Clinton Manges (August 22, 1923 – September 23, 2010) was a controversial oil tycoon in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
in the 1970s and 1980s.
Manges was born in
Cement, Oklahoma
Cement is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 501 at the 2010 census.
The community was named for its early cement industry.
Geography
Cement is located near the southeast corner of Caddo County at (34.935441, ...
. He began to amass his fortune in South Texas in the early 1970s, when he befriended
Lloyd M. Bentsen, Sr., the father of
U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, and
political boss
In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous of ...
George Parr, known as the "Duke of
Duval." In 1971, Manges bought a ranch in the county. He was a confidant and close friend of numerous officials, including the late
Attorney General Jim Mattox
James Albon Mattox (August 29, 1943 – November 20, 2008) was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms in the United States House of Representatives and two four-year terms as state attorney general, but lost high-profile race ...
,
Garry Mauro
Garry Mauro (born February 21, 1948) is an American politician. He was the four-term commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 1983 to 1999 during the administrations of Governors Mark White, Bill Clements, Ann Richards, and George W ...
and
Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock
Robert Douglas Bullock Sr. (July 10, 1929 – June 18, 1999), was an American Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Texas from January 15, ...
.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Manges was an open, unashamed
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
. With his large fortune, Manges was soon one of the most prolific supporters of Democratic candidates in Texas. He would often donate $50,000 or more to various statewide campaigns. In contrast, most other Texas oil barons like
Eddie Chiles,
Bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
and
Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an American businessman most notable for his promotion of American football, soccer, and tennis in the United States.
He was the principal founder of the American Football League (AFL) and ...
,
Clint Murchison
Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 – March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. A son of Clint Murchison Sr., who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploi ...
, and two-time
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Bill Clements
William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole t ...
were extremely conservative and supported Republican candidates. Paul Burka of
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
wrote of Manges in 1984, "By mastering the mysterious ways of South Texas, Clinton Manges has built an empire, amassed political influence, declared war on the state establishment—and left bitter enemies in his wake."
[
]
Personal life
Manges was born to migrant farm workers
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
in Cement, Oklahoma. He dropped out
Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves.
Canada
In Canada, most ind ...
of grade school to pick cotton. Later, he attended high school in Port Aransas and worked as a shrimper. After serving in the Coast Guard in the World War II era, he moved to the Rio Grande Valley. He met Ruth Richmond, daughter of a prosperous local farmer, and fellow employee at the Rio Theatre
The Rio Theatre is an independent, multidisciplinary art house in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Built in 1938, the Rio served East Vancouver primarily as a movie theatre until 2008, when new owner, Corinne Lea, began to add live music and multimedia a ...
in Raymondville; they married in 1946. At age 30 he suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
. In the 1960s he worked in a gas station, where he met and impressed Lloyd Bentsen, Sr.; he subsequently represented Bentsen in his real estate dealings.
Manges didn't smoke
Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...
or drink. He agreed to pay legal expenses of Duval County District Judge O. P. Carillo in his impeachment trial.
He owned the Mongoose bowling alley
A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...
, and later the Mongoose cotton gin. He experienced financial problems in 1961, did not pay debts, and wrote bad checks to the state of Texas. The Small Business Administration
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...
foreclosed on the loan with which he started the ginning business. In 1963, he was indicted for making false statements on the application for that loan. He pleaded guilty in 1965 and paid a fine of $2500.[
]
San Antonio Gunslingers
In 1984, Manges talked the fledgling United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
into granting him an expansion franchise, the San Antonio Gunslingers
The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...
. In 1983, he had paid to upgrade Alamo Stadium with artificial turf and an all-weather track. Despite–or perhaps, because of–Manges' wealth, the USFL did not require Manges to make an initial capital investment. Instead, he paid for team expenses out-of-pocket as they arose. This practice caught up with him in 1985, when his oil fortune collapsed (though he'd been in financial trouble since at least 1980). In the ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
documentary ''Small Potatoes - Who Killed the USFL?'' that first aired on Tues. October 20, 2009, former Gunslingers quarterback Rick Neuheisel
Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...
stated that during that season, the players would often race each other to the bank in order to cash their paychecks. According to Neuheisel, the players knew that the first 50% of the checks deposited were likely to clear, but that the other half would likely bounce.
In June, Manges essentially walked away from the Gunslingers and stopped paying the team's bills, forcing the team to play the last stretch of the season for free. When he refused to make restitution for the team's debts, league commissioner Harry Usher
Harry Lester Usher (March 6, 1939 – June 22, 2000) was an American attorney who was the second and last commissioner of the United States Football League (USFL). He was also the executive vice president and general manager of the Los Ang ...
revoked the franchise. The players sued Manges to recover back pay, but that suit collapsed when he declared bankruptcy in 1987. At least some of the players and coaches still hadn't been paid at the time of a 1998 reunion, and no one owed back pay had been paid at the time of his death.
Bankruptcy and prison
Manges' empire eventually collapsed in 1987. He was convicted on federal charges of bribery and mail fraud in 1995, and after his appeals failed reported to prison in 1997. Charges of conspiracy to bribe the number two official of the Texas General Land Office
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund ...
were dismissed in U.S. district court for lack of federal jurisdiction
Federal jurisdiction is the jurisdiction of the federal government in any country that uses federalism. Such a country is known as a Federation.
Federal jurisdiction by country
All federations, by definition, must have some form of federal juri ...
.[ He also lost the he had bought in 1968, Magic Kingdom ranch, to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.][ In 1991 armed federal marshals arrived at the ranch by Black Hawk helicopter to seize his property.][
He died in a ]nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
in San Antonio.[
]
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manges, Clinton
1923 births
2010 deaths
People from Duval County, Texas
Texas Democrats
Deaths from cancer in Texas
People from Caddo County, Oklahoma
People from Port Aransas, Texas
Sportspeople from San Antonio
United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
American prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
Businesspeople from Texas
United States Football League executives
Criminals from Texas
People from Junction, Texas
20th-century American businesspeople