ustxtxb_obs_1979_08_24_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

a $2,500 offer to Senator Case of South Dakota. “I had no specific role in it,” Connally said of the legislative fight for the bill. “I was there largely, basically, as an observer to watch what was going on. . . . I was there primarily as an observer for [Richardson] and for his companies.” Johnson, according to a good Washington source, kept after Connally to register as a lobbyist, but Connally retorted he did not need to because he was a part owner of natural gas properties through his Richardson work and thus was in Washington on his own behalf. Richardson died in 1959, leaving an estate finally appraised at $105 million. As an executor of the state, Connally was entitled to fees that Sen. William Proxmire estimated to be somewhere between $40,000 and $80,000 a year. In 1961, Connally took public office for the first timeas John Kennedy’s secretary of the Navybut within the year resigned to run for governor. On December 7, 1962, a month before his swearing in as governor, Connally told Louis Hofferbert of the Houston Press that his fortune came to “about a half-millionmost of it represented by my home and ranch.” After five years as governor, Connally said at a press conference that his net worth totaled “slightly over $1 million,” but, he said, “my financial situation has been impaired during the time I held office, beyond any doubt.” Connally says that, in accordance with the terms of the Texas Constitution, he has received no income from the Richardson estate while governor \(the estate is now closed out, the executors first $25,000, then $40,000 a year. Asked for guidance to bring the half million figure together with the larger sum, he said both figures were about right, explaining: “When Richardson died, I was named one of the executors of his estate. As a consequence, I was entitled to certain fees. 1962 was fairly soon after his death.” In 1965 Connally bought the 14,500acre Tortuga ranch in Dimmitt and Zavala counties for an estimated $300,000. In a pattern suggestive of the President’s land-buying, Connally’s other acquisitions while governor have brought his total holdings in Wilson County to roughly 5,000 acres, and he has picked up about 15 acres on Lake McQueeny near San Antonio. The Connallys have also built, on their ranch, a two-story, four-bedroom home with swimming pool and landing strip. One reporter has described the house as “modestly majestic.” His wife Nellie wants them to go and live there, for good; she is said to be tired of politics. He may be tired, but he may get rested. R.D. May 1, 1964 Fort Worth, Austin Governor Connally presumably continues to be an independent executor of the estate of the late Sid Richardson, who left about $100 million when he died in 1959. In response to an Observer inquiry, the governor states that he has not performed any services for the Richardson estate or received any compensation from it since he became the governor early last year.* Connally’s insistence that he continue as one of the three executors of the estate caused controversy over his nomination as secretary of the Navy. He resigned various corporate connections, but he maintained that he would be letting down Richardson’s trust in him if he did * The Observer asked Connally, through George Christian, his press aide, two questions: whether he is still an executor of the Richardson estate, and whether, while he has been governor, he has performed services for or received compensation from the estate. Christian gave Connally’s response, but said he did not know whether Connally is still executor. On April 17, the Observer told Christian it was presuming, on the basis of Connally’s answer, that he is still executor, and would appreciate being advised if the contrary was true. Qn April 20, the Observer provided the governor’s office a carbon copy of the story here published and invited Christian and the governor to advance any corrections, additions, or comments about it by our deadline for this issue, April 24. On that date, Christian said he had not showed it to the governor and could not say anything as to whether Connally is still executor. Under these circumstances, the article is here published on the basis of the original presumption that Connally’s one reply to the Observer’s two questions means he is still an executor of the Richardson estate. In addition, a reporter from Washington advises us he asked Connally if he is still executor of the estate and that Connally said he is. not continue as executor of the oilman’s will. It was pointed out in floor debate in the Senate that Connally enjoyed an income of from $40,000 to $80.000 a year by virtue of being one of the directors of the distribution of this huge estate, and that while he would forego that income while secretary of the Navy, it was implicit that he would resume getting it when he went back to private life. Examining deed records in Tarrant County, the Observer learned that on January 8, 1962. a month after he quit as Navy secretary, Connally joined with the other two executors of the estate, Perry R. Bass and Howell E. Smith, in conveying three tracts totaling 2,509 acres of land from the estate to the Sid M. Richardson Foundation, to which Richardson left the bulk of his fortune. In Texas. independent executors are entitled to take 5 percent of the value of the property coming into the estate of which they are executors. and 5 percent of property going out of the estate. This is called the “five in, five out” rule. The total amount of compensation under this rule is limited to 5 percent of the total gross value of the estate, the Observer is informed. The January 8, 1962, instrument on file in the deed records of Tarrant County says that Connally. Bass, and Smith had been designated independent executors of the will in 1959 “and have continued at all times since to serve in such capacity.” There being three independent executors of the Richardson estate, it is possible for the estate to be managed by one or two of the executors without all three acting under Texas law, the Observer understands. This would account for how Connally could be inactive, but still one of the executors, and not Report on a situation Connally and the Richardson estate 9 THE TEXAS OBSERVER