Sunday Salute LII

I met Ann Richards once. We were holding a meeting in a room at the Five Seasons Convention Center and someone came to me and asked if Governor Richards could use the room. I could have declined but, because it was ANN RICHARDS whom I loved from seeing her on television I gladly gave the room to her. She was grateful and gracious and I was thrilled.

From Wikipedia

Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Texas. She first came to national attention as the statetreasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was defeated for re-election in 1994 by George W. Bush.^[1] Ann Richards was the second female governor of Texas.
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Richards's keynote address to the 1988 Democratic National Convention put her in the national spotlight. The speech was highly critical of the Reagan Administration and then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. Her address was notable for including several humorous remarks displaying her down-home Texas charm such as: "I'm delighted to be here with you this evening, because after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like" or "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth, "…two women in 160 years is about par for the course. But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels," and "When we pay billions for planes that won't fly, billions for tanks that won't fire, and billions for systems that won't work, that old dog won't hunt. And you don't have to be from Waco to know that when the Pentagon makes crooks rich and doesn't make America strong, that it's a bum deal." Richards' convention address has been cited by rhetorical experts as a historically significant speech.
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 Ann Richards demonstrated interest in social causes such as equality, abortion, and women's rights.

You can read much more about Ann at the link above. In 2010, actress Holland Taylor researched, wrote, produced, and then debuted in a one-woman show called "ANN: An Affectionate Portrait of Ann Richards" at the Charline McCombs Empire Theater in San Antonio, Texas.^[23] The show was subsequently staged at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York City's Lincoln Center in 2013

Here is a clip about the show

• The regular Democratic Party and its organization was run by men who looked on women as little more than machine parts. 

• I have seen the very bottom of life: I was so afraid I wouldn’t be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn’t. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing. 

• The public does not like you to mislead or represent yourself to be something you're not. And the other thing that the public really does like is the self-examination to say, you know, I'm not perfect. I'm just like you. They don't ask their public officials to be perfect. They just ask them to be smart, truthful, honest, and show a modicum of good sense. 

• “I've always said that in politics, your enemies can't hurt you, but your friends will kill you.” 

• Ann Richards on How to Be a Good Republican: 1. You have to believe that the nation's current 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but yesterday's gasoline prices are all Clinton's fault. 2. You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own. 3. You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time.” 

• “Teaching was the hardest work I had ever done, and it remains the hardest work I have done to date.” 

• “I have a real soft spot in my heart for librarians and people who care about books.” 

• “I'm really glad that your young people missed the Depression I'm really glad that your young people missed the Depression and missed the big war. But I do regret that they missed the leaders that I knew, leaders who told us when things were tough and that we'd have to sacrifice, and that these difficulties might last awhile. They brought us together and they gave us a sense of national purpose.” 

• “I have very strong feelings about how you lead your life. You always look ahead, you never look back.” 

• Everything that we used to think got taught at home now seemingly has to be taught in the public school system, and something is going to get lost in the process. 

• Now we Democrats believe that America is still the country of fair play, that we can come out of a small town or a poor neighborhood and have the same chance as anyone else, and it doesn't matter whether we are black or Hispanic, or disabled or women.

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