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→Question about John Tower
Hi BHathorn, I'm just wondering, what do you know about John Tower's opposition to the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]? Was he like Goldwater who opposed it on libertarian grounds, or was he opposed to [[civil rights]] in general like the Southern [[segregation]]ists were? [https://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/12582-john-towers-long-hot-summer-of-1967 This article] seems to provide some details, though not much info on his positions for the landmark 1964 bill. There's also [https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jslh21&div=12 this], which I can't read without having an account for the site to log in to. What's interesting is that Tower [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s302 opposed invoking cloture on the filibuster] though also opposed some attempts to weaken the legislation, including the [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s408 Gore amendment] which [https://nationalcenter.org/project21/1999/05/01/blacks-gored-by-a-lie-al-gore-sr-the-gop-and-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964-by-r-d-davis/ "sought to take the teeth out of the Act"]. Even more interesting enough, Tower's liberal Democrat colleague [[Ralph Yarborough]], who often is cited as pro-civil rights, voted ''for'' the Gore Amendment. —[[User:Liberaltears|<code><span style="color:black; background:#FFABAB">'''LT'''</span></code>]]'''''[[User:Liberaltears/mail|<sup>May D.C., his mother, and I.S. be all well!</sup>]]''''' Monday, 20:45, 25 April 2021 (EDT)
Hi BHathorn, I'm just wondering, what do you know about John Tower's opposition to the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]? Was he like Goldwater who opposed it on libertarian grounds, or was he opposed to [[civil rights]] in general like the Southern [[segregation]]ists were? [https://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/12582-john-towers-long-hot-summer-of-1967 This article] seems to provide some details, though not much info on his positions for the landmark 1964 bill. There's also [https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jslh21&div=12 this], which I can't read without having an account for the site to log in to. What's interesting is that Tower [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s302 opposed invoking cloture on the filibuster] though also opposed some attempts to weaken the legislation, including the [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/s408 Gore amendment] which [https://nationalcenter.org/project21/1999/05/01/blacks-gored-by-a-lie-al-gore-sr-the-gop-and-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964-by-r-d-davis/ "sought to take the teeth out of the Act"]. Even more interesting enough, Tower's liberal Democrat colleague [[Ralph Yarborough]], who often is cited as pro-civil rights, voted ''for'' the Gore Amendment. —[[User:Liberaltears|<code><span style="color:black; background:#FFABAB">'''LT'''</span></code>]]'''''[[User:Liberaltears/mail|<sup>May D.C., his mother, and I.S. be all well!</sup>]]''''' Monday, 20:45, 25 April 2021 (EDT)
:I couldn't find if Tower was ever a segregationist, but for his first two terms (1961-1973) he was very to reliably conservative. He backed his rival, LBJ, on the Vietnam War. Johnson once said that Tower had given him far more support for the war than had Johnson's own party. Then in his last two terms he became a part of the Moderate Republican establishment and supported abortion and opposed the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by Reagan. He and Goldwater opposed the 1964 law on libertarian grounds, but the Libertarian Party was not born until 1972. Tower was nominated for defense secretary under GHWB but fell short, with a few Republicans opposed him. The post then went to Liz Cheney's father.[[User:BHathorn|BHathorn]] ([[User talk:BHathorn|talk]]) 21:26, 25 April 2021 (EDT)