Elizabeth Whitlow
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574418777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Identified with Texas is the first published biography of Texas Governor Elisha Marshall Pease (1812-1883), presented by historian Elizabeth Whitlow as a dual biography of Pease and his wife, Lucadia Niles Pease (1813-1905). Born in Connecticut in 1812, E. M. Pease came to Texas in 1835, where he became, in his own words, “identified with Texas.” Pease volunteered to fight in the first battle of the Revolution at Gonzales, and he served with the Texan Army at the Siege of Bexar. Afterward, his career in public service began as a clerk at the Convention of 1836, and the first draft of the Republic’s Constitution is in his handwriting. Pease served in the first three state legislatures after Texas joined the Union in 1845, was elected governor in 1853 and re-elected in 1855, and returned to the governorship as an interim appointee from 1867 to 1869 during Reconstruction. His achievements in all these positions were substantial. Pease was also a highly successful and respected lawyer and a large landholder with properties in Travis and many other Texas counties. He owned slaves, but he did not take a strong proslavery position, and when secession came in 1861, he continued to support the Union. He and his family remained in Austin during the Civil War, and when it ended, he did his best to heal wounds and restore Texas to the United States in a second appointment as governor. Lucadia Niles Pease married Marshall Pease in 1850 and came to Texas as a newlywed. She was known as the Governor’s “Lady.” Moreover, her early, independent travel and her stated position as a “woman’s rights woman” in the 1850s, as well as her support for sending a daughter away to college in the 1870s to earn a degree, all serve as markers of her intelligence and the strength of her convictions. To tell their story, Whitlow mined thousands of letters and papers saved by the Pease family and housed in the Austin History Center of the Austin Public Library, as well as in the Governor’s Papers at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. E. M. Pease observed near the end of his life that he had been “one of the people of Texas since the colonial days of Stephen F. Austin.” He and Lucadia left an extraordinary historical record that documents the development of Texas.

Author: Don Carleton
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1953480012
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1033

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William P. “Will” Hobby Sr. and Oveta Culp Hobby were one of the most influential couples in Texas history. Both were major public figures, with Will serving as governor of Texas and Oveta as the first commander of the Women’s Army Corps and later as the second woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. Together, they built a pioneering media empire centered on the Houston Post and their broadcast properties, and they played a significant role in the transformation of Houston into the fourth largest city in the United States. Don Carleton’s dual biography details their personal and professional relationship—defined by a shared dedication to public service—and the important roles they each played in local, state, and national events throughout the twentieth century. This deeply researched book not only details this historically significant partnership, but also explores the close relationships between the Hobbys and key figures in twentieth-century history, from Texas legends such as LBJ, Sam Rayburn, and Jesse Jones, to national icons, including the Roosevelts, President Eisenhower, and the Rockefellers. Carleton's chronicle reveals the undeniable impact of the Hobbys on journalistic and political history in the United States.

Author: Carol O'Keefe Wilson
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574415530
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
In 1915 Governor James Ferguson began his term in Texas bolstered by a wave of voter enthusiasm and legislative cooperation so great that few Texans anticipated anything short of a successful administration. The inexperienced politician had overcome an underprivileged childhood through the sheer force of his intellect and hard work and had proven himself a capable leader . . . or so it seemed. He had beaten the odds imposed by his inexperience when he successfully launched a campaign based on two key elements: his appeal to the rural constituency and a temporary hiatus from the effects of the continuous Prohibition debate. In reality, Jim Ferguson had shrewdly sold a well-crafted image of himself to Texas voters, an image of pseudo-neutrality, astuteness, and prosperity that was almost entirely false. The new governor was “in over his head” from the moment he took office, carrying to that post a bevy of closely guarded secrets about his personal finances, his business acumen, his relationship with Texas brewers, and his volatile personality. Those secrets, once unraveled, gave clearance to an investigation of his affairs and ultimately led to charges brought against Governor Ferguson via impeachment. Refusing to acknowledge the judgment against him, Ferguson launched a crusade for regained power and vindication that encompassed more than two decades. In 1925 he reclaimed a level of political influence and doubled the Ferguson presence in Austin when he assisted his wife, Miriam, in a successful bid for the governorship. That bid had been based largely on a plea for exoneration, but it was soon obvious that the couple’s attempts to clear the family name did not include running a scandal-free administration. Merging a love of local history with the advantages of being a Bell County native and a seasoned auditor, Carol O’Keefe Wilson has gathered and dissected financial statements, documents in evidence, trial testimony, newspaper accounts, and other source material to expose a life story based largely on deceit. In the Governor’s Shadow unravels this complex tale, exposing the shocking depth of the Fergusons’ misconduct. Often using the Fergusons’ own words, Wilson weaves together the incontestable evidence that most of the claims that Jim Ferguson made during his life regarding his conduct, intentions, achievements, and abilities, were patently false. The existence and scope of that dishonestly was, without question, the very root of the controversy that will forever cloud the Ferguson legacy.

Author: Barry A. Crouch
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292742479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
In the tumultuous years following the Civil War, violence and lawlessness plagued the state of Texas, often overwhelming the ability of local law enforcement to maintain order. In response, Reconstruction-era governor Edmund J. Davis created a statewide police force that could be mobilized whenever and wherever local authorities were unable or unwilling to control lawlessness. During its three years (1870–1873) of existence, however, the Texas State Police was reviled as an arm of the Radical Republican party and widely condemned for being oppressive, arrogant, staffed with criminals and African Americans, and expensive to maintain, as well as for enforcing the new and unpopular laws that protected the rights of freed slaves. Drawing extensively on the wealth of previously untouched records in the Texas State Archives, as well as other contemporary sources, Barry A. Crouch and Donaly E. Brice here offer the first major objective assessment of the Texas State Police and its role in maintaining law and order in Reconstruction Texas. Examining the activities of the force throughout its tenure and across the state, the authors find that the Texas State Police actually did much to solve the problem of violence in a largely lawless state. While acknowledging that much of the criticism the agency received was merited, the authors make a convincing case that the state police performed many of the same duties that the Texas Rangers later assumed and fulfilled the same need for a mobile, statewide law enforcement agency.

Author: Molly Ivins
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1400033136
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger. A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job. With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya's winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush's likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with 'the vision thing,' wait till you meet this one." Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American. From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush " The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record." ¸ Bush's welfare record: "Texas pols like to 'git tuff' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month." ¸ Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment." ¸ Bush's environmental record: Since Governor Bush's election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants. ¸ Bush's military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard's anti-drug poster boy, one of life's little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. 'George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,' reads a Guard press release of 1970. 'Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.'"

Author: Jessica Brannon-Wranosky
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623495288
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson’s political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women’s enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Bruce A. Glasrud have brought together top scholars to shine a light on this unique chapter in Texas history. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. Kay Reed Arnold then follows the Ferguson story into the halls of academia at the University of Texas—which Ferguson threatened to close—sparking a fierce response by faculty, alumni, students, and, especially, the Women’s Committee for Good Government. Rachel M. Gunter further places the Ferguson impeachment in the context of the suffrage movement. Leah LaGrone Ochoa then explores Ferguson’s hot-and-cold relationship with the Texas press, and Mark Stanley examines the impact of the impeachment on Texas politics in the decades that followed. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Ferguson's impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson reveals how power ebbed and flowed in twentieth-century Texas and includes several annotated primary documents critical to understanding the Ferguson impeachment.

Author: Carl H. Moneyhon
Publisher: Texas Christian University Press
ISBN: 9780875654058
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Volume two of The Texas Biography Series reveals Edmund J. Davis, the heroic man who stood in strong opposition to his peers and better reflected the ideals of the nation than those of so many of his contemporaries. Carl H. Moneyhon presents a long overdue favorable account of a man who was determined to make progressive changes and stand in stark opposition to the state’s political elite. What moved this man to take such a dramatic stand against his political peers? Moneyhon strives to answer this very question. Edmund J. Davis was not only a part of the political elite during the Civil War, but he also opposed secession. He refused to follow most of Texas’ leaders and actively opposed the Confederacy by attempting to bring Texas back to the Union. After the war, Davis was a leader in reconstructing the state based on true free labor and pursued progressive and egalitarian policies as governor of Texas. Through the entire reconstruction process Davis faced extreme Confederate hostility. After leaving the governor’s mansion an unpopular man and politician, he still remained dedicated to changing Texas. He worked to change his adopted state until the day he died.

Author: Greg Abbott
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501144898
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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"The Republican governor of Texas describes the devastating accident that caused his paralysis, his achievements as Texas' longest-serving attorney general and his bold plan to restore America to international prominence through Constitutional improvements and leadership,"--NoveList.

Author: James L. Haley
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574418688
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 673

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Book Description
Utilizing many sources new to publication, James L. Haley delivers a most readable and enjoyable narrative history of Texas, told through stories—the words and recollections of Texans who actually lived the state’s spectacular history. From Jim Bowie’s and Davy Crockett’s myth-enshrouded stand at the Alamo, to the Mexican-American War, and to Sam Houston’s heroic failed effort to keep Texas in the Union during the Civil War, the transitions in Texas history have often been as painful and tense as the “normal” periods in between. Here, in all of its epic grandeur, is the story of Texas as its own passionate nation. “Texas native Haley does an outstanding job of narrating the outsized and dramatic history of the Lone Star State. John Steinbeck observed, ‘Like most passionate nations, Texas has its own private history based on, but not limited by, facts.’ Cognizant of this, Haley takes pains to separate folklore from fact. He's a good storyteller, but then it's hard to go wrong with the colorful characters he has to work with: pioneer nationalists Sam Houston and Davy Crockett, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lundy, a wagonload of liquored-up turn-of-the-century oilmen and such latter-day heroes as Lyndon Johnson, John Connally and Janis Joplin.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review