On November 11, 1982, the Ector Country Independent School District held a ceremony in Odessa, Texas, honoring two district graduates—Alfred Wilson and Marvin Young—who had been posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service and sacrifice in Vietnam. Former Texas Attorney General John Ben Shepperd participated in the ceremony, reminding those in attendance of the reasons they had …

The oil and gas industry is today in the in forefront of the struggle between the states and the federal government to determine the seat of sovereignty of our American system of government. We are front-line soldiers in this battle of ideas and we are bearing the brunt of the enemy’s mental artillery. Because our industry is successful and widespread, …

This afternoon I stood once again and viewed with overflowing heart that gratifying scene at the National Shrine of Democracy. As I studied the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, my mind went back to their day in history, their contribution to the American way of life, and to the many things which they said and did in admonishing …

When prehistoric man first conceived the idea of law enforcement, the process was not complicated. Those who performed this function did not need to know about the law of evidence, the psychological processes of criminals, or the use of the polygraph. They did not worry about their public relations. They didn’t have to. All this primitive law enforcement agent needed …

It’s difficult to know what things ought to be said by one lawyer to a group of others in a few brief moments like these. There is hardly time to go into a deep subject and there is no deep subject that goes well with an after-dinner cigar anyway. So I’d like merely to share with you a few thoughts …

I suppose that on such occasion as this, the Commencement speaker should make every effort to recall all of the learning that he was once exposed to under similar circumstances in order to show the graduates and the onlooking faculty that he is at least as clever, if not as learned, as those to whom he presumes to give advice. …

 Thank you for that kind introduction.  Seldom have I seen such an important subject handled so well and with such masterful self-restraint and understatement. I imagine President Shearer found himself in the same predicament as the Master of Ceremonies who got up and said, “Our next speaker needs no introduction.  Even if I reminded you who he is, you still …

This is the first time I have had the opportunity of appearing before you as a private citizen and not as a fellow Law Enforcement officer. I’m very flattered that you have allowed me to come back and mingle with you socially, now that I’m only an ex Law Enforcement officer. I do miss the old life—the charged atmosphere, the …

Every year in our country forty or fifty peace officers lay down their lives in the line of duty. Many thousands of others go on about the dangerous and thankless job of guarding our homes, our lives, our property and our peace of mind. While we play, they work. They patrol the streets while we sleep. Day in and day …

Thank you President Wyman for that kind introduction. Seldom have I seen such an important subject handled so well and with such masterful self-restraint and understatement. I imagine Lou found himself in the same predicament as the Master of Ceremonies who got up and said, “Our next speaker needs no introduction.  Even if I reminded you who he is, you …

When Dr. Fly called me in January about being with you tonight, I began worrying about my subject. I thought I would talk to about some of things you should have learned here and will need as you go out in life. I suppose that on such occasion as this, a man should endeavor to appear as learned as possible …

I have frequently observed that on the day of their graduation from high school, seniors don’t know whether they are coming or going. When I graduated, the commencement speaker noticed me in the audience and pausing in his address, he remarked that the flat hats worn by graduating students appear to by symbolic of what lies under them. But on …

Thank you President Quail for that very flattering and truthful introduction. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anything I enjoyed so much or agreed with so completely. However, Keith probably found himself in the same predicament of the master of ceremonies who had to introduce another obscure character from a small Texas town. He said, “Our next speaker …

The Legislature has managed to find plenty of problems – and their share of solutions.  They are in their 127th day – the last seven days without pay.  The Session has cost over 1 1/4 million dollars or over $10,000 a day.  Each bill passed to date has cost the people $3,500, including the one to outlaw alligator hunting in …

. . . But I had better get to moving faster or you will be plugging me for a dry hole. It is always with feelings of trepidation when I stand before an audience composed primarily of women, especially those who are smart enough to make their bosses feel like this is their night and maybe even feel like they …

Thank you for that very flattering and truthful introduction. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anything I enjoyed so much or agreed with so completely. However, she probably found herself in the same predicament as the Mistress of Ceremonies who had to introduce another obscure character from a small Texas town by saying, “Our next speaker needs no …

When I received the invitation to talk to you this morning, I began to think of the many improvements, both large and small, that have taken place in the last few years in the area covered by the Easter New Mexico and South Plains Peace Officers Association. I have been very pleased to see a number of law enforcement agencies …

I tell you truly, it’s good to be a private citizen again—one of the nine million laughing, bragging characters who inhabit the great State of Texas. Texans continue to amaze the world with their energy and expansive living. They are drilling 25,000 oil wells a year, running 292,000 farms and 11,000 factories, carrying 14 billion dollars in life insurance, keeping …

I think it only proper at the outset of my thoughts with you tonight to pay tribute to the founders of the Parents and Teachers movement that has been of such tremendous benefit to the cause of freedom and humanity. I have always thought that the history books are snobbish in their treatment of human events. They tend to exclude …

The purpose of the Christian Church’s Christian Men’s Fellowship group is two-fold: first, to give us the opportunity to visit with and become better acquainted with our fellow members; second and even more important, to call attention to the fact that every Christian layman is equally responsible with his minister for proclaiming the Gospel, for ministering to the needs of …

In a dry-goods store in London in 1844 a little group of working men used to gather at lunch time for a few words of prayer. The group was led by a man named George Williams, who wanted to do something for his fellow workers. Out of those little noon-time meetings there grew an organization called the Young Men’s Christian …

No two organizations have done as much to encourage the intelligent participation of citizens in public affairs as have the league of Women Voters and the Jaycees. They have both worked hard at getting citizens to pay their poll tax and to vote when election time rolls around. The League sponsors a presentation of objective and impartial information on the …

I do want to think with you briefly of a few matters of vital Importance to Texas and Texans. I know that you were happy to see the democratic processes restored to the people of Duval County last year after a long, hard, bitter fight of six years duration. There were over four hundred legal actions in and out of …

In the last half century modern communications and transportation have reduced this country to a fraction of its former size and have brought people very close together. We can fly from here to the nation’s capital in a few hours or reach it by telephone in a few seconds. That fact is both good and bad. It is good because …

Thank you for that very flattering and truthful introduction. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anything I enjoyed so much agreed with so complete1y. However, President Thomas probably found himself in the same predicament of the Master of Ceremonies who had to introduce another obscure character from a small Texas town who said, “Our next speaker needs no …

As long as men have lived on the earth, they have always tried to peer into the future. If any man could foretell the future, his fortune would be made. We used to have an old prophet back in Gladewater named Uncle Billy who could predict the future. He would predict some calamity and people would work so hard to …

Forty-two years ago in Detroit, Michigan, Kiwanis was born under the motto—”We Build”. And since that date, you have been building!—better youngsters—better men—better communities—a better country. Kiwanis’ greatest strength is that its ideal is far outside itself. Men are not Kiwanians for the sake of being Kiwanians. Kiwanis is not an end in itself but a means to a much …

In the first half of our century an organization was born which was destined to become one of the most vital and significant currents in the stream of American life. At thirty-seven years of age that organization—the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce—is well on its way to the fulfillment of that destiny, the destiny that was not a matter …

I have been vitally concerned for a number of years about the steady and unnecessary encroachment of a centralized federal bureaucracy upon the historic rights of our state and local governments. The forty-eight stars in the constellation of American states are being eclipsed by the sun that rises out of federal bureaus and sets behind the Capitol dome. The Lone …

The Honorable court properly identified this action when it correctly excluded all evidence relating to segregation, stating that this is not a race action. The fact that the NAACP purports to represent the Negro race has no bearing whatever on this case. We have alleged, and we believe we have established, that the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and …

June 15, 1956 Texas Association of Public Accountants (Tyler, Texas) I want to talk to you about one of the most serious problems that has ever faced the people of Texas—or of this country. Last May 21 the United States Supreme Court annihilated the “right-to-work” laws of 18 states, including Texas, at least in so far as they apply to …

(Opening remarks only) Thank you for that very flattering and truthful introduction. I think he did a good job considering that he was in somewhat the same position as the Master of Ceremonies who had to introduce another obscure character from a small town in Texas. He said, “Our next speaker needs no introduction. Even if I told you who …

Texas owes an eternal debt to the great State of Mississippi for all of the fine people you have bred and given to our state. You gave us a number of the brave men who laid down their lives at the Alamo, and multiplied thousands of pioneer settlers. And not the least of the rugged trail-blazers who went to Texas …

Government is a very important factor in our lives, and there are certain things Christians ought to remember about it. It was Thomas Jefferson who first pointed out that this country was not in any sense founded upon the Christian religion. We believe in the absolute separation of church and state and complete freedom of worship, and churches of all …

I’ve just come back from Washington, where we argued segregation before the Supreme Court. As you remember, on May 17 almost a year ago the Supreme Court handed down its historic decision that racial segregation in the public schools is unconstitutional. Texans are accustomed to Federal encroachment into local affairs in taxation, commerce, natural resources, conservation, and other fields; but …

October 31, 1954 27th Annual Clinical Assembly of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (Dallas, Texas) There is a powerful directional force in our Federal government, entirely independent of administrations, that has sponsored and continues to sponsor a steady movement toward the socialization of American life, through the gradual assertion of Federal pre-eminence over the powers of the states and …

I am very happy to have this opportunity to talk to so many of my fellow American and fellow Christians from all over the United States, and to welcome you to the State of Texas. This is the second time your organization has held its national convention in our state; the first time was in 1940, when you met in …

May 31, 1954 Graduation of Texas Southern University (Houston, Texas) Commencement day is a great institution. It is a time when graduates are happy, parents are proud, and professors are relieved. All three are inclined to think “there’s no feeling like this feeling.” This occasion is a custom of long standing, and it has come to be expected that the …

October 13, 1953 Address to the Texas Water Conservation Association (Baker Hotel, Dallas, Texas) When a man makes a speech he hopes for a sympathetic audience. But in this case I came prepared to give sympathy, not get it. I can sympathize with you on a double count: in the first place, I’m vitally concerned about our water problem in …

All of us are interested in our terrific water problem in Texas or we wouldn’t be here. I wish I had the time to talk to you about various phases of it—about the Deweyvilles and Laredos, the gyp water and the withering corn, the farms and cities right here along the Trinity that are crying for water while almost six …

It does me good to see so many young women taking part in Girls’ State. I have a profound respect for girls and what they can do. According to the old saying, boys will be boys—and too often that is a static condition—they remain boys all their lives. But girls always grow up to be women. Down through history women …

June 1, 1953 Graduating Class of South Texas College (Houston, Texas) Graduation day is traditionally a day for words—words of congratulation, words of good-bye to friends and classmates, and commencement addresses full of philosophy and advice. As for philosophy, it is like molasses—sticky; and as for advice, you have reached the stage where you had much rather give it than …

April 24, 1953 South Texas Press Association (San Antonio, Texas) Speaking to you in my present capacity is like coming home to see Mom a couple months after enlisting in the service. I feel like laying my head on your shoulder and telling you what I’ve got myself into. I believe you ladies present will derive benefit from a little …

Because of the many Latin friends I have, I have often asked myself the question, “What does it mean to be a Spanish-speaking Texan?” Although I am sure you can answer that question better than I can, I would like to tell you how it appears to me, and how it appears to many of my Spanish-speaking friends who have …