1. CONNALLY QUITS RACE
By Bill Peterson Washington Post Staff Writer. Washington Post special correspondent Tom Curtis contributed to this report.
March 10, 1980:
Big John was always the best show in town. In his cowboy boots and perfectly tailored three-piece suits, he was bigger than life, a superb orator, quick on his feet, tough, decisive, blustery.
He looked like a president, tall, jut-jawed and silver-haired. He acted like a president. He was, his friends insisted, the most qualified and electable candidate for the job in history.
The trouble was, hardly anyone wanted to vote for him.
In the end, the numbers did him in. Today in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott West Loop Hotel in Houston, before more than 500 supporters, John Connally pulled out of the presidential race, saying it "would not contribute to the good of the party or the good of the country" to continue.
"I don't ever intend to be a candidate again," he said.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to News Items to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.