b. 1907 – Lufkin, Texas
Governor: 1949–1957
Shivers spent his early years near Woodville in Magnolia Hills, the family home, and graduated from Port Arthur High School. After dropping out of the University of Texas to work in a Port Arthur oil refinery he returned to the University and was elected Student Association president. He practiced law in Port Arthur and was the youngest member elected to the Texas Senate.
As lieutenant governor Shivers helped bring Texas into the twentieth century by initiating the practice of setting a daily agenda and appointing senators to committees. The senate reorganized the public school system, passed a right-to-work law, and funded improvements for state hospitals, state highways, and higher education, including today’s Texas Southern University.
Shivers became governor in 1949 after the death of Beauford Jester. He increased appropriations for state employee retirement benefits, eleemosynary institutions, teacher salaries, aid to the elderly, and improvements for roads and bridges; and defended the state’s claim to the Tidelands. After leaving office, he served as chairman of the University of Texas Board of Regents.