Dan Moody: Crusader for Justice

During the 1920's, the Ku Klux Klan was a national power, active in all 48 states, with 3 million members. Dan Moody obtained the first convictions and prison sentences against the 1920's version of the KKK. He then rallied public opinion against the Klan in a race for state attorney general. Moody defeated the Klan candidate in a run-off election. The New York Times would later declare Moody's victory "the death-knell of Klan domination" in Texas. As attorney general, Moody fought the corruption of the Ferguson administration. He was able to return $1 million in cash and securities to the state treasury that was the product of a phony road-building scam. At age 33, Moody was elected Texas' youngest governor. In his later career, he was involved in the litigation involving LBJ's disputed 1948 Senate race.