Days of whine and poses; John Tower's lament - and what it misses

Washington Monthly, March, 1991 by Steven Waldman

Ethical standards have shifted, but mostly for the better. And while it may be true that the Senate was looking for any reason it could find not to confirm Tower, one must ask why it looked so hard. Given the inherent clubbiness of the Senate, members' zeal to jump on scraps of evidence leads one to conclude that Tower was a supremely unpopular fellow.

But the best explanation of why so many senators voted against Tower came from Senator Alan Dixon of Illinois, who told Washingtonian magazine that he could only see bucking Democratic party leadership "for someone who you really want in the job, because this is a biggie." For all the service Tower gave his country, there was a lot wrong with him as a nominee for defense secretary. The Constitution would be more helpful if, instead of having vague language about advise and consent, it said, "By a vote of two-thirds of its Members, Congress may inform a President, Aw, come on-you can do better than that! "'