Price Daniel, Jr.

Price Daniel Jr.
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
In office 1973–1975
Preceded by	Rayford Price
Succeeded by	Bill W. Clayton
Texas State Representative
In office 1968–1975
President Texas State Constitutional Convention
In office 1974–1974
Personal details
Born	June 8, 1941(1941-06-08) Austin, Travis County, Texas
Died	January 19, 1981(1981-01-19) (aged 39) Liberty County, Texas
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Diane Ford Wommack (1966–1975) Vickie Loretha Carroll Moore (1976–1981)
Children	Thomas Houston Campbell Daniel Franklin Baldwin Daniel Marion Price Daniel, IV
Profession	Attorney

Marion Price Daniel, Jr. (properly Marion Price Daniel III) (June 8, 1941 – January 19, 1981) was a United States politician from Texas who served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 to 1975.

Early life

Daniel was born on June 8, 1941 in Austin, Texas, to Marion Price Daniel, Sr. and the former ^[1]Jean Houston Baldwin, a member of both the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Price Sr. was a political legend in Texas, having served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, as United States Senator at the time of Price Jr.'s birth, and later as Governor of Texas, followed by Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Uncle William Partlow Daniel,^[2] brother of Price Sr., was a lawyer in Liberty, Texas, who had served in the Texas House of Representatives and had been appointed Governor of the U.S. Territory of Guam by President John F. Kennedy.

Price Jr. was a great-great-great-grandson of Sam Houston. Daniel was raised in Austin and followed the political career of his father. By age twelve, he was making speeches on his father’s behalf. He graduated from Austin High School in 1959, Baylor University in 1964, and Baylor Law School in 1966. While at Baylor, Daniel started a mail-order book business^[3] that specialized in rare books of Texas history.

Political career

After receiving his law degree, Daniel moved to Liberty, Texas, and began legal practice there, and was also elected Justice of the Peace for Liberty County. In 1968, at age 27, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the same seat his father had held from 1939 to 1945.

After the fallout from the Sharpstown scandal, with those connected being voted out of office, there was a 50% turnover in both houses of the Texas Legislature. On January 9, 1973 Price Jr. was unanimously^[4] elected^[5] Speaker of the House.

Under Daniel’s leadership, the reform-minded Sixty-third Texas Legislature passed new ethics, financial disclosure, and open-records laws. The Legislature also updated and strengthened open-meetings, and lobbying laws. He believed that it should be illegal for the speaker to offer favors or make threats in order to get votes. Because of the great power of the office, Daniel believed that no speaker should be elected for more than one term, and consequently he did not seek reelection in 1974. There had been talk of Price Jr. running for Governor in 1974,^[6] but he was apparently not interested.

Price Jr served as president of the 1974 Texas Constitutional Convention, the first since the Constitution was established in 1876.^[7] He relented on a right-to-work compromise to appease the conservatives, and in doing so, lost his base of the liberal labor force. The 1974 convention to revise the state constitution was not a success. Further alienating his support base, Price Jr held a press conference blaming organized labor, and specifically what he saw as its manipulation of racial minority delegates, for the convention's failure.

In 1978, Daniel unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Texas Attorney General,^[8] losing to eventual general election winner Mark White.

Personal life and death

Daniel was married twice. He married politically-connected Diane Ford Wommack on April 4, 1966.^[9] Diane was a descendant of Texas Governor (1907-1911) Thomas Mitchell Campbell. Diane gave birth to his son Thomas Houston Campbell Daniel. Their divorce^[10] was final November 26, 1975.

His second wife was Dairy Queen waitress Vickie Loretha Carroll Moore. Vickie and husband Larry Dale Moore were divorced on August 16, 1976. Price Jr. and Vickie were married November 1, 1976.^[10] Vickie gave birth to two sons by Price Jr., Franklin Baldwin Daniel and Marion Price Daniel IV. One month after Price Jr. declared his candidacy for Texas Attorney General, Vickie filed for divorce on October 22, 1977, but apparently withdrew the petition. In May of 1980, Price Jr. re-wrote his will, cutting Vickie out. December 31 of that year, Vickie once again filed for divorce, even though she and Price Jr. continued to share a house with separate quarters. Price Jr. was served with divorce papers on January 15, 1981. On January 19, Price Jr. returned home where he was shot and killed by Vickie.^[11]

After a 10-hour session involving 22 people, the Liberty County grand jury returned an indictment of murder against Mrs. Daniel.^[12] At the time of her indictment, she had not yet been questioned by authorities about the events leading up to her husband's death, nor had she testified before the grand jury. Vickie was represented by flamboyant legal legend Richard "Racehorse" Haynes^[13] and was acquitted on October 30, 1981.^[14] The shooting and Vickie Daniel’s murder trial were the subject of a 1987 book, Deadly Blessings and a 1992 made-for-television film, Bed of Lies.

References

1. ^ "Jean Houston Baldwin Daniel". Texas Woman's University. http://www.twu.edu/gown-collection/jean-houston-baldwin-daniel.asp. Retrieved 6 June 2010. 
2. ^ Hunt, Alan (21 June 2006). "Baylor Mourns Death of Legendary Baylor Law Grad". Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=40959. 
3. ^ Murph: Price Daniel Jr from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 6 June 2010. Texas State Historical Association
4. ^ Cox, Patrick L; Phillips, Michael (2010). The House Will Come to Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics. University of Texas Press. pp. 108–116. ISBN 978-0292722057. 
5. ^ "Daniel Urges Strong Reform". The Victoria Advocate. 22 May 1973. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lsccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SVoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6689,3354603&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
6. ^ "Daniel Getting Push To Run for Governor". The Victoria Advocate. 16 July 1973. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=074bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WFoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3932,2385438&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
7. ^ Untermeyer, Chase (1975-02). "Give Me Liberty". Texas Monthly (Texas Monthly) (1975 February). http://books.google.com/?id=5yoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&dq=price+daniel+jr&cd=1#v=onepage&q=price%20daniel%20jr. 
8. ^ Kidd, Bill (8 May 1977). "Price Daniel Jr. Regrouping". The Victoria Advocate. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GJgqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=81oEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3264,1419334&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
9. ^ "1966 Travis Co Tx Marriages". USGenWeb Archives. http://files.usgwarchives.org/tx/travis/vitals/marriages/1966/travi66a.txt. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Cochran, Mike (19 March 1981). "Unlikely Marriage as a Tragic Ending". The Free Lance Star. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oVMQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h4sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5225,2798014&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
11. ^ "Price Daniel Jr Shot Monday". The Tuscaloosa News. 20 January 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pCodAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QaUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5331,4176466&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
12. ^ "Wife Indicted in Price Daniel's Death". The Bulletin. 29 January 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t40SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vvYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3644,2361704&dq=price+daniel+jr&hl=en. 
13. ^ Vile, John R (2001). Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 350–356. ISBN 978-1576072028. 
14. ^ "Vickie Daniel Found Innocent in Shooting of Husband". Ocala Star Banner. 1 November 1981. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6cITAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WgYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5778,32840&dq=vickie+daniel&hl=en. 

Further reading

• Marion Price Daniel, Jr. from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Sharpstown Stock Fraud Scandal from the Handbook of Texas Online

• Salerno, Steve (1987). Deadly Blessings: The Killing of Price Daniel, Jr.. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688065651. OCLC 16406874. 

External links

• Bed of Lies at the Internet Movie Database

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by David Crews	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 6 (Liberty) 1969–1973	Succeeded by Arthur “Buddy” Temple
Preceded by Rayford Price	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 16 (Liberty) 1973–1975	Succeeded by Perry A. Tanner, Jr.
Political offices
Preceded by Rayford Price	Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives 1973–1975	Succeeded by Bill W. Clayton

Persondata
Name	Daniel, Price, Jr.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 8, 1941
Place of birth	Austin, Travis County, Texas
Date of death	January 19, 1981
Place of death	Liberty County, Texas