Robert S. Calvert

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=Robert S. Calvert

|birth_name = Robert Seale Calvert

|birth_date = {{birth date|1892|4|27}}

|birth_place = McGregor, Texas, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1981|9|1|1892|4|27}}

|death_place = Austin, Texas, U.S.

|resting_place = Austin Memorial Park Cemetery

|office = Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

|term_start = January 18, 1949

|term_end = January 3, 1975

|governor = Beauford Jester
Allan Shivers
Price Daniel
John Connally
Preston Smith
Dolph Briscoe

|preceded = George H. Sheppard

|succeeded = Bob Bullock

|alma_mater = Howard Payne Junior College

|party = Democratic

|allegiance={{Nowrap|{{Flag|United States|1912|size=23px}}}}

|branch=20px United States Army

|rank=Sergeant

|serviceyears= 1917-1919

|battles= World War I

}}

Robert Seale Calvert (April 27, 1892{{spaced ndash}}September 1, 1981) was the longest-serving Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, serving for 26 years.

From 1909 to 1910, Calvert attended Baptist-affiliated Howard Payne Junior College in Brownwood, Texas.

On January 18, 1949, Calvert was appointed by Governor Beauford Jester to the position of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts following the death of his predecessor, George H. Sheppard, who died in office. He was elected to a full term in 1950 and re-elected in 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1972, serving for twenty-six years.

When the African American then State Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, later a member of the United States House of Representatives, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1973, Calvert said in response, that Johnson was a "nigger woman who doesn't know what she is talking about." The EEOC ruled that racial discrimination could be inferred based on Calvert's response.{{Citation| title = Black Legislator in Texas moves to impeach official| newspaper = Jet| pages = 10| date = October 11, 1973| publisher = Johnson Publishing Company| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=grEDAAAAMBAJ&q=Texas+%22Robert+S.+Calvert%22&pg=PA10| accessdate = December 5, 2009}}

In 1972, Randy Pendleton, a former legislator from Andrews in West Texas, and Jim Wilson, a former employee, ran against Calvert. There was a run-off between Calvert and Wilson, in which Calvert won.

In 1974, Bob Bullock announced that he would challenge the octogenarian comptroller and promised to reform operations of the office. Bullock was so aggressive that Calvert withdrew from the race, and Bullock was elected to the first of four terms.

Calvert died in Austin in September 1981.