The Papers of Governor William P. Clements, Jr.


Finding Guide 

 

Introduction


The personal and official state papers of William P. Clements, Jr., were given to Texas A&M University by Mr. Clements after the end of his second term as Governor of Texas in 1991. Mr. Clements personal papers include all those created and accumulated during his tenure as Deputy Secretary of Defense under Presidents Nixon and Ford as well as voluminous alphabetical correspondence and subject files between 1972 and 1991. A large body of campaign records from his three campaigns for Governor of Texas are included as are records relating to his work with the Boy Scouts of America, the Board of Regents of Southern Methodist University, and SEDCO (his oil drilling company).


The official state papers are by law the property of the Texas State Archives and are housed at Texas A&M University where they are being processed for use by researchers and others interested in state government and other state developments, especially during the two terms of Governor Clements, 1979-1983 and 1987-1991.


All of the papers are being transferred to acid and lignin free folders and boxes, and detailed finding aids are being prepared for each series. Those finding aids will be made available on the INTERNET as they are completed.


A finding aid exists for part of Governor Clements personal papers and is available in paper copy in the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University. A complete finding aid will be prepared later and made available on the INTERNET.


Texas A&M University also holds the personal papers of Rita Crocker Clements (Mrs. William P. Clements, Jr.) as first lady of Texas and as an early member of the Republican Party of Texas. A preliminary inventory exists for part of these records and is available in paper copy at the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University. A complete finding aid will be prepared later and made available on the INTERNET.