Politics &amp; Policy

August 1, 1986

Mack Wallace, Railroad Commissioner, Wants to Save the World

Tapped by destiny, one man in Austin is forging an unlikely alliance between Texas oilmen and the friends of Israel.

By Emily Yoffe

July 1, 1986

Primary Lesson

Subtract Democratic voters, add new Republicans, and it equals realignment.

June 30, 1986

Showdown in Chihuahua

Pancho Barrio, an ex-accountant, a charismatic Catholic, and the mayor of Juarez, hopes to topple the ruling party in a July governor’s race.

June 1, 1986

Unionbusters

Hank Milam was a businessman with $20,000 in equipment and a firm faith in the rules of the game.He took on the union that had ruled the Houston docks for fifty years and beat it on its own turf.

June 1, 1986

Hate Thy Neighbor

A look at Houston’s Meyerland, Dallas’ Munger Place, El Paso’s Sunset Heights, and Austin’s Hyde Park shows that few fights get the blood boiling like a good fight with a neighbor.

By Emily Yoffe

April 30, 1986

Marching Off to War

In 1969 a young man from Baytown decided, after a struggle, to fight in Vietnam.

By William Broyles

December 1, 1985

Portraits in Power

Helmut Newton, world famous for his bizarre, sometimes shocking erotic photographs, turns his lens on another exotic subject—Texas tycoons.

By Helmut Newton and Texas Monthly

October 1, 1985

When the Well Runs Dry

In parts of Texas drought is a steady boarder who may stray but always comes home for supper.

By Elmer Kelton

October 1, 1985

The Kathy Ratings

Kathy Whitmire’s substantial achievements as mayor of Houston are overshadowed by her bad public image and political ineptitude—not a good situation for a candidate seeking a third term.

By Susan Chadwick

Best and Worst Legislators|

October 1, 1985

The Louie File

Just how good were the good ol' days, when Louie Welch was mayor of Houston?

By Mimi Swartz

June 30, 1985

1985: The Ten Best and (Groan) the Ten Worst Legislators

We just rate them. You voted for them.

By Paul Burka and Alison Cook

May 31, 1985

The Texas Six-Pack

The six freshman Republican congressmen from Texas are young, angry, and energetic. The only question is, can they be effective too?

By Peter Applebome

April 1, 1985

Life, Art, and the Wackiest Politician in Texas

San Antonio city councilman Bernardo Eureste took a paltry arts budget and built it into a $3 million power base. Then he got mad and tore it all apart.

By Mimi Swartz

April 1, 1985

Birth of a Lobby

The computer industry in Texas has a new lobby organized by three lobbyists who were in the right place at the right time—and knew it.

By John Schwartz

February 1, 1985

Mayor, Council Locked in Bitter Struggle!

Council tells mayor her budget stinks! Mayor tells council to like it or lump it! Both sides twist arms, trade insults! Read all about it!

By Peter Elkind

December 1, 1984

Why They Won

The inside skinny on the elections.

True Crime|

September 1, 1984

The Double Life of Paul Thayer

He had it all: a wife and a mistress, a limousine and a motorcycle, the second-highest job at the Pentagon and some good-time Dallas buddies. Then the SEC took an interest in his life.

By Peter Elkind

August 1, 1984

Excuse Me, But Where Can a Free-Enterpriser Get a Drink in This Town

Where to find a life-size statue of businessmen shaking hands, the best right-wing burgers, and other landmarks of Republican life.

By Jim Atkinson and Peter Applebome

August 1, 1984

Great Moments in Republican History

How Texas became a two-party state in spite of the GOP.

By Jim Atkinson and Paul Burka

August 1, 1984

The Way It’s Going to Be

Turn off the TV. Go fishing. Here’s the inside story of what will happen at the convention, complete with Nancy Reagan’s tacky visit to a bowling alley.

By Nicholas Lemann

July 31, 1984

Guv Passes, Teachers Flunk

Mark White has finally earned high marks in lobbying the Legislature.

July 1, 1984

Texas Primer: The Blue Law

On Sunday it is legal to buy beer but not baby bottles, screws but not screwdrivers, disposable diapers but not cloth ones. No place but Texas.

By Michael Ennis

June 30, 1984

The Man in the Black Hat, Part Two

With the help of a friendly banker and some friendlier politicians, Clinton Manges conquered might Mobil Oil and saved his empire. But not for long—it’s in jeopardy again.

May 31, 1984

The Man in the Black Hat, Part One

Clinton Manges built his empire on brushland and oil wells, political contributions and lawsuits. His influence extends to the state capitol and oil company boardrooms. To get where he is, he studied under three masters of South Texas.

April 1, 1984

I Opened Tax Returns for the IRS

Behind the scenes at regional headquarters—a sometime part-timer tells all.

By Martha Ebersole

March 1, 1984

At the Mercy of the Court

What do drunks, prostitutes, lunatics, and elevators have in common? They’re all part of the weird 24-hour-a-day world of the Dallas County courthouse.

By Jim Atkinson

February 1, 1984

Come On, Walter—Smile!

Austin’s Roy Spence parlayed his success in Mark White’s campaign into a job selling Walter Mondale to the American people.

December 1, 1983

Behind the Lines

Dropping the aristocratic burden.

By Gregory Curtis

November 1, 1983

Duel for the Sun

Crosbytown and Texas Tech wanted to harvest a major local resource: the sun. But then the feds stepped in, and the issue switched from energy to power.

By Fryar Calhoun

November 1, 1983

Pieces of the Puzzle

Great moments in the conspiracy time line.

By Texas Monthly

November 1, 1983

They Can’t All Be Right

After twenty years these are the assassination theories that still survive.

By Texas Monthly

November 1, 1983

Still on the Case

Assassination buffs come in all shapes and convictions—archivists, technologists, mob-hit theorists, and more—but they are all obsessed with Lee Harvey Oswald, and his crime is the focus of their lives.

By Ron Rosenbaum

November 1, 1983

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

A great man was dead and an outraged world desperately wanted someplace to lay blame. It chose Dallas and changed the city forever.

By Lawrence Wright

November 1, 1983

The Legacy of Lee Harvey Oswald

Twenty years ago he thrust himself into our lives; he is there yet.

By Texas Monthly

October 1, 1983

Mayor of the Unfinished City

To become more than a perpetual boom town, Dallas needs a foresighted leader and astute politician. Is Starke Taylor the man?

By Jim Atkinson

August 31, 1983

Squeaky Wheels

Independent oilmen are still for free enterprise, but these days they also expect a little favoritism from Uncle Sam.

By Stephen Chapman

May 31, 1983

The Long Boyhood of George H.W. Bush

Like the hero of a boys’ novel, George Bush moved from the East to the wild and woolly West. He wanted to prove himself, by golly, to Yale, Procter & Gamble, and the old man.

By Harry Hurt III

May 1, 1983

Mark White’s Coming-Out Party

The new governor’s first hundred days were great theater, but now come taxes.

Hunting & Fishing|

April 1, 1983

The New Rustlers

Today’s desperadoes are in the bays of the Texas coast, roping redfish and cursing the Parks and Wildlife Department.

March 1, 1983

Friends In Deed

Meet some of Texas' secular latter-day saints: volunteers.

By Suzanne Winckler

February 1, 1983

The Year Everything Changed

If you think Texas is pretty much the same as it was ten years ago, you’re wrong. Nineteen seventy-three remade the state overnight.

January 1, 1983

The Making of a Congressman

Twelve ran, Mike Andrews won. A saga of ambition, money, power, courage, and the nature of urban politics in Texas.

By Victoria Loe

January 1, 1983

God’s Happy Hour

Every year communities scattered across Texas hold wet-dry elections. Each one pits the forces of fundamentalism against the forces of realism. This is the story of one such election.