Richards, Ann

Richards, Ann (b. Dorothy Ann Willis) (1933–  ) governor; born in Lakeview, Texas. She taught in a junior high school (1955–57) and managed the campaign of Sarah Weddington (the lawyer who won the Roe v. Wade case) in 1972. As an active Democrat, she became a county commissioner (1977–82), the state treasurer (1983–91), and finally governor of Texas (1991), Texas's first female governor since "Ma" Ferguson (1933–35). Although her early career had been plaqued by alcoholism, she recovered and gained national respect for her rousing nomination speeches at the Democratic National Conventions of 1988 and 1992.