William P. Hobby, Jr.

William Pettus “Bill” Hobby, Jr., (born January 19, 1932) is a Texas Democratic politician who served a record eighteen years as the 37th Lieutenant Governor. He held that office from January 16, 1973 to January 15, 1991 for five unprecedented terms, he was the last lieutenant governor to serve a two-year term and the first to serve a full four-year term when the Texas Constitution lengthened terms for statewide elected officeholders to four years following the 1974 elections. The principal duty of the Texas lieutenant governor is to preside over the Texas State Senate.

Early Years

Born in Houston, he was the only son of William P. Hobby, Sr., and Oveta Culp Hobby. He was born into a political family. Both his grandfathers were in the Texas Legislature. His father was also a lieutenant governor of Texas and the governor from 1917 to 1921, and his mother was the first person appointed to the new position of U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican and native Texan. She served in that position from 1953 to 1955.^[1]

Hobby attended high school in Washington, D.C. at St. Albans School. He went on to attend Rice University in Houston. After graduation, he served in the United States Navy for four years in naval intelligence.

For many years, the Hobby family owned the now-defunct Houston Post, at which Hobby worked. He worked his way through the editorial department. When his father became ill in 1963, Hobby assumed editorial and managerial control of the newspaper. He remained president of the Post for twenty years – until the family sold the newspaper in 1983. It was absorbed by the Houston Chronicle (which is still publishing) in 1995. The Hobbys also started the first Houston radio station. ^[2]

Political career

His lengthy career in government began in 1959, when he served as parliamentarian of the Texas Senate under Lieutenant Governor Ben Ramsey. He was appointed to the Presidential Task Force on Suburban Problems and to the National Citizens Advisory Committee on Vocational Rehabilitation by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Governor Preston Smith appointed him to the Texas Air Control Board and to the chair of the Senate Interim Committee on Welfare Reform in 1969. Hobby resigned from the Texas Air Control Board in 1971 to run for Lieutenant Governor. ^[2]

Lieutenant Governor of Texas

He was elected lieutenant governor in November 1972 with 93 percent of the statewide vote, defeating token opposition. The position opened when the two-term incumbent Ben Barnes ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic gubernatorial primary and finished in third place. Hobby was an easy winner in most of his elections, including a high-profile race in 1982 in which he defeated the Bill Clements ticket-mate George Strake, Jr., also a Houston businessman, a former Secretary of State of Texas, and later the Republican state chairman. Hobby was re-elected in 1974 (when the term was extended to four years), 1978, 1982, and 1986, by wide margins, but did not run for a sixth term in 1990, and the lieutenant governorship passed to fellow Democrat Bob Bullock on January 15, 1991.

In addition to presiding over the state senate, Hobby served in numerous other political leadership capacities. These included appointments as chair of the Governor's Energy Advisory Council (GEAC) (1973–1977), the Texas Energy Advisory Council (TEAC) (1977–1979), the special advisory committee which recommended the Texas Sunset Act (1970s), and the Joint Advisory Committee on Educational Services to the Deaf (1976–1979); co-chair of the Texas Energy and Natural Resource Advisory Council (TENRAC) (1979–1983); vice-chair of the Criminal Justice Policy Council; ex officio member of the Texas Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations; and member of the Select Committee on Public Education (1983–1984). He was also chair of the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors in 1974. In 1985, he joined the mental health activist, Helen J. Farabee of Wichita Falls, in convincing the legislature to create the Department of Mental Health Mental Retardation, known as MHMR.^[3]

"Over his years as Lieutenant Governor, Hobby gained a reputation as an astute fiscal manager and parliamentary leader in the Texas Senate," according to a biographical sketch in the state archives.

"Some of the highlights of Hobby's years as Lieutenant Governor included reforms in the appropriations process such as zero-based budgeting, which required agencies to justify their budgets regardless of previous budget levels, and a requirement that the fiscal impact of bills be determined and reported to the Legislature in advance of passage. Also passed during his tenure were the indigent health care plan, the Texas water plan, and the school finance bill of 1984 that redistributed state funds among the state's school districts, required teacher testing, and created the controversial 'no-pass-no-play' rule."^[4]

He was honored by the state senate in a May 5, 1989 session.

After Politics

Hobby served as Chancellor of the University of Houston System from 1995 to 1997. He told Texas Monthly's Paul Burka that he had never expected the call.^[1]

Also, Hobby remained active in business. He served on the boards of directors for various firms, including Southwest Airlines, a position he held for 17 years. He was Trustee of the LBJ Foundation. He held the Sid Richardson Chair in Public Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and was also Radoslav Tsanoff Professor at Rice University. He continued to be active in civic affairs as a commissioner for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.^[2]

Personal life

Married to the former Diana Poteat Stallings, he is the father of Laura Poteat Hobby Beckworth, Paul William Hobby, Andrew Purefoy Hobby, and Katherine Pettus Hobby Gibson. Diana Hobby was co-editor of Studies in English Literature as well as was book editor of The Houston Post. As a couple, they were strong supporters of the arts and literature, libraries in particular. Democrat Paul Hobby attempted to extend the family's public service into a fourth generation; however, he narrowly lost the race for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in 1998 to the Republican nominee, Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

See also

• Hobby-Eberly Telescope

References

Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2002. [Austin, Tex.]: Texas Legislative Council, 2002.

Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997.