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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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021389
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02138900.043
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1990-09-17
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NATION, Page 36Towering TroublesBush's pick for the Pentagon faces questions about his conduct
John Tower, Secretary of Defense-designate, is a full-fledged
member of the Capitol Hill old boys' network. Before retiring from
Congress after the 1986 election, he put in four terms as a
Republican Senator from Texas. For six years he served as chairman
of the Armed Services Committee, the panel now judging his fitness
to run the Pentagon. His old friends in the upper chamber are eager
to confirm his appointment, either because of personal regard or
because it would further a kind of quasi alliance between Congress
and the Bush Administration that both need for their own purposes.
But . . .
But no one dares ram through a confirmation unless Tower, 63,
can decisively dispel rumors of drinking and womanizing that have
dogged him for years. Last week those charges arose at the
next-to-last moment to haunt him yet again. The Armed Services
Committee had scheduled a vote for Thursday that looked certain to
be affirmative and to pave the way for confirmation by the full
Senate. That morning, however, Committee Chairman Sam Nunn of
Georgia and ranking Republican John Warner of Virginia agreed to
put off the vote indefinitely. Their explanation: new allegations
serious enough to demand a check by the FBI.
Nunn and Warner would not disclose the charges. But after Paul
Weyrich, a former Senate staffer, became the first committee
witness to talk publicly about Tower's alleged drinking and sexual
escapades, the committee was inundated with calls reporting
"sightings" of Tower either in a less than sober state or with
women, both before and after the FBI conducted a supposedly
thorough background check in January. (It was learned last week
that the FBI actually completed only the first part of a three-part
investigation before Bush sent Tower's name to the Senate.)
Committee insiders say many callers were pranksters, but several
gave names and addresses and agreed to talk to investigators. At
week's end the White House authorized a renewed FBI background
investigation of Tower.
It seems unlikely that anyone could come up with evidence of
misconduct strong enough to swing a majority of the Senate against
Tower. But at minimum, the momentum has leaked out of his
confirmation drive. Tower already has the unenviable distinction
of being the first Cabinet hopeful in memory to be asked
point-blank if he is a drunk.
That happened after Weyrich, who heads the archconservative
Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, charged in an open
hearing that Tower could become a "national embarrassment" as
Secretary of Defense. "Over the course of many years," he
explained, "I have encountered the nominee in a condition, a lack
of sobriety, as well as with women to whom he was not married."
Nunn would hear no more right then, though he promised Weyrich a
chance to elaborate in closed session. In a later open hearing,
Nunn asked Tower "whether you yourself have any alcohol problem."
Tower's answer: "I have none, Senator. I am a man of some
discipline."
Another line of questioning, however, may eventually damage
Tower even more. Between 1986 and late 1988, he was paid $750,000
in consulting fees by several major defense contractors. He had
earlier served as chief American negotiator in START talks aimed
at limiting strategic nuclear missiles. He told the committee that
his firm provided both Martin Marietta and LTV with information on
the impact a separate INF treaty banning medium-range missiles
might have on their businesses. Michigan Democrat Carl Levin
suggested those contacts might create the appearance that Tower had
leaked to the contractors secret information about the U.S. arms
negotiating position. No, said Tower, he provided only "a sort of
academic speculation on what was likely to happen." But why would
the contractors pay so much for mere "speculation"? The words
"influence peddling," while not pronounced, hung heavy in the air.
None of this is likely to erode the White House's strong
support for Tower. The diminutive Texan's 1962 success in becoming
the first Republican Senator from the Lone Star State since
Reconstruction helped inspire oilman George Bush to enter Texas
G.O.P. politics. Last year Tower was one of the first prominent
Republicans to endorse Bush, and he stumped hard for Bush
throughout the campaign. Tower has coveted the post of Secretary
of Defense for at least eight years; he asked Ronald Reagan for it
in early 1981 and renewed his request immediately after Bush won
last year. By then it had become a job of squeezing down a bloated
military establishment. Even if Tower survives the confirmation
process and takes over the No. 2 post in the Cabinet, it could be
as a drastically weakened Pentagon boss, beset by continuing
suspicions that have been neither proved nor disproved.