Jack English Hightower

Jack English Hightower (born September 6, 1926) is a former Democratic U.S. representative from Texas. Born in Memphis, the seat of Hall County in west Texas, Hightower received a bachelor of arts degree from Baylor University in Waco in 1949, an LL.B. from Baylor Law School in 1951, and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, in 1992. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1951 and served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946; he was district attorney of the Forty-sixth Texas Judicial District from 1951 to 1961, and was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1953 to 1955.

Hightower was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election in 1961, and was a member of the Texas Senate from 1965 to 1974. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1968, and was elected to the Ninety-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses, having served from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1985. In the year of Watergate, Hightower unseated the conservative Republican Representative Robert "Bob" Price of Pampa, the seat of Gray County.

Hightower was a fairly liberal Democrat, which seemingly made him an odd fit for the 13th, a monstrous and mostly rural district stretching from Amarillo to Wichita Falls. The district had become increasingly friendly to Republicans at the national level, though Democrats continued to hold most local offices well into the 1990s. However, he managed to win four more times, largely by working this rural district well. However, in 1984, he was toppled by Republican challenger Beau Boulter of Amarillo, largely due to Ronald Reagan's massive landslide that year.

He was the first assistant attorney general of Texas under Attorney General James Albon "Jim" Mattox from 1985 to 1987. Hightower was elected to the Texas Supreme Court (1988; 1992–1995) and appointed to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science by President Bill Clinton, having served from August 9, 1999–July 19, 2004.

He is a resident of Austin. He and his wife, Colleen, have three daughters: Ann, Amy, and Allison. He is also the grandfather of Super Bowl XLIV MVP Quarterback Drew Brees.

Fraternity

Jack Hightower is a freemason, and served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas, AF&AM in 1972. He is a member of Vernon Lodge #655. As of July, 2008, he is the oldest living Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas.

See also

References

• Jack English Hightower at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-03-31