Price Daniel

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Price Daniel bigraphy, stories - Texas Governor

Price Daniel : biography

October 10, 1910 – August 25, 1988

Marion Price Daniel, Sr. (October 10, 1910August 25, 1988), was a Democratic U.S. Senator and the 38th Governor of the state of Texas. He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be a member of the National Security Council, Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, and Assistant to the President for Federal-State Relations. Daniel also served as Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Public service in later years

President Johnson later appointed Daniel to head the Office of Emergency Preparedness. In 1971, Governor Preston Smith named Daniel to the 9-member Texas Supreme Court, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of Clyde E. Smith. He was re-elected twice in 1972 and 1978, and retired at the end of his second term.

After retiring from the Texas Supreme Court, he served as pro-bono legal council for the Alabama-Coushatta Indians. As their counsel, he was instrumental in the 1965 creation of the Texas Commission for Indian Affairs (TCIA), 59th Legislature, House Bill 1096. On April 5, 1967, the Texas Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 83 recognizing Daniel for his contributions to the tribe and to the creation of the TCIA.

The historian Charles Waite of the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg describes Daniel, particularly in regard to his early years in politics, as a "southern business progressive who promoted efficiency in government in regard to roads, schools, and agriculture." Though he stood with Franklin D. Roosevelt, who swept Texas on four occasions, Daniel was skeptical of the growing federal bureaucracy and generally opposed tax increases to pay for added costs of government.Charles Waite, University of Texas-Pan American, "Price Daniel, Sr.", East Texas Historical Association and West Texas Historical Association, annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, February 26, 2010

Early life

Marion Price Daniel Sr (properly Marion Price Daniel II) was born October 10, 1910 in Dayton, Texas, to Marion Price Daniel Sr (1882 – 1937) and Nannie Blanch Partlow (1886 –1955), in Liberty Texas. He was the eldest child. Sister Ellen Virginia Daniel was born in 1912, and brother William Partlow Daniel in 1915. As a teenager he was a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He put himself through law school at Baylor University by working as a janitor and dishwasher and by working at the Waco News Tribune. He received his degree from Baylor in 1932. After graduation he established his own practice in Liberty County and often accepted livestock and acreage for his fees.

Jean and Price Daniel Home and Archives

The Jean and Price Daniel Home and Archives came under full ownership of the State of Texas in October 1998. Governor and Mrs. Daniel began construction on the Greek Revival style Liberty, Texas house in 1982, with an official opening in 1984. It was patterned after the Governor’s Mansion in Austin designed by architect Abner Cook. The Daniels donated the home and of land, reserving a lifetime interest, to the Texas State Library Archives. The home is the repository of the library, archives, furniture, and mementos that document the Daniels’ lives and years of public service.

The Price Daniel House, maintained and funded by the Atascosito Historical Society, is located on the grounds of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, a part of the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Located north of Liberty on FM 1011, the Center is open Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 9 AM to 4 PM. Free admission.Tours are available by appointment; group tours must be arranged two weeks in advance.

Personal life

Marion Price Daniel Sr. is also known as Marion Price Daniel Jr. and as Marion Price Daniel II, because his father Marion Price Daniel Sr (1882 – 1937) was the first generation with the name. Daniel II married Jean Houston Baldwin on June 28, 1940. Their son publicly known as Marion Price Daniel Jr. is properly Marion Price Daniel, III. The couple also had three other children: Jean Houston Murph, Houston Lee, and John Baldwin.