Accomplishments: Handsome, shrewd, and dramatic, Connally personified Texas as many Texans liked to see themselves. Connally saw education as the most important way to address Texas' social problems, and succeeded in financing higher teacher salaries, better libraries, and improved research and doctoral programs in the universities. He continued the reformation of state government, worked on developing Texas as a tourist destination, and established cultural initiatives ranging from the arts to history to the Hemisfair '68 world's fair in San Antonio.

Later years: After leaving the governorship, Connally joined the powerful law firm of Vinson and Elkins and became a foreign-policy advisor to President Richard Nixon. In 1971 he became Secretary of the Treasury. He officially switched parties from Democrat to Republican after LBJ's death, and there was wide speculation that he would be appointed vice-president after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, which would have put him on track to become president.

Connally's reputation as a "wheeler-dealer" squelched the appointment, which went to Gerald Ford. In the 1970s, he was involved with business dealings that contributed to this image, especially a milk-price bribery scandal, for which he was tried and acquitted. He ran for president in 1980 but was soundly defeated for the nomination.

In the 1980s Connally went into real estate development with his protege, Ben Barnes, during a boom time in the Texas economy. When the price of oil collapsed in the late 1980s, Connally and Barnes went with it, along with many other wealthy Texans and most of the state's major financial institutions. Connally was forced to declare bankruptcy and hold a highly publicized auction of his belongings. He died on June 15, 1993.