Oilman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Western Company. Family background; experiences in merchant marine; roustabouting and roughnecking around Barbers Hill, Liberty, and Esperson Dome; education at University of Oklahoma; Depression experiences; employment with Reed Roller Bit Company; early contacts with Clint Murchison; formation of Western Company, Incorporated, 1939; development of acidizing process; oil business during World War II; West Texas oil boom, 1947-57; transition from entrepreneur to manager; association with Charles Simmons; Ship Subsidy Act of 1936 and semi-submersible drilling rigs; dealing with foreign governments; views on energy self-sufficiency and conservation; relocation to Fort Worth, 1959; decision to join Republican Party; political activities; comments about Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Connally, William Clements, Lyndon Johnson, and Jim Wright; views on free enterprise system; purchase of Texas Rangers baseball club. [Cross-listed as OHB 0047]