Governor W. Lee O'Daniel

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Governor W. Lee O'Daniel. Now settle in, because this one is a ride.

Wilbert Lee O'Daniel was born on March 11, 1890, and if you'd told anybody in Ohio that day that a baby boy had just entered the world who would one day defeat twelve Democratic opponents without a runoff and send a future president home empty-handed, well, they probably would have nodded politely and gone back to their business. That's the thing about Pappy O'Daniel — nobody saw him comin'. He grew up in Kansas, which is fine country, but Texas had other plans for him.

In 1925, he moved to Fort Worth as sales manager of a flour-milling company. Now, that sounds like the beginning of a perfectly unremarkable life. Flour.

Sales. Fort Worth. And yet.

Somewhere along the way, O'Daniel became a radio personality and the promoter of a western band called the Light Crust Doughboys, and if you think that name has nothing to do with flour, well, draw your own conclusions — but I'm not drawing mine out loud. By 1938, his radio listeners had made themselves heard, and O'Daniel — a man with no political experience to speak of — walked into the Democratic race for governor of Texas. He campaigned with another band, the Hillbilly Boys, and he had three things on his platform: industrial growth, old-age assistance, and the abolition of the Poll Tax.

He took those ideas and that music straight to the people, and what happened next amazed political experts across the state. He defeated twelve Democratic opponents. Without a runoff.

Twelve. On January 17, 1939, O'Daniel threw a vast inaugural picnic — the first of what the marker calls many colorful public events that would mark his administration. Now, the marker is honest with us here: he failed to achieve many of his campaign goals.

But the people of Texas apparently appreciated the effort, or maybe the music, because they re-elected him in 1940 all the same. He served only part of that second term, though, because the summer of 1941 brought a special election for a U.S. Senate seat, and Pappy O'Daniel won it — over, among other candidates, a fellow by the name of Lyndon B.

Johnson, who would go on to become President of the United States. That detail just sits there in the record, quiet as a fence post, lettin' you absorb it at your own pace. If that weren't enough, the very next year O'Daniel ran for a full six-year Senate term and defeated two former Texas governors to win it.

He left the Senate in 1949, moved to Dallas, and opened an insurance company near the very site where this marker stands. He was married to Merle Estella Butcher, and they had three children. He died on May 11, 1969 — a man born in Ohio, raised in Kansas, made in Texas, and remembered, if nothing else, as the flour salesman who beat twelve men at once and once beat a future president at the ballot box before that future president knew he'd be one.

Pappy O'Daniel. Don't let anybody tell you Texas politics is boring.

What the marker says

(March 11, 1890 - May 11, 1969) A native of Ohio, Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel grew up in Kansas. He moved to Ft. Worth in 1925 as sales manager of a flour-milling company. There he became a radio personality and promoter of a western band, the Light Crust Doughboys. In 1938, after a show of support from his radio listeners, O'Daniel entered the Democratic race for governor, despite his lack of political experience. Campaigning with another band, The Hillbilly Boys, he advocated industrial growth, old-age assistance, and abolition of the Poll Tax. He amazed political experts by defeating 12 Democratic opponents without a runoff. His vast inaugural picnic on Jan. 17, 1939, was the first of many colorful public events which marked his administration. Although he failed to achieve many of his campaign goals, O'Daniel was re-elected in 1940 but served only part of his second term. In the summer of 1941, he won a special election to the U.S. Senate over future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and other candidates. The next year, O'Daniel defeated two former Texas governors to win a full six-year Senate term. After leaving the Senate in 1949, he moved to Dallas and opened an insurance company near this site. Married to Merle Estella Butcher, he had 3 children. (1978)