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True Tales
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Bob Bullock
Politician
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| Hillsboro Junior High School letter jacket belonging to Bob Bullock |
Former Texas Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock was born in 1929 in Hillsboro. After his father died, he was raised by the Bond family, whose patriarch had opened Bond Pharmacy in 1881.
Bullock entered Hill College on a football scholarship after graduating from high school. He was elected co-captain of the 1948 team, which went on to win the statewide championship in the Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
Bob always saw the college as having provided the foundation for his later efforts, and he donated generously to the school. The Historical Research Center of the Texas Heritage Museum on the college campus contains personal items belonging to him during his term as Lt. Governor, including his desk, credenza, and gavel.
Considered one of the most outstanding Texas political leaders of the 20th Century, Bullock was often compared to former US House Speaker Sam Rayburn and President Lyndon B. Johnson. With a career spanning nearly 40 years, he was credited with being the principal architect of modern Texas government.
As Lieutenant Governor, Bullock helped consolidate all environmental agencies into one department to better serve Texans and protect the state's natural resources. His accomplishments in the area of tort reform, health and juvenile justice and the state's educational funding system were shaped by his drive as a problem-solver. He ushered through the law that created the state's first comprehensive water conservation and management plan.
Bob Bullock loved Texas and was a serious student of Texas history. Texas Governor George W. Bush said "Bob Bullock was the largest Texan of our time, as great and grand as the state he loved."
A term on the Texas Historical Commission further strengthened his love for the state, its history and its people. After visits to many other state history museums over several years, his interest in seeing that Texas had a state history museum grew.
The Bullock Texas State History Museum, which opened to the public in Austin in 2001, is named for this Hill County native who was instrumental in the establishment of the facility. In his honor, a bronze statue of Bob Bullock is located in the museum, before a limestone wall engraved with Bullock's trademark words, "God Bless Texas."
