Billy Wayne “Bill” Clayton , was an American politician from West Texas who served as a state legislator for twenty years and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, a tenure twice as long as that of any other presiding officer of the house elected before him. Clayton, a conservative Democrat from a rural area of the Texas South Plains, attained the speakership by successfully forging a broad-based House coalition. He was considered one of the most influential legislators and, after he left the chamber, lobbyists in modern Texas history.