b. 1899 – Bowie, Texas
Governor: 1935–1939
Allred withdrew from Rice University due to financial reasons and worked for the U. S. Immigration Service before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. After World War I, he studied law and worked as a law clerk in Wichita Falls. In 1921, he received a law degree from Cumberland University in Tennessee. As district attorney he was known as “the fighting district attorney” for opposing the Ku Klux Klan.
After an successful bid for attorney general in 1926, Allred defeated the incumbent in 1934. He opposed large businesses, monopolies, and corporate influence on state fiscal policies and taxation.
Although he was personally opposed to repealing prohibition he believed it should be decided by the people. He devoted his first term as governor to cooperating with federal programs to offer relief from the Depression. The legislature, however, refused to fund many of his programs, causing education, highways, and welfare services to remain on insecure footing. During his second term, the teacher retirement system was established, and social security and welfare provisions were provided. After his term President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Allred to a federal judgeship.