Gerald C. Mann (January 13, 1907 – January 6, 1990) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 1939 to 1944. Mann studied at Southern Methodist University, where he was twice named to all-conference football teams and was nicknamed the "Little Red Arrow." He subsequently worked his way through

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

; first with a job at a garment factory, later as a minister at a Congregationalist church. After returning to Texas, Mann worked as an assistant attorney general under

James V. Allred James Burr V AllredThe "V" was a name, not an initial. (March 29, 1899 – September 24, 1959) was the 33rd governor of Texas. He later served, twice, as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern Distri ...

. Mann was a progressive and a strong supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected attorney general of Texas in 1938 and held that post until he resigned in December 1943. Mann aggressively pursued an agenda of trust-busting. Mann ran for the U.S. Senate in the 1941 special election, called after the death of Senator Morris Sheppard. His opponents included Lyndon B. Johnson, then a member of the United States Congress, and Governor

Pappy O'Daniel Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (March 11, 1890May 11, 1969) was an American Democratic Party politician from Texas, who came to prominence by hosting a popular radio program. Known for his populist appeal and support of Texas's business communi ...

, who won the seat. After resigning as Attorney General, Mann resumed private law practice in Dallas. Remaining active in Democratic politics, he was Texas director of the Kennedy-Johnson campaign in 1960."A Guide to the Gerald C. Mann Papers, 1929–1968"
Retrieved on 22 June 2015. Mann died in 1990.

References

Bibliography

* Robert A. Caro, '' The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power'' * 1907 births Texas Attorneys General SMU Mustangs football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees 1990 deaths Harvard Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers American football quarterbacks 20th-century American politicians {{collegefootball-player-stub