Bob Bullock's service culminated in his term as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 15,1991, to January 19,1999, during the term of Governor Ann Richards and the first term of Governor George W Bush.
40 Facts About Bob Bullock
2.
Robert Douglas Bob Bullock was born in Hillsboro in Hill County on July 10,1929, to Ruth Mitchell and Thomas Austin Bob Bullock, a Hillsboro city engineer and manager.
3.
Bob Bullock graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1947 and attended Hill College, a junior college, in 1949.
4.
Bob Bullock served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War from 1951 to 1954.
5.
Bob Bullock graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts.
6.
Bob Bullock graduated from Baylor University with a law degree in 1958.
7.
Bob Bullock returned to public life when he was appointed Secretary of State of Texas, the state's chief elections and records officer, by Governor Preston Smith.
8.
Bob Bullock soon left the post to prepare for a statewide race for state comptroller in the 1974 Democratic primary.
9.
Bob Bullock was one of the last Democrats to win a statewide election in Texas.
10.
In 1973, Bob Bullock first sought the Democratic nomination for Comptroller of Public Accounts.
11.
In November 1974, Bob Bullock won the general election, defeating Republican Nick Rowe, a former Vietnam War prisoner of war.
12.
Bob Bullock garnered 1,099,559 votes to Rowe's 419,657 votes.
13.
Once sworn in as comptroller in January 1975, Bob Bullock promised to modernize the office.
14.
Bob Bullock made statewide headlines with a long series of "raids" on businesses that had collected state taxes from customers for many years but had not turned them in to the state.
15.
Bob Bullock had pledged to secure these owed taxes; the officials collecting them were known as "Bob Bullock's Raiders".
16.
Bob Bullock was the first elected state official to adopt an equal opportunity employment program, a policy that Calvert had opposed.
17.
Also, Bob Bullock was among the first elected officials to use computer technology in state government to cut costs and improve productivity.
18.
Bob Bullock was the winner of numerous national awards for his management skills, including the "Leon Rothenberg Taxpayer Service Award".
19.
Bob Bullock developed a "Taxpayers Bill of Rights" to guarantee fairness, courtesy and common sense.
20.
Bob Bullock was re-elected in 1978 virtually unopposed, garnering 1,288,320 votes since nobody bothered to run against him.
21.
In 1986 Bob Bullock had no Republican opponent; he defeated Libertarian George Meeks, garnering 2,416,658 votes to Meeks' 267,872 votes.
22.
Bob Bullock quickly announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in September 1987.
23.
In 1990, Bob Bullock was elected Lieutenant Governor, having defeated the 39-year-old Republican nominee, businessman Robert Mosbacher Jr.
24.
In 1994, Bob Bullock was easily elected to a second four-year term over Republican Harold "Tex" Lezar; Bob Bullock received 2,631,843 votes to Lezar's 1,648,848 votes.
25.
Bob Bullock did not seek election to a third term in 1998; he was succeeded by Republican Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry on January 19,1999.
26.
Bob Bullock overhauled the ethics laws during his first term in an effort to restore public confidence in state government.
27.
Bob Bullock created the Texas Performance Review for the state comptroller to analyze spending at state agencies and recommended cost-saving alternatives.
28.
Bob Bullock helped consolidate all environmental agencies into one department in an effort to better serve Texans and protecting the state's natural resources.
29.
Bob Bullock led efforts to modernize the Texas tax system and worked on state problems in tort reform, health and juvenile justice.
30.
Bob Bullock was instrumental in finding a legislative solution to get Texas out of federal court lawsuits involving prisons and mental health.
31.
Bob Bullock was a leader in legislative efforts to revamp the state's educational funding system and ushered through a law that created the state's first comprehensive water conservation and management plan.
32.
Bob Bullock was renowned for his blunt and sometimes politically incorrect speaking style, but for his trademark closing line "God bless Texas".
33.
The second-floor lobby of the museum features a seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Bob Bullock holding a giant gavel, next to a gallery of items and a video from his career in politics.
34.
Bob Bullock's adult life was marred by alcoholism and divorce; he had a total of five marriages, although at least one of them was a repeat.
35.
Bob Bullock stopped drinking in 1981 and remained active with Alcoholics Anonymous for the remainder of his life.
36.
Bob Bullock married Amelia J Hooks of Itasca in 1950 and divorced in 1978.
37.
Bob Bullock married Jan Felts Teague of Austin in 1985.
38.
Bob Bullock had two children from his first marriage, Lindy Bullock Ward and Robert Douglas "Bobby" Bullock Jr.
39.
Bob Bullock had another daughter from his second marriage, Kimberly Teague.
40.
Bob Bullock died at his home in Austin of cancer on June 18,1999, and is interred there at the Texas State Cemetery.