John Bowden Connally Jr. (February 27, 1917 – June 15, 1993) was an American politician who served as the 39th governor of Texas from 1963 to 1969 and as the 61st United States secretary of the Treasury from 1971 to 1972.

[4] Connally served in the United States Navy, starting on June 11, 1941 as an ensign during World War II, first as an aide to James V. Forrestal.

After transferring to the South Pacific Theater, he served as fighter-plane director aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex and was awarded the Bronze Star for bravery.

[6] Connally was also involved in a reported clandestine deal to place the Texas Democrat Robert Anderson on the 1956 Republican ticket as vice president.

Although the idea fell through when Dwight Eisenhower retained Richard Nixon in the second slot, Anderson received a million dollars for his efforts and a subsequent appointment as U.S. Treasury Secretary.

[11] Connally announced in December 1961 that he was leaving the position of Secretary of the Navy to seek the Democratic nomination for the 1962 Texas gubernatorial election.

Ashman claimed that Connally would have aides telephone airports ask to page him for an urgent message, in order to give the impression that he was much in demand.

In the campaigns of 1964 and 1966, Connally defeated weak Republican challenges offered by Jack Crichton, a Dallas oil industrialist, and Thomas Everton Kennerly Sr. (1903–2000), of Houston, respectively.

Connally was also a bitter opponent of trade unions and strongly supported right-to-work law in Texas, which led the AFL-CIO to call for his resignation.

[4] Connally remained a hardline hawk his entire life, and consistently pressured President Johnson to stay aggressive towards Vietnam.

Reevaluating the governorship of John Connally, Rita Lynne Colbert concludes: His accomplishments as Governor of Texas for six years appear quite modest.

"[4] As governor, Connally promoted HemisFair '68, the world's fair held in San Antonio, which he suggested could net the state an additional $12 million in direct taxes.

"[19] There was some talk of Connally being selected as Hubert Humphrey's running mate on the Democratic ticket in 1968, but liberal Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine was chosen instead.

[20] Ashman claims that during this time Connally was "privately helping Nixon, recruiting a number of influential Texans, members of both parties, to work for the Republican candidate.

Before agreeing to take the appointment, however, Connally told Nixon that the president must find a position in the administration for George H. W. Bush, the Republican who had been defeated in November 1970 in a hard-fought U.S. Senate race against Democrat Lloyd Bentsen.

Shortly after taking the Treasury post, Connally famously told a group of European finance ministers worried about the export of American inflation that the dollar "is our currency, but your problem.

[32] Connally later shied away from his role in recommending the failed wage and price controls, and announced guaranteed loans for the ailing Lockheed aircraft company.

[33] He also fought a lonely battle against growing balance-of-payment problems with the nation's trading partners, and undertook important foreign diplomatic trips for Nixon through his role as Treasury Secretary.

[38] Addressing speculation that he was on a "secret peace mission", Nixon said that Connally was travelling privately but that he had asked him to have informal discussions with various world leaders.

[38] On that trip Connally did meet with King Faisal and Prince Fahd where the Arab–Israeli conflict and its effect on Saudi Arabia–United States relations were discussed.

When Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned five months later because of scandal, Connally was among Nixon's potential choices to fill the vacancy.

[43] Nixon admired Connally; to the point that he wished for him to be his successor, while the two of them discussed the idea of setting up (as noted by one historian) “a new, distinctly Whiggish party, which the president wanted to call the “Independent Conservative Party.””[44] In July 1974, Connally was indicted for allegedly pocketing $10,000 from dairy industry lawyer Jake Jacobsen in exchange for influencing the government to increase federal dairy price support.

He was considered a great orator and strong leader and was featured on the cover of Time with the heading "Hot on the Trail", but his wheeler-dealer image remained a liability, particularly in New England, an ancestrally Republican area.

This was also due to his campaign manager, Eddie Mahe Jr, believing that his time was better spent in Southern states, where Connally was already a strong competitor.

[23] Connally's views on foreign policy in the Middle East led to the New York Times calling him the "favored Saudi candidate".

[54][55] Governor of Texas Bill Clements said that Connally rejected the position for personal reasons and to focus on his law practice with Vinson & Elkins.

Barnes contended that during a tour of the Middle East in the summer of 1980, Connally met with several regional leaders to convince them to tell Iran that they would get a better deal from Reagan if they continued to hold hostages until after the November election.

[56] While this trip has been verified and Connally was in touch with Reagan associates, it is unclear if he was acting at anyone's direction, or if his message reached Iran or had any impact there.

[56] In 1981, Connally was alleged to be aware of Operation Red Dog, a plot by white supremacists to overthrow the government of Dominica, by Michael Perdue.

In one of his last political acts, Connally endorsed Republican congressman Jack Fields of Houston in the special election called in May 1993 to fill the vacancy left by U.S.