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Former Texas Governor Ann Richards Dies 
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006 

Austin, Texas (AP) -- Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and
flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political
celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family
spokeswoman said. She was 73.

She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said.
Richards was found to have esophageal cancer in March and underwent
chemotherapy treatments.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics
to help others � especially women and minorities who were often
ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.'
I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government
to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January
1995.

She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to
Republican George W. Bush.

Her family said as governor she was most proud of two actions that
probably cost her re-election. She vetoed legislation that would allow
people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and "cop-killer
bullets." She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed the
destruction of the environment over the Edwards Aquifer.

She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the
1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state
treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them
that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards
and in high heels."

Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H.
Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George,
he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that
nominated Bill Clinton for president.

Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over
millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a
half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by
holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A
woman's place is in the dome."

In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the
"New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts
than any of her predecessors.

She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first
crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first
disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first
teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the
fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female
officers.

She polished Texas' image, courted movie producers, championed the
North American Free Trade Agreement, oversaw an expansion of the state
prison system, and presided over rising student achievement scores and
plunging dropout rates.

She took time out to celebrate her 60th birthday by earning her
motorcycle driver's license.

Throughout her years in office, her personal popularity remained high.
One poll put it at more than 60 percent the year she lost to Bush.

"I may have lost the race," Richards said after the defeat. "But I
don't think I lost the good feelings that people have about me in this
state. That's tremendously reassuring to me."

Richards went on to give speeches, work as a commentator for CNN and
serve as a senior adviser in the New York office of Public Strategies
Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm.

In her last 10 years, Richards worked for many social causes and
helped develop the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders,
scheduled to open in Austin in 2007.

Born in Lakeview, Texas, in 1933, Richards grew up near Waco, married
civil rights lawyer David Richards and spent her early adulthood
volunteering in campaigns and raising four children. She often said
the hardest job she ever had was as a public school teacher at Fulmore
Junior High School in Austin.

Richards served on the Travis County Commissioners Court in Austin for
six years before jumping to a bigger arena in 1982. Her election as
state treasurer made her the first woman elected statewide in nearly
50 years.

But politics took a toll. It helped break up her marriage. And public
life forced her to be remarkably candid about her 1980 treatment for
alcoholism.

"I had seen the very bottom of life," she once recalled. "I was so
afraid I wouldn't be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my
zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn't. Recovery turned out to
be a wonderful thing."

The 1990 election was rough. Her Democratic primary opponent,
then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, accused her of using illegal drugs.
Williams, an oilman, banker and rancher, spent millions of his own
money on the race she narrowly won.

After her unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bush, Richards
said she never missed being in public office.

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was
going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.

"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

Richards' survivors include her four children, Cecile Richards, Daniel
Richards, Clark Richards and Ellen Richards; their spouses; and eight
grandchildren.

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