Allan Shivers was one of Texas' strongest governors, a progressive, colorful, dynamic leader whose administration from 1949 to 1957, the longest in the state's history, was marked by the winning fight for restoration of the Tidelands to Texas. In the State Senate in 1935, where he was the youngest man ever seated up to that time, he authored Texas old-age pension and unemployment compensation laws. From 1947 to 1949 he served as lieutenant governor. As governor, he made reforms in state hospitals, prisons, and schools for deaf and exceptional children; created agencies for higher education, historical preservation, water resources, and studies of alcoholism; saw highway mileage double; and maintained a moderate tax policy and a balanced budget. He was chairman of the National and Southern Governors Conferences and the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, and president of the Council of State Governments. Born October 5, 1907, in Lufkin to pioneer East Texas family members Robert A. Shivers and Easter Creasy Shivers, he attended Woodville schools, graduated from Port Arthur High School, and studied at the University of Texas, receiving a B.A. in 1931 and an LL. B. in 1933. He married Marialice Shary in 1937, had four children, served in Europe in World War Two, and was a Baptist, Mason, lawyer, rancher, farmer, investor, and civic leader.