1987-91

March 8, 1987
  • The opera Nixon in China by John Adams debuts in Houston.
  • McDonald’s opens restaurants in Moscow.
  • George Bush inaugurated as the 41st U.S. President.
  • Gen. Colin Powell becomes the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • Nelson Mandela is freed from prison in South Africa.
  • Octavio Paz of Mexico wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.
  • Texas approves the revival of horse racing in the state.

Governor: William P. Clements, Jr.

1991-95

March 8, 1991
  • The Persian Gulf War erupts with the invasion of Kuwait.
  • Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are honored at a reception in the Mansion.
  • Governor Richards hosts a meeting between Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton at the Governor’s Mansion.
  • William Jefferson Clinton becomes the 42nd U.S. President.
  • Germany reunites and elects Helmut Kohl as Chancellor.

Governor: Ann Willis Richards

1995
– 2000

March 8, 1995
  • Completion of the $190 million Texas Capitol Preservation and Extension Project.
  • George W. Bush resigns as Governor of Texas after becoming President-elect.

Governor: George W. Bush

2000
– 2015

March 8, 2000
  • Lt. Governor Perry succeeds as Governor upon Bush’s resignation.
  • George W. Bush becomes the 43rd U.S. President, the first Texas Governor to become President.
  • The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum opens in Austin.
  • The Pentagon and World Trade Center are attacked on September 11, 2001.

Governor: Rick Perry

Sources:

  • Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. New York: Simon & Schuster/Touchstone, 1991. Jean Daniel, Price Daniel and Dorothy Blodgett. The Texas Governor’s Mansion.
  • Austin: Texas State Library and Archives Commission and the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, 1984.
  • The Governor’s Mansion of Texas: A Tour of Texas’s Most Historic Home. Austin: Friends of the Governor’s Mansion, 1997.