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Consequences: A Personal and Political Memoir
A controversial politician reminisces about his twenty-five year senatorial career and offers an account of his failed nomination in 1989 for Secretary of Defense
356 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1991
About the author
John G. Tower
4 booksFirst Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction.
He served from 1961 until his retirement on January 3, 1985, after which time he was appointed as the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair.
He was George H. W. Bush's nominee for Secretary of Defense in 1989 but was rejected by the Senate.
Tower died in the airplan crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311.
He served from 1961 until his retirement on January 3, 1985, after which time he was appointed as the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair.
He was George H. W. Bush's nominee for Secretary of Defense in 1989 but was rejected by the Senate.
Tower died in the airplan crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 15, 2019
Had John G. Tower written a straight political memoir in 1990 he would have had an interesting story
to tell. He was the first Republican Senator from a state of the old Confederacy since Reconstruction
when he was elected in 1961. I might have liked to have heard about his life from his childhood as
the son of a preacher born in 1925, his outstanding war service in the Navy in World War 2 and his
attraction to the Republican party in Texas which at that time was a skeleton organization in the 40s.
Tower spent a majority of his time in a diatribe against his former colleagues and especially Sam Nunn of Georgia who was the prime mover in Tower's defeat as Secretary of Defense for President
George H.W. Bush. The way he writes about Nunn he was the prince of darkness. No doubt politics
played a big part in his defeat, but Tower himself was known quite openly as a boozer and a womanizer and all that became part of the public record. Tower was married twice and his second
wife did him no good at the hearings.
Tower who was a professor of political science at Midwestern University when he was chosen as
the GOP candidate against Lyndon B. Johnson who was running for a 3rd term and at the same time
for Vice President with John F. Kennedy. JFK and LBJ won and there was a special election for Johnson's seat.
Something like 65 Democrats filed in a wide open bipartisan special election and Tower was the
only Republican. He won against those odds, but through his entire career he was in what was
considered a marginal seat. The Democrats were the dominant party at that time. Some mention
is made of his four campaigns before he retired in 1985
Tower sadly emerges as something of a crybaby in this book. Still it is of interest and you might
enjoy it.
to tell. He was the first Republican Senator from a state of the old Confederacy since Reconstruction
when he was elected in 1961. I might have liked to have heard about his life from his childhood as
the son of a preacher born in 1925, his outstanding war service in the Navy in World War 2 and his
attraction to the Republican party in Texas which at that time was a skeleton organization in the 40s.
Tower spent a majority of his time in a diatribe against his former colleagues and especially Sam Nunn of Georgia who was the prime mover in Tower's defeat as Secretary of Defense for President
George H.W. Bush. The way he writes about Nunn he was the prince of darkness. No doubt politics
played a big part in his defeat, but Tower himself was known quite openly as a boozer and a womanizer and all that became part of the public record. Tower was married twice and his second
wife did him no good at the hearings.
Tower who was a professor of political science at Midwestern University when he was chosen as
the GOP candidate against Lyndon B. Johnson who was running for a 3rd term and at the same time
for Vice President with John F. Kennedy. JFK and LBJ won and there was a special election for Johnson's seat.
Something like 65 Democrats filed in a wide open bipartisan special election and Tower was the
only Republican. He won against those odds, but through his entire career he was in what was
considered a marginal seat. The Democrats were the dominant party at that time. Some mention
is made of his four campaigns before he retired in 1985
Tower sadly emerges as something of a crybaby in this book. Still it is of interest and you might
enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review