Susan Baker Weddington (April 6, 1951 – September 1, 2020) was a businesswoman who from 1997 to 2003 served as

party chair In politics, a party chair (often party chairperson/-man/-woman or party president) is the presiding officer of a political party. The nature and importance of the position differs from country to country, and also between political parties. Th ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Republican Party during the administrations of Governors

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

She was the first female chair of either major party in Texas.

Background

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Weddington moved to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

before she was eighteen months of age. She is one of two children of the late Louis C. Baker and the former Elaine Baird. She has a brother, David Baker. Weddington graduated in 1969 from

Alamo Heights High School Alamo Heights High School is a public high school located in the city of Alamo Heights, Texas and classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. Alamo Heights is the only high school in the Alamo Heights Independent School Di ...

in San Antonio. and after that from Trinity University in San Antonio, from which she received a bachelor's degree in communications and was for a time an instructor of photojournalism.Robbins, Mary Alice. "Texas Republicans elect state's first female party chief," The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, August 2, 1997.

Political life

The firm Kinetic Concepts formerly employed Weddington. A Christian conservative activist, Weddington became interested in politics as the mother of a teenaged son visiting the Texas State Capitol in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. Her particular interests at the time were education and product liability laws."Texas GOP chair has star role," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' March 19, 2015. In 1990, Weddington placed a black wreath that read "Death to the Family" at the door of the campaign headquarters in Austin for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee,

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, ...

, the state treasurer. At the state Republican convention that year, she participated in a prayer rally and called upon the Almighty to "watch over the caucus rooms and the convention hall." In 1997, Weddington was unanimously elected state chairwoman by the Republican state executive committee to succeed conservative

Tom Pauken Thomas Weir Pauken (born January 11, 1944) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party. Pauken is a former member and chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission. A former long-term resident of Dallas, who now resides in the reso ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, who resigned after three years in the position to run for state attorney general. She was Pauken's choice as his successor. For part of her tenure, the vice chairman was the conservative author and activist David Barton. Weddington held support from both the religious conservative wing of her party and the fiscal conservatives. Chuck Anderson, then the executive director of the Christian Coalition, described Weddington as "very, very well respected by members of the party from all ideological stripes." In 2000, Republicans held 1,600 of the approximately 4,000 elected offices in Texas but all statewide offices. Weddington said that she was determined to bring the party to long-term majority status, with particular emphasis on the state legislature. In 2002, Weddington broke with tradition as state chair when she became involved in a heated Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

for the

District 25 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

state Senate seat in San Antonio in which Republican

Jeff Wentworth Earl Jeffrey Wentworth (born November 20, 1940) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican former member of the Texas Senate from San Antonio, Texas, San Antonio. He represented Texas Senate, District 25, District 25 in the upper legislat ...

ran successfully for re-nomination. One of her predecessors as chairman,

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of Dallas, had pointedly refused to become involved in such primary races but stood with the general election nominees regardless of policy positions. When she stepped down as state chairwoman in 2003, her party had gained a firm footing in major political offices in Texas. Weddington for six years then headed the OneStar Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rick Perry to connect such organizations with resources and expertise to accomplish their missions and to promote volunteerism."Susan Weddington President/CEO OneStar Foundation, faithworksconference.com, March 19, 2015. She was succeeded as chairman by another woman, Tina Benkiser, a lawyer from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Personal life

Weddington retired in 2009, and Perry named Elizabeth Seale her successor at the OneStar Foundation. In the 2010 Republican gubernatorial

, Weddington came out of retirement to endorse Rick Perry, who defeated two female challengers, including U.S. Senator

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republic ...

. Weddington retired to Gillespie County near Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country with her second husband, George Robert "Bob" Weddington, whom she married in San Antonio on April 1, 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weddington, Susan 1951 births Businesspeople from Texas Christians from Texas Texas Republican state chairmen Texas Republicans Women in Texas politics