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C:\Documents and Settings\lproctor\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK8\Copyright - thesis (2).doc Constructing White Texas Maleness: From the Texas Centennial of 1936 to the Aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s Assassination in 1963 Angus Lauchlan A thesis submitted to the University of London in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Department of Flistory, University College London UMI Number: U592979 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U592979 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 V Abstract *>-' K ^ x 'fvVfc'^ G&- CV'c&V^ V\j<*V>5 ^ This thesis demonstrates how the popular image of white Texas masculinity was constructed and used for political purposes in the period between the Texas Centennial in 1936 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. The image of white Texas maleness was reconstructed in the 1930s by a groUp of Texas writers/academics led by J. Frank Dobie, J. EvettsTlaley and Walter PrescotLWebb. Their version of Texas male mythology gave a degree of intellectual credence to the stereotyped version of Texas manhood, which was founded on the problems and exploits of strong anc^confident individualistic men and their attempts to maintain or to wrest power. This manner of Texas maleness had its root in the mix of truth and mythology which popularly represented nineteenth century Texas history. These writers were profoundly influenced by the political environment of their time and their* perspective on Texas maleness reflected this. Other writers, most notably Edward Anderson and Nelson Algren, with an equally distinct but separate political agenda, challenged the basis of the white Texas male’s iconic status and offered a radically different view of Texas manhood. Therefore, two ideologically distinct versions of white Texas maleness, one based on'those with societal ppwer ancTinfluence, and the other . --------- --------------- based on those without, were created. The societal import of the concept of white Texas maleness was reflected in the attitude of the state’s press and the adoption of the stereotypical image by those in Texas who wielded socio-economic and political power. Central to the thesis is how conflicting arms of the Texas press, liberal and conservative, saw and addressed the image of the state’s men. The thesis will also discuss how the obvious political potential of the stereotyped image was employed in film and literature during politically sensitive periods in American history. For example, the image of white Texas maleness in film and literaturejjs^epgmted in the aftermath of the Kennedy killing and the subsequent Presidency of the Texan, Lyndon Johnson, when many writers and film-makers saw Texas and its manhood as representing all that they believed to be wrong with American society. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Page 1 Chapter One On the Trail of the Cattlemen’s Civilisation Page 24 Chapter Two Real People and Poor Boys Page 147 Chapter Three The Conservative Press and the Image of White Texas Maleness, 1940-1963 Page 213 Chapter Four The Liberal Press and the Image of White Texas Maleness, 1938-1963 Page 291 Chapter Five Flow Cultural Commentators Saw the White Texas Male in the Aftermath of Dallas Page 349 Conclusion Page 408 Bibliography Page 421 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the supervision of Dr. Melvyn Stokes and the secondary supervision of Dr. Christopher Abel during this work. I am grateful to the archivists and staff of the Center for American History at Austin, Texas for assisting me in many different ways. Of particular help were John Wheat, Brenda Gunn, Traci Drummond, Evan Hocker and Kathryn Kenefick. I would also like to thank Jim Bradshaw of the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library at Midland, Texas for his efficiency and patience during my time there. I am indebted to a number of faculty members of the University of Texas at Austin who have provided much needed advice. I am especially grateful to Professor Don Graham and Professor Roger Renwick. I acknowledge the assistance of the University of London Central Research Fund, the Hale Bellot Fund and the History Department of University College, London in funding my research trips. Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Myra for her love and support throughout this period. 1 Introduction Bush and the image of Texas maleness1 The current President of the United States, George W. Bush, was raised in Texas and that knowledge brings with it an immediate and definite perception of his character. It is difficult to find an analysis of Bush that does not in some way attribute his demeanour and actions to his home state. Social commentators, cartoonists and journalists regularly use a variety of cowboy metaphors and images to describe Bush. He himself recognises the benefits of a Texas male persona and exploits it at every opportunity. At the Republican National Convention at New York in September 2004, for instance, Bush said that: ‘Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called “walking”’.2 This allusion to the idea that the men of Texas carry themselves with a confident, no-nonsense deportment struck a chord with his elite, powerful and predominantly white Republican audience, who perhaps saw in his Texas swagger a notion that was close to their vision of the American male ideal. The sentiment behind the Bush statement and its natural appeal to a constituency which has traditionally represented socio-economic privilege in America are central to this thesis. The thesis itself proposes to demonstrate the significance of this essential but as yet unrecognised portrayal of provincial American manhood and show how it has r ' been widely used and moulded by those in film, literature and society who wished to promote their own political or social agendas or, indeed, challenge what they perceived as the existing socio-political norm. The chronology of the thesis runs broadly from the Texas Centennial in 1936 to the aftermath of the assassination of 2 President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in 1963, and the subsequent Presidency of Texan Lyndon Johnson. This period represented a time in Texas history when the masculine image of Texas was most obviously employed by those in the state who recognised its potential as a political tool. Essentially, the thesis will show how Texas writers constructed the idea of masculinity in a Texas context and how cultural commentators and critics in Texas responded to the image of white Texas men offered in film and literature. It will also endeavour to establish that the key image-makers in Texas were greatly concerned with the image of Texas maleness and understood its societal impact. It will emphasise that they were considerably influenced by the need to construct an image of white Texas masculinity that accorded with their personal, politically-influenced perspective on the world. In the same way, the thesis will show that cultural commentators and critics in Texas, specifically those who worked for the state’s press, responded to the standard image of white Texas maleness in line with the demands that contemporary politics and socio-economic pressures placed on them. Both Bush and his audience understood that the men of the state lie at the heart of Texas mythology, and the series of male-based myths which emanated from Texas came gradually from the 1930s to be the property of those in the state who were politically conservative.