Claim: John Connally was a Democrat.

John Bowden Connally , Jr. -LRB- February 27 , 1917June 15 , 1993 -RRB- , was an American politician . As a Democrat he served as Secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy , as the 39th Governor of Texas , and as Secretary of the Treasury under President Richard Nixon . While Governor of Texas , he was seriously wounded when President Kennedy was assassinated . As Treasury Secretary , Connally is best remembered for removing the U.S. dollar from the gold standard in 1971 , an event known as the Nixon shock .   In 1973 he switched parties to become a Republican , and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President in 1980 .