Texans at center of past GOP dramas

Texans have found themselves in the middle of some serious drama in Republican National Conventions in years past.

Here’s a look back at memorable moments involving former Gov. John Connally, future President George H.W. Bush, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

Ted Cruz

The Houston Republican became Donald Trump’s most significant primary challenger in 2016. In May, Cruz would drop out of the race, but not before winning 11 states and amassing the secondhighest number of delegates in a battle that had frequently turned bitter.

Still, when it came time for the convention in Cleveland, Cruz was given a prime-time speaking spot on the third night of the conven

tion, just before Mike Pence would speak.

When Cruz was called on stage, he congratulated Trump on his victory, but boos rained down on him as it became clear he would not endorse Trump. The next day, Cruz defended his decision by saying, “I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father.”

Ron Paul

In 2012, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul ran for president against eventual nominee Mitt Romney. Although he lost, Paul built a passionate following with his Libertarian views.

While Paul was offered a chance to speak at the convention, he had to agree to endorse Romney and to have his speech first reviewed by the Romney camp.

“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Paul told the New York Times then. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”

After negotiations broke down, Romney’s team when to Plan B — making a video tribute to Paul that resembled a movie trailer.

George H.W. Bush

In 1980, when Houston’s George H.W. Bush arrived in Detroit, he did not expect that he would leave the city as Ronald Reagan’s running mate.

The former CIA director had lost to Reagan in the primary, but Reagan had not named a vice president as the convention started. Reagan and his team were negotiating with former President Gerald Ford about the position late into the evening when the deal fell through. At 11:38 p.m., Reagan called Bush to see if he wanted the position.

“No one was more surprised than I was when I answered the phone in my hotel suite and Ronald Reagan was on the other end of the line,” Bush said in his book “All The Best.”

Reagan would go to the floor of the convention just past midnight to announce that Bush would be his vice presidential pick.

In joining the Reagan ticket,

Bush gave an acceptance speech of less than seven minutes on the final night of the convention.

John Connally

Conventions in the 1970s were very different. In 1976, Ronald Reagan took to the floor of the convention to challenge the renomination of President Gerald Ford. Although Ford appeared to have enough delegates to win, Reagan triggered a procedural vote that was seen as a key test to whether Ford would survive.

It was right before that vote that former Texas Gov. John Connally was tasked with delivering a speech to distracted delegates in Kansas City as vote wrangling was ongoing.

Connally had been a Democrat as governor, but three years before his speech he had switched to the Republican Party. There was a lot riding on the speech. Ford still hadn’t named a running mate, and Connally was seen as a potential vice presidential candidate that could help Ford win Southern states against Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter.

But Connally’s speech received mostly polite applause as he failed to mention Ford or Reagan by name during the nearly 30-minute talk. Texas Monthly would call the speech “a clunker,” and Ford bypassed Connally, instead picking U.S. Sen. Bob Dole to be his running mate. Connally would run for president in 1980, but his campaign never got far off the ground.