Greg Abbott, the Likely Next Governor of Texas, May Eventually Run for President

The governor of Texas is not legally required to possess a supreme amount of self-confidence, but a law like that might as well be on the books. Sam Houston governed the state. The last two incumbents, George W. Bush and Rick Perry, ran for president. In the annals of self-confidence, the man likely to succeed Perry next year, Attorney General Greg Abbott (R), fits right in. He is, in his own estimation, a bridge between the conservative and business wings of the Texas Republican Party, the candidate who can show his party how to reach out to a large and growing Hispanic population, and someone who can make thousands of able-bodied people more comfortable around those with disabilities.

If he lives up to the image he paints of himself, Abbott could follow in Bush and Perry’s footsteps in another respect: He could become the latest governor of Texas to be considered presidential timber.

The strain that runs through Abbott’s life — and, perhaps, gives him such a healthy ego — is competition. One of his earliest memories is of foot-racing his older brother, and of trying to stop his brother from beating out their father. The 4-year-old Abbott broke his collarbone when his older brother ran right through him.

Though he has a staid and calm demeanor, Abbott tends to come unglued when he watches his Houston Rockets play basketball. Patrick Oxford, a Houston lawyer who has known Abbott for a quarter-century, recalled being taken aback when he saw Abbott taunting opposing players from his seat underneath one of the baskets.