WHITE PRAISED AS MAN OF PRINCIPLE
Former governor left a legacy ‘that made a difference’ in Texas
Former Texas Gov. Mark White was remembered Wednesday for living his public life by the simplest of rules — do the right thing for the most people and accept the consequences.
For White, who died Saturday at 77, that meant he had no regrets for pushing an ambitious education agenda and the taxes needed to fund it — even as he realized that gaining a second term as governor would be an uphill climb.
“He cared about things that made a difference,” said the Rev. Ed Young, pastor at Second Baptist Church and a longtime friend. “He cared about the least, the last, and the lost because he came from the lowest segment of society. He left behind a legacy that … lasts all the way to this day.”
White’s service Wednesday at Second Baptist Church drew hundreds of high-profile
Houstonians and a broad swath of dignitaries past and present, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, former President George W. Bush — twice elected Texas governor — and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the state’s longest-serving governor.
White, who also served as Texas attorney general and secretary of state, will lie in state in the Texas Capitol Rotunda on Thursday before being buried in a private ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
One of the last Democrats to lead the state, White had many friends from across the political spectrum, drawn into his orbit by his good nature, personal warmth, and unstinting interest in the public good, friends and family recalled.
He came from an era when centrism was not uncommon regardless of party and partisanship was no bar to close working relationships.
“Mark envisioned a Texas where all children were welleducated,” said Bush, who delivered one of the eulogies. “Mark did not serve to assuage his ego or advance his social standing. He served to lead the people of Texas to a better future. He was a fine Texan and a good and decent man to whom we’re all grateful.”
Rejected mediocrity
Bush recalled several visits with White during his own time in office a decade later, and in casual conversation it became clear how much White had enjoyed his time in the spotlight and how specially suited he was for the role.
“He enjoyed setting the agenda for our state,” Bush said. “A governor must be able to see beyond the horizon. A governor must set priorities and lay out clear goals and make tough decisions to achieve them. This Mark White did. He insisted on high expectations and refused to accept mediocrity.”
Despite some tough times during recessions and oil busts, White remained the perpetual optimist, Bush said.
“Mark said he would never give up on this state,” he said.
White placed the education of Texas children at the summit of his goals. He came to office in 1983, a time when the state’s school system compared poorly to those of other large states and whose teachers received mbarrassingly low salaries.
He pushed through reforms aimed at boosting student performance, including the “no pass, no play” rule that still today requires students to have passing grades before playing sports.
The pushback against some of those measures was costly. White was defeated in 1986 by the man he had unseated, Bill Clements, whose motivation in running again often was said to be avenging his earlier defeat.
Luci Baines Johnson delivered a tearful remembrance of White, whose work toward education reform she compared to the civil rights legislation pushed by her father, President Lyndon B. Johnson. She said her father was told that the Democratic Party might suffer electoral consequences that could last a generation for ensuring voting and other rights for minorities. “He said, ‘If that’s the price I have to pay, I’ll gladly pay it,’” Johnson said. “So it was for Mark’s support for landmark education legislation in Texas. He was ultimately defeated for having done so, but like my father, he had no regrets.”
A change of heart
Johnson said White was not hesitant to stake out a position, but he was willing to change his mind. That was the case with capital punishment, which White came to oppose because of inequities in the quality of defense representation, she said.
“Do right and suffer the consequences — these words have been repeated over and over in tribute to Mark White,” Johnson said. “In a world where we quarrel about where people stand, we knew where Mark stood.”
In his bid to be Texas attorney general, White beat fellow Houston lawyer James A. Baker III in the latter’s lone bid for elected office. Baker went on to serve in the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
White was the last male Democrat elected governor and the last to come from Houston. His term marked the end of centrist rule, with fellow Democrat Ann Richards — who defeated him in the primary race — offering a final liberal salvo four years later before the state became a Republican bastion.
Like governors before and since, White was faced with the Herculean task of improving Texas education amid a surging population. He fought for a teacher pay raise and the taxes to pay for it, believing it was the duty of state government to shoulder the bulk of the financial burden for K-12 education. In the years since, however, state support has dropped from two-thirds to about a third of the cost.
White’s determination to pass education reforms not only brought teachers better compensation but also reduced class size and instituted a broad system of accountability.
White believed it to be axiomatic that minimal educational attainment trumped participation in sports, a notion which at the time was considered heresy across much of the state. The resulting policy was roundly attacked by many coaches, parents, administrators and school trustees. Likewise, teachers disliked the new regime of student tests that became standardized and mandatory. Yet both have remained state policy ever since.
Increased taxes
White’s tenure coincided with the oil and real estate bust of the 1980s. The resulting drop in revenue meant that new taxes totaling $4.6 billion had to be imposed if the education reforms and other important measures were to be realized. He accepted responsibility for the increase, knowing it made re-election less likely.
White’s tenure was notable for the appointment of a record number of women and minorities to public office. He also pushed for greater attention to consumer issues, and for the diversification of the Texas economy, especially luring more high-tech industries.
He once described the guiding principle of good government as “basic and uncomplicated. It asks two questions before any others: Is it right? Is it fair?”
The son of a schoolteacher and a dock worker, White graduated from Lamar High School in Houston and received undergraduate and law degrees from Baylor University, which he passionately supported and served in later years.
After leaving public office, he worked as a lawyer in the firm of Reynolds, White, Allen & Cook, and in a variety of business ventures. He also served on numerous boards, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he was treated in recent years for liver cancer.