Clayton Williams Archives – Texas Monthly

Clayton williams illustration by Zach Meyer

Politics & Policy|

February 16, 2020

Midland Oilman Clayton Williams (1931-2020): Winner in Business, Not in Politics

The colorful mogul lost the 1990 gubernatorial election after making a joke about rape and admitting to not paying some income taxes.

By R.G. Ratcliffe

Then Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Ann Richards, offers her hand to Republican candidate Clayton Williams, in this Oct. 1990 file photo in Dallas. He refused the offer, calling Richards a

Politics & Policy|

September 27, 2018

Have Politicians Learned Anything Since Clayton Williams’s Campfire Rape ‘Joke’?

With sexual-misconduct scandals swirling, from Brett Kavanaugh to Charles Schwertner, how politicians talk about them could bite them at the polls.

By R.G. Ratcliffe

Politics & Policy|

October 1, 1990

Meet the Governor

Revealing profiles of Ann Richards and Clayton Williams raise the question: How about none of the above?

By and Jan Jarboe Russell

Politics & Policy|

October 1, 1990

Meet the Governor: Clayton Williams

Onward to the past.

By Jan Jarboe Russell

Politics & Policy|

February 1, 1990

Money, Media, and Magic

Three crucial elements that will determine the outcome of the Texas governor’s race.