In 1998, Perry chose not to seek a third term as Agriculture Commissioner, running instead for Lieutenant Governor to succeed the retiring Democrat Bob Bullock. He won the election.
Perry assumed the office of governor on December 21, 2000, following the resignation of George W. Bush – who was preparing to become President of the United States. In the 2001 legislative session, Perry set a record for his use of the veto, rejecting 82 acts, more than
any other governor in any single legislative session in the history of the state since Reconstruction.
Perry's campaigns for lieutenant governor and governor focused on a tough stance on crime. He has supported block grants for crime programs. In 2007, Perry signed a law ending automatic arrest for cannabis possession.
Perry supports the death penalty. In June 2002, he vetoed a ban on the execution of mentally retarded inmates. As of September 18, 2014, there have been 278 executions since Perry first took office in December 2000.
Perry was re-elected in 2006 and in 2010. In 2014, Perry announced that he would not run for a fourth term.
On August 15, 2014, Perry was indicted by a grand jury on felony charges for abuse of power. He was accused of threatening a Democratic District Attorney who had been convicted of drunk driving to resign by threatening to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors. The indictment received some support and also wide criticism from all sides of the political parties, and editorial criticism from major US newspapers.
Perry also ran for President of the United States in the 2012 Republican primaries. He was one of the last candidates to enter the race. He was a frontrunner for the nomination during the first month of his campaign, but he did not do well in many of the debates. On January 19, 2012, Perry withdrew his campaign and endorsed Newt Gingrich.
On June 4, 2015, Perry officially announced his bid with a new web site and a press conference at Addison Airport outside Dallas, Texas. Perry then announced his candidacy at the scheduled press conference. On September 11, 2015, Perry dropped out of the race after poor polling after the first debate. He later announced his support for Ted Cruz and later Donald Trump for president.
Perry has been mentioned as a possible challenger to U.S. Senator and fellow 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz in 2018. Speculation about Cruz being challenged in the Republican primary arose during the 2016 Republican National Convention, when Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump, the eventual Republican presidential nominee, whom Perry had endorsed after Cruz suspended his campaign. In a poll conducted from August 12 to 14 of that year by "Public Policy Polling", Perry had a 46%-37% lead over Cruz. In November 2016, Perry declined to enter the senate race and endorsed Cruz in the elections.
On December 12, 2016, multiple sources reported that Perry is to be nominated by President-elect of the United States Trump to serve as Secretary of the United States Department of Energy. His nomination was approved by a 16-7 vote from the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on January 31, 2017.
On March 2, 2017, Perry was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 62-37 vote.
On October 17, 2019, Perry told Trump he would resign by the end of the year. He officially stepped down on December 1, 2019.
A July 25, 2019 telephone call between Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky led in September to a whistleblower complaint and an impeachment inquiry against Trump. Two weeks after the inquiry was launched, Trump claimed in a conference call with Congressional Republican leaders that he had only made the telephone call at Perry's urging. Perry denied ever mentioning Joe Biden in his discussions with Trump or Ukrainian officials.
Although Perry is a Methodist, he now attends an Evangelical "megachurch". He is also an Eagle Scout. Perry married Anita Thigpen in 1982. Together, they have two children.
On August 30, 2016, Perry was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 23 of "Dancing with the Stars". He was partnered with professional dancer Emma Slater. Perry and Slater were eliminated on the third week of competition and finished in 12th place.
Jerry Jones
Jerral "Jerry" Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. He has owned the team since 1989.
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a racetrack in Fort Worth, Texas. It hosts two races a year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It first opened in 1996. Its layout is similar to the track layout of Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (which used to be known as Lowe's Motor Speedway).
<nowiki>*</nowiki>
Little Caesars
Little Caesars is a pizza company in the United States. It is the 4th biggest pizza company in the United States. It was founded on May 8, 1959 in Garden City, Michigan by Mike Ilitch. It is a subsidiary of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.
Whataburger
Whataburger is a fast food restaurant that specifically makes hamburgers. It was founded in 1950 in the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The restaurant chain was completely on portable stands until the first permanent store was built in 1961. Most Whataburger locations are open for all 24 hours in the day.
Monday Night Football
The Human League
The Human League is a British pop music band from Sheffield. The Human League has 3 members: Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall, and Susan Ann Sulley. The band originally had 6 members. The other 3 members were Ian Burden, Jo Callis, and Philip Adrian Wright. They all left The Human League in the late 1980s.
The Human League started in 1977 and they had their greatest success during the 1980s. They continue to make new music today. Philip Oakey, the band's singer, is the only Human League member that has been with the band since it started. The other 2 members, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, joined The Human League in 1980.
The Human League has made 10 albums. Their newest album is called "Credo" and it was released in March 2011. Some of The Human League's hit songs are "Don't You Want Me", "Keep Feeling Fascination", "The Lebanon" and "Human".
Below is a list of all the albums by The Human League.
20/20 (American TV program)
20/20 is a television newsmagazine on ABC. It has been on ABC since June 6, 1978 and is currently airing. 20/20 is recently hosted by Chris Cuomo and Elizabeth Vargas, currently hosted by David Muir and Amy Robach.
Mesoamerican ball game
The Mesoamerican ball game is a sport that people in Mesoamerica have played since about 1,400 B.C.E. It was the first team sport in history, as far as historians know.
The Olmecs, who lived from 1,200 B.C.E. to 400 B.C.E., played the Mesoamerican ballgame. They may have created the game. The ancient Mayans played the game; they called it pitz in Classical Maya. Later, the Aztecs played it; in their language, Nahuatl, they called the game ōllamaliztli.
In some parts of Mexico, indigenous people still play a more modern version of the game, called "ulama". This means that people have played the Mesoamerican ballgame for over 3,400 years longer than any other sport in history. The Mesoamerican ballgame was also the first sport in history ever to use a rubber ball.
The game's goal was to shoot a ball through a stone hoop about wide. The ball, called an "ulli", was made out of rubber. It weighed about , about as much as a brick. The court, called a "tlachtili", was around long. It had a wall on each side. The stone hoops hung on these walls.
The court was usually in the shape of an “I,” although the shape was sometimes different. A line ran down the center of the court. From that line, the floor sloped to meet the walls.