A Conservative Democrat from a rural area of the Texas South Plains, Clayton attained the speakership by successfully forging a broad-based House coalition.

He graduated from the Springlake-Earth High School and then attended Texas A&M University in College Station, where he earned a degree in agricultural economics.

Clayton delegated to standing committees additional budgetary and oversight responsibilities for state agencies and institutions under their jurisdiction.

Another policy change instituted by Clayton permits House members to file bills in advance of the session, thereby reducing excessive paperwork and printing when the legislature convenes.

Clayton also served as vice-chairman, along with Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby, of the Joint Advisory Committee on Governmental Operations, known as the Hobby-Clayton Commission.

In 1985, Clayton switched to the Republican Party and, four years later, was appointed by Governor Bill Clements, to serve as a regent of the Texas A&M University System.