Texas House

Ben Barnes (on right) with House Speaker Gus F. Mutscher, Governor Preston Smith and former president Lyndon B. Johnson in Brenham, August 17, 1970.

While a student at The University of Texas, Barnes worked at the Texas State Health Department. After discovering some financial irregularities that led to the indictment of the state health commissioner, Barnes became interested in politics. At the age of 21, Barnes went back to his home area of the state and ran for state representative, pulling off an upset victory. Advancing quickly through the Texas legislature, by 1963, Barnes was chairman of the powerful Rules Committee. In 1965, the Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce named Barnes as one of "Five Outstanding Young Texans" and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognized Barnes as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" in 1970.

Speaker of the Texas House

In the lead up to 1965, Barnes began accumulating pledges of support from colleagues to succeed Byron Tunnell if the Speaker decided not to seek a third term in 1967. He didn't have to wait that long. Just before the 1965 session, a vacancy occurred on the Railroad Commission and John Connally came up with the clever idea of appointing Byron Tunnell, who was only a lukewarm supporter of Connally's activist legislative program, to fill the seat. Barnes had advance notice of the maneuver, so when Connally announced Tunnell's appointment, Barnes had already set up a war room in the Driskill Hotel. He started calling members to make good the pledges he had collected. Potential rivals never had a chance.^[7]

With the governor and the business lobby and all but a handful of House members behind him, Barnes was an instant powerhouse. The press latched on to the story of the young man with a limitless future. The headlines tell the tale: “Ben Barnes—Man Going Places,” “Boy Wonder of Texas Politics,” “Big Crowd Hears LBJ Predict White House for Ben Barnes.”^[8]

During his speakership, Barnes placed a high priority on the state's colleges and universities, with financial support for these institutions rising by 300 percent. Furthermore, he helped establish the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Under Barnes, salaries increased for university professors, the University of Houston merged with the state university system, and Angelo State College and Pan American College turned into four-year institutions.

Furthermore, Barnes won passage of a minimum wage standard for farm workers, played a key role in winning approval for clean air and water legislation, and successfully fought for a bill creating the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. The political future seemed limitless for Barnes, who enjoyed the support of Connally and President Lyndon Johnson who, after leaving the White House, predicted that his young protégé would one day claim the presidency.^[9]

In 1966, Barnes was the President of the National Legislative Conference and in 1967, was voted President of the Southern Legislative Conference—the youngest person and first Texan to receive the honor. He was also U.S. representative to the NATO Conference in 1967, and the United Nations Representative to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968.

Lieutenant governor

In his 1968 race for Lieutenant Governor, Barnes carried all 254 counties in both the primary and the general elections; in the latter he won more votes than any candidate had polled up to that time in the history of Texas.^[10]

Barnes served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973, a post often called the most powerful position in the Texas state government because the lieutenant governor can block a governor's agenda from being considered by the Texas State Senate. As lieutenant governor, he successfully backed an increase in the minimum wage, legislation in the area of mass transportion, and legislation creating the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. Throughout his four terms in the two offices, Barnes also was interested in the issue of higher education. During that time, Texas increased its appropriations for higher education more than threefold, rising to near the top in its ranking among the 50 states in expenditures for higher education. Several new universities and graduate schools originated as a result of increased appropriations.^[11]

Sharpstown scandal

In 1971, Barnes was caught up along with the Democratic Party in Texas in the political fallout of the Sharpstown scandal, though he stated he had no knowledge of the involvement of several state senators in the scheme. While he was not brought to trial, the scandal contributed to an unsuccessful run for governor and Barnes' exit from public office.

Unwitting involvement in the Iran hostage crisis

In March 2023, motivated by news of Jimmy Carter's hospice care, Barnes corroborated the 1980 October Surprise theory by telling journalist Peter Baker of The New York Times that in the summer of 1980 he was unwittingly involved in relaying promises from Reagan campaign officials to ask Iranian officials to withhold release of the hostages they held until after the 1980 presidential elections. According to Barnes, in the summer of 1980 he accompanied former Texas governor and a former candidate in the 1980 presidential election, John Connally, on a trip to several Middle Eastern countries which records indicate to have included Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. Barnes claimed in 2023 that during the trip Connally would promote Ronald Reagan's candidacy to leaders of those countries, and told those leaders (except for the leaders in Israel) ‘It would be very smart for you to pass the word to the Iranians to wait until after this general election is over.’ Barnes asserted that he did not know in advance that Connally would say that on the trip, and believed that Connally was positioning himself for a nomination by a future Reagan Administration for either Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. Reagan did offer Connally the position of Secretary of Energy, but Connally declined.

Barnes also claimed that shortly after returning to the United States, Connally reported on their trip to William J. Casey, who was chairman of Reagan's campaign, and later Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. A note in Connally's files confirms that he had contact with the Reagan camp early during the trip.^[12]

Reactions among the former hostages to Barnes' 2023 revelations were mixed. One former hostage criticized Barnes for not coming forward for more than 40 years. Others either did not believe Barnes' account, or said that Barnes confirmed their suspicions as to what went on behind the scenes.^[13]