William Howard White (born June 16, 1954) is an American attorney, businessman and politician who was the 60th mayor of Houston from 2004 to 2010.

[4] Bill White's wife Andrea is the daughter of Arthur John Ferguson (1917–2008), a Louisiana State University graduate in mechanical engineering originally from New Orleans, and the former Patsi Wells, a native of Baton Rouge.

[5] Andrea White has written several novels, one of which received the Golden Spur Award as well as being named to the Texas Bluebonnet List.

At Harvard his roommate was Mir Murtaza Bhutto— son of former Pakistan's Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He organized Frontera Resources,[10] a developer of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea region, and was also the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, from 1995 to 1998.

In that race, Turner was embroiled in an insurance scandal exposed in an investigation by Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK-TV that eventually led to a 1996 lawsuit; Lanier went on to defeat Whitmire.

White's staff said that the group's focus had grown from its original effort to prevent the sale of stolen guns.

That year, White and his wife established Expectation Graduation, a program designed to reduce high school drop-out rates.

White offered refuge for the victims in the Astrodome, the George R. Brown Convention Center, and a large building formerly housing an Auchan location.

[21] In 2005 White initiated the SafeClear Program, designed to quickly clear roads and freeways of stalled vehicles.

It originally required motorists to pay for the towing of their stalled vehicle, but at reduced prices set by the city.

Tow truck drivers claimed that the program hurt their business and nine wrecker companies filed lawsuits against the city.

[23] In addition the SafeClear Program has been blamed for causing the deaths of people, who seemed to be trying to get their cars off the freeway without having to pay fees to the tow truck drivers.

[27][28] The program was adapted to include strict licensing of SafeClear wreckers including criminal background checks, allowing the towed motorist to be towed for one mile for free, preventing the City leasing stretches of state-owned highway to private wrecker companies, and requiring revenue generated from the program to enter a mobility fund.

[29] White also worked with John Whitmire to address the objections of the senators, keeping the program alive but in a different format.

[35] During his second term, White focused his work on improving graduation rates in the city's high schools, enforcing air pollution standards, reducing the possibility of flooding in newer areas, adopted a more flexible system of working hours, and to create public-private initiatives with private business and community organizations to stimulate growth in the city's most neglected subdivisions.

His moderate leanings were shown by his defense of businesses, such as Shawn Welling's Planet Funk, which faced closure in mid 2005.

While some speculated about the impact of Hurricane Katrina victims who settled on the Southwest side of town, Mayor White released a statement concerning the FBI's findings: "With the regard to the 2006 figures now being reported, the FBI calculated a murder rate per 100,000 people for Houston based on census estimates of a 2,073,729 population as of July 1, 2005.

[40] Via the City's Power to People Web site, Mayor White encourages energy conservation through tips and tools, education about tax incentives, and raffles.

White felt the city's revenue stream could be enhanced by evicting the Center and its mentally retarded clientele and using the land for commercial purposes.

[50] A study in Lubbock, Texas of red light cameras showed a 52% increase in accidents, so the City Council voted against installing them.

[52] A news investigation found that the Houston intersections with cameras often had yellow lights that were too short, and violated Texas Department of Public Safety recommendations.

[53] Houston suburb Sugar Land found that the combination of lengthening yellow lights and installing cameras reduced violations by 96 percent.

[63] The program brought on ten promising recent college graduates to assist with special projects with department directors, through a one-year paid fellowship.

Citing the budget crises that accompanied the Recession, Mayor Annise Parker cancelled the program after just two years.

[65][66] Following several issues with Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC), including the so-called “Corridor of Cruelty”, abuse and neglect, staff problems, funding, White addressed several issues with the bureau and moved it out of Houston's health department to be run as a separate agency.

On December 12, 2008, it was announced that White had decided to run for the United States Senate seat currently held by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, should she resign to challenge incumbent Governor Rick Perry, as was expected at the time.

In The Wall Street Journal, reviewer Edward Chancellor noted that "Mr. White suggests a return to the austere principles that governed the issuance of public debt from the birth of the Republic until recently... To this end, America's Fiscal Constitution serves a noble purpose.

"[76] Bethany McLean wrote, in a review for the Sunday New York Times: "This book will be music to the ears of budget hawks everywhere...

"[77] Shortly after the book's release, White (then working as a senior adviser at the global financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard) told Maggie Galehouse of the Houston Chronicle, “I have no itch to run for public office...