---
born: 1895-04-11
category: Organized Crime
died: 1969-06-20
location: Tyler, Texas
summary: Powerful Texas oilman who cultivated relationships with Hoover, Nixon, and
  Johnson, with business dealings intersecting organized crime figures including the
  Genovese Crime Family.
tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
---

[Clint Murchison, Sr.](/people/clint-murchison-sr/) was a powerful Texas oilman and a significant political figure, described as being cut from the same cloth as [H.L. Hunt](/people/hl-hunt/). He was the father of [Clint W. Murchison, Jr.](/people/clint-w-murchison-jr/), a director of [FIDCO](/organizations/first-intercontinental-development-corporation/). Murchison, Sr. was a key organizer of pro-[MacArthur](/people/douglas-macarthur/) forces in Texas and an ardent supporter of Senator [Joseph McCarthy](/people/joseph-mccarthy/)'s anti-communist crusade.[^1]

Murchison, Sr. cultivated relationships with influential figures across the political spectrum, including [J. Edgar Hoover](/people/j-edgar-hoover/), [Richard Nixon](/people/richard-nixon/), and [Lyndon Johnson](/people/lyndon-johnson/). The Murchison family's rise to power was closely tied to their connections in Texas oil. He was known for his hospitality, often hosting [J. Edgar Hoover](/people/j-edgar-hoover/) at his exclusive Hotel Del Charro in La Jolla, California, and covering Hoover's expenses, which amounted to approximately $19,000 in free vacations between 1953 and 1959.[^1]

His business dealings also intersected with organized crime. Nearly 20 percent of the Murchison Oil Lease Company in Oklahoma was owned by [Gerardo Catena](/people/gerardo-catena/), a chief lieutenant to the [Genovese Crime Family](/organizations/genovese-crime-family/). Furthermore, the Murchison family's affairs were tightly interwoven with the scandal surrounding [Bobby Baker](/people/bobby-baker/), a close associate of [Lyndon Johnson](/people/lyndon-johnson/), which involved numerous questionable deals with organized crime figures in Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisiana, and the Caribbean.[^1]

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.