John Goodwin Tower
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1925-1991) The son of a Methodist minister, John Goodwin Tower was a veteran of World War II and a political science professor before entering politics. He joined the national political scene in 1960-1961 when he won the special election to fill Lyndon B. Johnson's U. S. Senate seat, becoming the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower served in the Senate for 24 years, holding a number of influential committee assignments and chairmanships. He became the chief United States negotiator at the strategic arms reduction talks in Geneva after his retirement from the Senate in 1985. He later chaired the Tower Commission, which issued its report on the Iran-Contra Affair in 1987. Tower was serving as an advisor to President George Bush at the time of his death in an airplane crash. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The son of a Methodist minister and a World War II veteran, John Goodwin Tower left a political-science classroom for the national stage in 1961, winning the special election for Lyndon Johnson's vacated Senate seat and becoming the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction. Over 24 years he built influence through key committee chairmanships, later serving as chief U.S. negotiator at the Geneva arms-reduction talks and chairing the commission that investigated the Iran-Contra affair. He died in a 1991 plane crash while advising President George Bush.
Why it matters
Tower's rise signaled the realignment of Texas and the wider South toward the Republican Party, a shift that reshaped modern American politics.
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Related people
- · John Goodwin Tower
- · Lyndon B. Johnson
- · George Bush
Related events
- · Iran-Contra Affair
- · Tower Commission
Themes & tags
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