Ann Richards

The public does not like you to mislead or represent yourself to be something you're not... They don't ask their public officials to be perfect. They just ask them to be smart, truthful, honest, and show a modicum of good sense.

Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the witty keynote speaker at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Considered the first woman elected Governor of Texas in her own right, she served in that post from 1991 to 1995; she was defeated for re-election in 1994 by George W. Bush.

Quotes

1988

• … we're going to tell how the cow ate the cabbage.
• Poor George, he can't help it — he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.
  • 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote address

• I am delighted to be here with you this evening, because after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like.
  • 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote address "Transcript of the Keynote Address by Ann Richards, the Texas Treasurer". The New York Times. July 19, 1988. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. 

2001

• Oh, absolutely. No question about it. And the state of Texas, when I was governor, we built an awful lot of prisons. And to be frank with you, I made a deal, and the deal was that I would help pass the legislation and be for building a lot more prisons in Texas if I could get rehab programs for people who were alcoholics and drug abusers because I knew that over 80 percent of the crime committed in Texas was committed by people under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
  • Ann Richards Discusses Texas, Politics and Humor on Larry King Live, CNN, January 23 2001

• But I'll tell you something sort of interesting. There's something, you know, there's something a little scary about funny women. Well, they're threatening. And there was a survey done one time where they asked women what they were most afraid of from men. And the -- their response was they were most afraid of being hit or beaten or hurt from men. And they asked men what they were most afraid of from women, and they said being laughed at.
  • Ann Richards Discusses Texas, Politics and Humor on Larry King Live, CNN, January 23 2001

2006

• The regular Democratic Party and its organization was run by men who looked on women as little more than machine parts.
  • Lyman, Rick (September 14, 2006). "Ann Richards, Plain-Spoken Texas Governor Who Aided Minorities, Dies at 73". New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. 

• I have seen the very bottom of life: I was so afraid I wouldn’t be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn’t. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing.
  • Lyman, Rick (September 14, 2006). "Ann Richards, Plain-Spoken Texas Governor Who Aided Minorities, Dies at 73". New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. 

• The public does not like you to mislead or represent yourself to be something you're not. And the other thing that the public really does like is the self-examination to say, you know, I'm not perfect. I'm just like you. They don't ask their public officials to be perfect. They just ask them to be smart, truthful, honest, and show a modicum of good sense.
  • "Ann Richards Discusses Texas, Politics and Humor". Larry King Live (CNN). 23 January 2001. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. 

• Oh, I would probably have raised more hell.
  • Christofferson, Bill (September 13, 2006). "Bill Christofferson, "Ann Richards, R.I.P.". The Xoff Files. Retrieved on 2006-09-16. 

Misattributed

• If you give us the chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels
  • Keynote address, 1988 Democratic National Convention
  • Earlier use in Frank and Ernest (c. 1982), by Bob Thaves, as the characters observe a billboard for a "Fred Astaire Film Festival: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything that he did… backwards and in high heels."
    • Quoted in "Ginger Rogers: Backwards and in High Heels". Reel Classics. Retrieved on 2006-09-14.

• He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple. [about George Bush, Sr.]
  • Earlier use by Barry Switzer Shatel, Tom (December 14, 1986). "The Unknown Barry Switzer". Kansas City Star and Times. Retrieved on 2012-04-05.