John Goodwin Tower was an American politician and military officer who represented Texas in the United States Senate from 1961 to 1985.
30 Facts About John Tower
2.
John Tower was the first Republican elected to the US Senate from Texas since Reconstruction.
3.
John Tower switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the early 1950s and worked on the 1956 presidential campaign of Dwight D Eisenhower.
4.
John Tower was the only Southern Republican in the Senate until Strom Thurmond switched parties in 1964.
5.
John Tower became less conservative over time, later voicing support for legal abortion, gay rights, and opposing President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative in 1982.
6.
John Tower died in the 1991 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 crash.
7.
In June 1943, John Tower paused his college studies to serve in the United States Navy during the Pacific Theater of World War II on an LCS amphibious gunboat.
8.
In March 1946, John Tower was discharged from the Navy ranked seaman first class and resumed his studies at Southwestern.
9.
John Tower graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.
10.
John Tower worked as a radio announcer for country music station KTAE in Taylor, northeast of Austin, during college and for some time afterward.
11.
John Tower continued his military service in the United States Naval Reserve until retiring in 1989 with the rank of master chief's boatswain mate.
12.
John Tower's research was presented in his thesis, The Conservative Worker in Britain.
13.
John Tower received his Master of Arts degree from SMU in 1953.
14.
John Tower rose quickly through the ranks of the Texas Republican Party; he was an unsuccessful candidate for representative to the Texas House of Representatives for the 18th district in 1954.
15.
John Tower was a delegate to the 1956 Republican National Convention.
16.
John Tower left the Labor and Public Welfare Committee in 1964, although in 1965 he was named to the Senate Armed Services Committee, in which he served until his retirement.
17.
John Tower was chairman of the Armed Services Committee from 1981 to 1984.
18.
John Tower served on the Joint Committee on Defense Production from 1963 until 1977 and on the Senate Republican Policy Committee in 1962 and from 1969 until 1984.
19.
John Tower served as chairman of the latter from 1973 until his retirement from the Senate.
20.
John Tower supported Texas economic interests, working to improve the business environment of the energy, agricultural, and fishing and maritime sectors.
21.
John Tower was a leading opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and voted against both bills, as well as the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, while not voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and voting in favor of the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the US Supreme Court.
22.
John Tower arranged for Maxwell to meet with leadership of Sandia National Laboratories, a US nuclear lab.
23.
Shortly after retirement from the Senate, in 1985, John Tower took Maxwell's request for American help in arming Iran, and relayed it to President Reagan as a means to trade for American hostages held in Lebanon.
24.
John Tower retired from the Senate after nearly twenty-four years in office.
25.
Two weeks after his leaving office, John Tower was named chief United States negotiator at the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
26.
John Tower resigned from this office in 1987, and for a time was a professor at Southern Methodist University.
27.
John Tower became a consultant with Tower, Eggers, and Greene Consulting from 1987 until his death in 1991.
28.
The board, which became known as the John Tower Commission, issued its report on February 26,1987.
29.
John and Lou Tower had three children during their years in Wichita Falls born in three consecutive years: Penny, Marian, and Jeanne.
30.
John Tower donated his papers to his alma mater, Southwestern University.