Portal:Texas/Selected Biography/9

John Bowden Connally, Jr. (February 27, 1917 – June 15, 1993) was a powerful American politician from the state of Texas. He was first a member of the Democratic Party, and in 1973, at the height of the Watergate affair, he switched allegiance to the Republican Party.

Connally was born into a large family in Floresville, the seat of Wilson County, located south of San Antonio. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was student body president. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was an aide to Lyndon Baines Johnson when the latter was a young congressman, and maintained ties to Johnson throughout his career. During the Vietnam War, Connally hawkishly urged Johnson to "finish" it by whatever military means necessary.