Commissioner’s Corner: James Earl Rudder
“Texas is big and Texans are proud of it. Prideful boasts can be made about the countless facets of our greatness without the slightest sacrifice of honesty.”
– James Earl Rudder
James Earl Rudder was a soldier, a leader, and a proud Texas Aggie. He became Commissioner of the General Land Office amid great public concern regarding several of the programs at the oldest state agency in Texas. He was asked to right the ship after one of the biggest political scandals in Texas history, which resulted in the incarceration of his predecessor, Bascom Giles. A strong leader all his life, James Earl Rudder was the perfect candidate to tackle the unrest and uncertainty swirling among Texas’ citizens and restore trust, honesty, and credibility to the General Land Office.
One of six brothers, James Earl Rudder was born on May 6, 1910, to Dee Forest Rudder and Annie (Powell) Rudder in Eden, Texas. His long and storied academic career started at Eden High School and proceeded to John Tarleton Agricultural College in 1928–29. After a year at Tarleton, he transferred to Texas A&M where he began his legendary relationship with the Texas A&M Aggies. At A&M, Rudder lettered in football and enlisted in the Corps of Cadets, where he was commissioned a reserve Second Lieutenant of infantry in 1932. He graduated with a degree in Industrial Education.[1]
Rudder enlisted in the Army in 1941 after the United States’ entry into World War II. He was called into active duty as a First Lieutenant and went on to become a celebrated military hero and one of the most decorated soldiers of the war. In July 1943, Rudder was responsible for organizing and training the Second Ranger Battalion, which came to be known as “Rudder’s Rangers.” After training, the 2nd Battalion deployed to England in December of 1943. Just a month later Rudder was assigned an unimaginably daunting D-Day mission: scale 100-foot cliffs at heavily fortified Pointe du Hoc on the Normandy shore, and establish a beachhead for Allied forces.
“No soldier in my command has ever been wished a more difficult task than that which befell the 34-year-old commander (Rudder) of this Provisional Ranger Force,” said General Omar Bradley, Commander of the U.S. Ground Forces in Europe.
During the 100-foot climb, Rudder’s Rangers were under constant enemy fire from the German gun batteries. The mission resulted in a greater than 50 percent casualty rate for the Rangers, with Rudder himself suffering two wounds. Despite the great loss of life, he and his men accomplished their mission. They scaled the cliffs, took the beach, and destroyed ammunition that the Germans left behind.
During a visit to Pointe du Hoc ten years later, Rudder reflected: “Will you tell me how we did this? Anybody would be a fool to try this. It was crazy then, and it’s crazy now.” During the anniversary, Rudder complemented his men by saying, “The German is a good fighter, but he’s no match for the Rangers. They are a crew to be proud of…I am more convinced now than ever that we must fight for the things that are of great value.”[2]
Rudder is also associated with another famous battle in Europe. A few months after scaling the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, Rudder was called upon once again to lead his troops at the Battle of the Bulge. He commanded the soldiers of the 109th Infantry Regiment. Just eight days after assuming command, Rudder’s forces, along with the 28th Division, were caught by a major German counter-offensive through the Ardennes. This was the last major tactical move the Germans would be able to make before their surrender in Europe.
Following the end of the war, Rudder was released from active duty with the rank of Colonel in April 1946. In 1954 he was promoted to Brigadier General of the United States Army Reserves and later promoted to Major General in 1957 as a citizen-soldier.
In 1946, Rudder returned home and won the office of mayor of Brady, Texas, which he held for six years. After leaving the mayor’s office, he served in the private sector as the Vice President of the Brady Aviation Company in 1953.
While Rudder was in Brady, a scandalous political firestorm was hitting Austin at the General Land Office. Governor Allen Shivers was forced to fill one of the most important positions in all of state government when the Commissioner of the Land Office declined to take his oath of office, thereby vacating the position. Shivers handpicked his old friend, James Earl Rudder, to fill the monumental void left by Bascom Giles. Shivers was putting all his political capital into the Rudder nomination. He said, “For the next two years, with this personal appointment, I will take full responsibility for the administration of the land office and the veterans land program.”[3] Shivers’s selection did not disappoint.
Rudder took the oath of office on January 4, 1955, and initiated sweeping changes at the GLO beginning thirty minutes into his first day, when he called a meeting with the entire Veterans Land Program. He took charge quickly and began reforming policies, expediting land applications, and closely supervising proper accounting procedures to ensure that there was no more corruption that could taint the public image of the Land Office. By August 31, 1956, Rudder commented, “…The General Land Office has now been restored to a place of confidence in the eyes of the public.”[4]
Rudder quickly grew to dislike the working conditions of the Land Office.
“Within 30 minutes after I assumed the duties of Land Commissioner, a meeting of the VLB was called in my office. I was amazed to find such inadequate facilities for holding such a meeting,” he said. “There will still be a need…for additional space if all of the valuable records of the Land Office are to be kept in one office along with the VLB files, abstracts of title and other papers which have, by law, become records of the GLO. We are presently renting a warehouse in the alley behind the Land Office in which a great accumulation of old records are stored.”[5]
This was shocking for Rudder, who astutely commented that “a record has value only if it can be read.” With this, he initiated a program to preserve the many deteriorating documents housed at the land office by following the lead of several prominent museums, universities, libraries, and archives.
The supervision of coastal mineral exploration and development was another major focus of Commissioner Rudder. According to reports from Commissioner Robison’s administration, the GLO had been grappling with these issues for almost five decades. For Rudder, it became increasingly important, as he was the second Commissioner to lead the agency in the era of the recently established three marine leagues coastal boundary. This expansion of Texas’s territory into the gulf created an impressive revenue source for the Permanent School Fund, and Rudder wanted to take full advantage of this potential windfall.[6]
In 1956, Rudder, on the strength of his many reforms, won the election for Land Commissioner. During a campaign speech, Rudder commented he was not seeking to be elected because of any political ambition. It was more important, he believed, to continue to restore Texans’ confidence in the office. In that regard, he felt that he still had much remaining work to do to achieve success.[7]
Commissioner Rudder resigned from the land office during his second term on January 31, 1958, to assume the position of Vice President of his alma mater, Texas A&M. He left the Land Office having accomplished his personal mission to restore it to a place of confidence and respect. His last day as commissioner was February 1, 1958, when Bill Allcorn became the new Commissioner.[8]
On July 1, 1959, Rudder was promoted to President of the University and later promoted to Chancellor of the entire Texas A&M System. Under the progressive leadership of his eleven-year administration, both the student enrollment at A&M and the value of the university facilities increased twofold. Rudder’s legacy at A&M included introducing reforms without discarding the traditions and culture that made A&M unique. Reforms included officially admitting female students, making the Corps of Cadets a voluntary organization rather than mandatory, launching a construction frenzy that transformed the campus, and expanding graduate and research programs and placing a greater emphasis on academics.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Rudder the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest peacetime service award that can be earned. He held his position with A&M until his death on March 23, 1970. He is buried in College Station near the campus he helped shape into a world-class institution. Rudder is honored on the Aggie campus by the eleven-story Rudder Tower, as well as with a bronze statue that stands next to the Memorial Student Center. The Corps of Cadets also honors Rudder with a special training unit known as “Rudder’s Rangers.” In Austin, the James Earl Rudder State Office Building, the former home to the General Land Office and current home to the offices of the Secretary of State, is located at 1019 Brazos.
[1] “Biography: Earl Rudder,” James Earl Rudder Vertical File, Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M University.
[2] John LeBas, “Despite Wounds, Rudder Would Not Be Denied,” Eagle, 6 June 2001.
[3] “Brady Ranchman Takes Land Job,” Abilene Reporter-News, 5 January 1955, http://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/abilene/abilene-reporter-news/1955/01-05/page-25.
[4] James Earl Rudder, Commissioner, Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office: 1954–1956, 31 August 1956, General Land Office Reports: Commissioner Reports #69, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Handbook of Texas Online, Price Daniel, “Tidelands Controversy,” accessed July 27, 2017, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mgt02. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
[7] Ed Overholser, “Rudder, Price Seek Land Job,” Big Spring Daily Herald, 26 July 1956, http://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/big-spring/big-spring-daily-herald/1956/07-26/page-6.
[8] Associated Press, “Rudder Resigns for A&M Post; Allcorn Named,” Corsicana Daily Sun, 21 December 1957, http://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/corsicana/corsicana-daily-sun/1957/12-21/.
