Waggoner Carr
American politician (1918–2004)
title: "Waggoner Carr" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1918-births", "2004-deaths", "politicians-from-lubbock,-texas", "people-from-hunt-county,-texas", "texas-lawyers", "warren-commission", "university-of-texas-school-of-law-alumni", "lubbock-high-school-alumni", "texas-tech-university-alumni", "texas-tech-university-system-regents", "speakers-of-the-texas-house-of-representatives", "democratic-party-members-of-the-texas-house-of-representatives", "burials-at-texas-state-cemetery", "texas-attorneys-general", "united-states-army-air-forces-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "military-personnel-from-texas", "20th-century-members-of-the-texas-legislature"] description: "American politician (1918–2004)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waggoner_Carr" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American politician (1918–2004) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Waggoner Carr |
| image | Waggoner Carr.jpg |
| office | 42nd Attorney General of Texas |
| term_start | 1963 |
| term_end | 1967 |
| governor | John Connally |
| preceded | Will Wilson |
| succeeded | Crawford Martin |
| office2 | Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives |
| term_start2 | January 8, 1957 |
| term_end2 | January 10, 1961 |
| preceded2 | Jim T. Lindsey |
| succeeded2 | Jimmy Turman |
| state_house3 | Texas |
| district3 | 119th |
| term_start3 | January 9, 1951 |
| term_end3 | January 10, 1961 |
| preceded3 | Preston Smith |
| succeeded3 | J. Collier Adams |
| office4 | County attorney of Lubbock County, Texas |
| term_start4 | 1949 |
| term_end4 | 1951 |
| birth_name | Vincent Waggoner Carr |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Fairlie, Texas, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| resting_place | Texas State Cemetery |
| occupation | Attorney, author |
| education | Texas Tech University |
| University of Texas at Austin | |
| spouse | |
| party | Democratic |
| signature | Waggoner_Carr_signature.png |
| allegiance | United States |
| branch | United States Army |
| unit | Army Air Forces |
| serviceyears | 1942–1945 |
| battles | World War II |
| :: |
|name = Waggoner Carr |image =Waggoner Carr.jpg |office=42nd Attorney General of Texas |term_start=1963 |term_end=1967 |governor=John Connally |preceded=Will Wilson |succeeded=Crawford Martin |office2=Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives |term_start2=January 8, 1957 |term_end2=January 10, 1961 |preceded2=Jim T. Lindsey |succeeded2=Jimmy Turman |state_house3=Texas |district3=119th |term_start3=January 9, 1951 |term_end3=January 10, 1961 |preceded3=Preston Smith |succeeded3=J. Collier Adams |office4=County attorney of Lubbock County, Texas |term_start4=1949 |term_end4=1951 |birth_name = Vincent Waggoner Carr |birth_date = |birth_place = Fairlie, Texas, U.S. |death_date = |death_place =Austin, Texas, U.S. |resting_place=Texas State Cemetery |occupation = Attorney, author |education = Texas Tech University University of Texas at Austin |spouse= |party=Democratic |signature=Waggoner_Carr_signature.png |allegiance=United States |branch=United States Army |unit=Army Air Forces |serviceyears=1942–1945 |battles=World War II
Vincent Waggoner Carr (October 1, 1918 – February 25, 2004) was an American politician who served as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1957 to 1961 and as the attorney general of Texas from 1963 to 1967.
Early life
Carr was born in Hunt County, East Texas, going on to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War 2. During the Great Depression his family was forced to move to Lubbock after the closure of the family bank.
Legal and Political Career
He served as Lubbock assistant district attorney in 1947-48 and then Lubbock County attorney from 1949 till 1951. In 1951 he became a member of the Texas House of Representatives, serving until 1961. During his tenure he was Speaker of the House from 1957 to 1961.
Attorney General
Carr was the Texan attorney general when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, having had breakfast with him the morning of his killing. Carr was scheduled to give a speech in Dumas that day but owing to the assassination he had to cancel it and flew to Austin in case his assistance was needed. He travelled to Washington to attend Kennedy's funeral and while here communicated his willingness to convene a court of inquiry about the "Oswald case". President Lyndon B. Johnson's aide Cliff Carter told the president that such an inquiry "could be used to clear up any question about the Oswald case in Dallas. He [Carr] said the FBI could conduct this hearing through him in any manner they cared to to complete the record on Oswald". Johnson thought this was a good idea, but suggested that Carr should announce the inquiry without any mention of White House requests. Ultimately the inquiry never occurred as Johnson decided to convene a presidential commission, that would later be known as the Warren Commission, to produce a report on the assassination. On 8 June 1964 he testified before the Commission.
In 1966 he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent Republican John Tower for a seat in the US Senate.
Carr died in February 2004 from cancer.
References
References
- (2010). "The House Will Come To Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics". University of Texas Press.
- (28 February 2004). "Waggoner Carr, 85, A Longtime Official In Texas Goverment". The New York Times.
- (27 February 2004). "Former Texas AG Dies of Cancer". Observer-Reporter.
- "Waggoner and Robert Carr had differing theories about Kennedy assassination". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
- (1998). "Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes 1963 1964". Simon & Schuster.
- (13 November 1993). "Warren Commission Born Out of Fear". The Washington Post.
- (1994). "Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy". Yeoman Press.
- (2010). "Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right". University Press of Kentucky.
- (28 February 2004). "Waggoner Carr, 85; Ate Breakfast With JFK on Nov. 22, 1963". LA Times.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::