Word: berte
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...public, Jimmy Carter permitted himself a rare display of deep emotion. In private, the President and Bert Lance, both born-again Christians, read from the Bible, bowed their heads in the Oval Office, and prayed. All the while, the Budget Director's proud wife LaBelle insisted that her husband had brilliantly cleared himself of wrongdoing, and appealed directly to the President that her husband stay in office. But the close-knit Georgians turned in the end to the advice of shrewd Washington veterans and wisely ended Lance's eight-month career as Director of the Office of Management...
...outsiders, that conclusion penetrated the inner circles of the White House Georgia clan only in early September. By the eventful Labor Day weekend, Carter had signaled to his top aides that he was not totally against Lance's leaving office. But the decision, he insisted, must come from Bert. At the time, Lance was determined to remain. On his own initiative, Presidential Assistant Hamilton Jordan flew that Saturday to Lance's vacation home in Sea Island, Ga., on the delicate mission of telling Lance that the continuing controversy threatened to cost the President and Lance too much. Recalls...
...being unfairly accused by his critics and that to quit would be to abandon the principle that the mere leveling of charges should not force a man out of office. He wanted a chance to state his defense fully. LaBelle, who sat through all the discussions, was more vehement: Bert should not resign. Nevertheless, Jordan flew back to Washington feeling that his warning about the affair's corrosive impact on the President had affected Lance...
Next day, the Budget Director was still undecided. He talked to Congressman John Flynt Jr., dean of Georgia's delegation in the House. "Hang in there!" Flynt implored Lance. Reassuringly, Bert replied: "I didn't come to Washington to resign before I completed my work...
...Clifford. Jordan was relieved. On Wednesday the end unfolded rapidly but painfully for both Carter and Lance. Lance telephoned the President in the morning, reporting that LaBelle was still adamantly opposed to the resignation. She thought her husband had gained wide support and had fully vindicated himself. Carter asked Bert and LaBelle to come and see him. They did so at 1:15 p.m., staying for 45 minutes. The President told LaBelle that however reluctantly, he had to conclude that Bert's decision to resign was the best course for the welfare of the Lances and the nation...