Greg Abbott
A political force shaped by personal tragedy, he governs the nation's most powerful red state with an unwavering focus on conservative legal and border battles.
Born 1957 (age 69)·Governor of Texas since 2015·Birthday: November 13·Baby Boomers
Biography
Greg Abbott's political identity is forged from two defining events: a freak accident that left him using a wheelchair and a legal career spent defending state sovereignty. While jogging in Houston, a falling oak tree struck him, paralyzing him below the waist. The lawsuit that followed became a lesson in the system he would later master. As a Texas Supreme Court justice and then the longest-serving attorney general in state history, he built a reputation as a litigator, suing the Obama administration dozens of times. As governor, he has pursued an aggressively conservative agenda, from signing a heartbeat abortion bill to engineering the busing of migrants to Democratic-led cities, making the Texas-Mexico border a central stage in national politics. His tenure is a study in wielding the levers of state power with disciplined, long-term strategy.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Greg was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Greg Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Greg's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 50
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 60
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 69 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Became the longest-serving governor in Texas history, surpassing Rick Perry's tenure.
- Served as Attorney General of Texas for 13 years, filing over 30 lawsuits against the Obama administration.
- Signed into law the 'Texas Heartbeat Act' (Senate Bill 8) in 2021, one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws.
- Initiated Operation Lone Star, a multi-billion dollar state-led border security initiative, and the migrant busing program to northern cities.
Did You Know?
He is the first governor of Texas to use a wheelchair.
He met his wife, Cecilia, when she was a first-grade teacher and he was a young lawyer; she later became the first Hispanic first lady of Texas.
The tree that injured him was located on a property owned by a homeowner and a tree care company; he settled lawsuits with both.
He once clerked for a federal judge and practiced law at Butler & Binion in Houston.
“I will not allow President Biden to continue his open border policies to endanger the lives of Texans.”
