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By virtue of their primary defeat, the Texas Ford supporters were shut out of the national convention in Kansas City. Angelo recalls Tower as having "begged" for a delegate slot because he was a U.S. senator and was supposed to be the Ford floor leader at the convention. Angelo said that Tower could have been a delegate if he were to support Reagan, an impossible stipulation. Tower hence was not a delegate to the 1976 convention because Angelo was mindful that a close convention showdown could have been decided by a handful of delegate votes. Angelo said that he always personally liked and admired Tower though they disagreed on some issues: "John was the best extemporaneous speaker and solid as a rock on most issues." Tower had campaigned for Angelo in the latter's unsuccessful race in 1968 for the Texas State Senate. As time passed though, Tower alienated the conservative wing of his party with his support for legalized [[abortion]] and opposition to Reagan's [[Strategic Defense Initiative]].<ref>Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo", pg. 86.</ref> Barbara Staff, the Reagan co-chairman for Dallas County and North Texas, recalls that Tower spent much of his time at the convention with the closely divided [[Mississippi]] delegation and did not address the phalanx of Reagan backers in his own state's delegation. Among the Reagan backers was Betty Andujar of Fort Worth, the first Republican woman to serve in the State Senate.<ref>"Convention Notes: No love lost between Texans, [[Betty Ford]]", ''Dallas Morning News'', August 19, 1976, pg. 6A.</ref>

By virtue of their primary defeat, the Texas Ford supporters were shut out of the national convention in Kansas City. Angelo recalls Tower as having "begged" for a delegate slot because he was a U.S. senator and was supposed to be the Ford floor leader at the convention. Angelo said that Tower could have been a delegate if he were to support Reagan, an impossible stipulation. Tower hence was not a delegate to the 1976 convention because Angelo was mindful that a close convention showdown could have been decided by a handful of delegate votes. Angelo said that he always personally liked and admired Tower though they disagreed on some issues: "John was the best extemporaneous speaker and solid as a rock on most issues." Tower had campaigned for Angelo in the latter's unsuccessful race in 1968 for the Texas State Senate. As time passed though, Tower alienated the conservative wing of his party with his support for legalized [[abortion]] and opposition to Reagan's [[Strategic Defense Initiative]].<ref>Hathorn, "Mayor Ernest Angelo", pg. 86.</ref> Barbara Staff, the Reagan co-chairman for Dallas County and North Texas, recalls that Tower spent much of his time at the convention with the closely divided [[Mississippi]] delegation and did not address the phalanx of Reagan backers in his own state's delegation. Among the Reagan backers was Betty Andujar of Fort Worth, the first Republican woman to serve in the State Senate.<ref>"Convention Notes: No love lost between Texans, [[Betty Ford]]", ''Dallas Morning News'', August 19, 1976, pg. 6A.</ref>

In his last four years in the Senate, Tower headed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, considered the most significant of all congressional committee chairmanships.

In his last four years in the Senate, Tower headed the Senate Armed Services Committee, considered among the more significant of all congressional committee chairmanships.

After he left the Senate, Tower was chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the former [[Soviet Union]] and led the Tower Commission, which issued a report highly critical of the Reagan administration's relations with the [[Contras]] and [[Iran]]. In 1989, incoming President [[George H. W. Bush]] chose Tower as his nominee for [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], but his nomination was rejected by the Senate after charges of drinking and womanizing surfaced. The opposition of [[Georgia]] Senator Sam Nunn solidified the Democratic majority against the nomination. After this defeat, Tower chaired the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

After he left the Senate, Tower was chief negotiator of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the former [[Soviet Union]] and led the Tower Commission, which issued a report highly critical of the Reagan administration's relations with the [[Contras]] and [[Iran]]. In 1989, incoming President [[George H. W. Bush]] chose Tower as his nominee for [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]], but his nomination was rejected by the Senate after charges of drinking and womanizing surfaced. The opposition of [[Georgia]] Senator Sam Nunn solidified the Democratic majority against the nomination, and Tower was defeated, 53-47. After this stinging rebuke, Tower chaired the Bush Intelligence Advisory Board.

==Surprise death==

==Surprise death==

Tower was first married to the former Joza "Lou" Bullington (1920-2001), a [[California]] native who was five years his senior and was their church pianist and taught music. Lou was a distant cousin of the 1932 Texas Republican gubernatorial nominee, Orville Bullington, also of Wichita Falls. The Towers resided in Wichita Falls in the early years of their marriage while he was a political science professor at Midwestern State University. After he became senator, they relocated to Dallas. The couple had three daughters. Lou campaigned vigorously for her husband in the elections of 1961, 1966, and 1972 and was warmly received throughout the state. In 1977, the year after his divorce from Lou, John Tower wed the former Lila Burt Cummings, from whom he was also divorced in a bitter split in 1987.

Tower was first married to the former Joza "Lou" Bullington (1920-2001), a [[California]] native who was five years his senior and a music teacher and their church pianist. Lou was a distant cousin of the 1932 Texas Republican gubernatorial nominee, Orville Bullington, also of Wichita Falls. In the first part of their marriage, the Towers resided in Wichita Falls, at which he was a political science professor at Midwestern State University. After he became senator, they relocated to Dallas. The couple had three daughters. Lou campaigned vigorously for her husband in the elections of 1961, 1966, and 1972 and was warmly received throughout the state. In 1977, the year after his divorce from Lou, John Tower wed the former Lila Burt Cummings, from whom he was also divorced in a bitter split in 1987.

Tower died with his middle daughter, Marian, in the 1991 crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 in Brunswick, Georgia, while the two were on a promotional tour for Tower's ''Consequences: A Personal and Political Memoir'', published a few months before the crash.

Tower died with his middle daughter, Marian, in the 1991 crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 in Brunswick, Georgia, while the two were on a promotional tour for Tower's ''Consequences: A Personal and Political Memoir'', published a few months before the crash.

John and Lou Tower and daughter Marian are interred at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas. John and Lou are not buried side by side. A cenotaph in Tower's honor was erected at the Texas State Cemetery in the capital city of [[Austin]].

John and Lou Tower and daughter Marian are interred at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas. John and Lou are not buried side by side. A cenotaph in Tower's honor was erected at the Texas State Cemetery in the capital city of [[Austin]].

Tower's impact on Texas politics continues through the success of three prominent Republicans, [[John Cornyn]], who holds the old Tower seat, former state Representative Dan H. Branch of Dallas, who chairs the board of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at [[Southern Methodist University]] and lost an intra-party challenge to [[Ken Paxton]] in 2014 for the office of Texas attorney general, and [[Joe Straus]] of San Antonio, the Texas House Speaker since 2009 who holds his position through an alliance with all of the chamber's Democratic members. Straus was once a youthful chauffeur for Senator Tower.

Tower's impact on Texas politics continues through the success of at least three prominent Republicans, [[John Cornyn]], who holds the old Tower seat, former state Representative Dan H. Branch of Dallas, who chairs the board of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies at [[Southern Methodist University]] and lost an intra-party challenge conservative [[Ken Paxton]] in 2014 for the office of Texas attorney general, and [[Joe Straus]] of San Antonio, the Texas House Speaker since 2009 who holds his position through an alliance with all of the chamber's Democratic members. Straus was once a youthful chauffeur for Senator Tower.

==References==

==References==