Ben Barnes (politician) - Political Career

Political Career

While a student at The University of Texas, Barnes worked at the Texas State Health Department. After discovering some financial irregularities that led to the indictment of the state health commissioner, Barnes became interested in politics. He went back to his home area of the state and ran for state representative, when he was barely 21 years old and pulled off an upset victory. Advancing quickly through the Texas legislature, by 1963, Barnes was chairman of the powerful Rules Committee. The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce recognized Barnes as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" in 1965.

Barnes served as state Speaker of the House in Texas from 1965-1969. The position opened when Governor John B. Connally, Jr., named Speaker Byron M. Tunnell to succeed the retiring Ernest O. Thompson on the Texas Railroad Commission. Barnes was chosen by House members to succeed Tunnell and hence became the youngest Speaker in Texas history. He was also U.S. representative to the NATO Conference in 1967, and United Nations Representative to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968. Barnes served as lieutenant governor from 1969–1973, often called the most powerful position in the Texas state government because the lieutenant governor can block a governor's agenda from being considered by the Texas State Senate.

While Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and later Lieutenant Governor, Barnes alleged he was instrumental in enabling numerous sons of both Democratic and Republican politicians to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, one of them being George W. Bush. Barnes said that he did this on his own initiative, as a political favor without being requested.