Word: griffin
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Voting belatedly, Florida's delegates split, 38 to 28, but that was enough to put Ford over the top. The 16c amendment was dead. From his control position on the floor, the normally soft-spoken Griffin shouted, "That dood it! That's it! That's it!" Final count: 1,180 no, 1,069 yes, 10 abstain...
With that, the nervous Ford operatives could relax. Despite hints of hidden grenades, no real surprise had been sprung by the Reagan strategists. Griffin had not even had to use the store of white caps he had kept in reserve in case the Reaganites flooded the floor with red and yellow hats to confuse the Ford floor operation. Nor had the Reagan plotters ever been able to unleash their "S.T.P." operation, in which any ruling from the chair that seemed unfair would be challenged by a "storm the podium" deluge of fist-waving protests and jeers, in an effort...
...input was massive indeed. Virtually everyone on a political visit to the White House in recent months, or to the "Oval Office West" in Kansas City last week, had a plug or a blackball for some prospect. Ford's floor manager in Kansas City, Michigan Senator Robert Griffin, promoted Colleague Howard Baker (who, perhaps coincidentally, may be Griffin's chief competition for the Senate minority leader's job next January). The First Family had its preferences too. Betty Ford urged more than token consideration for Anne Armstrong; Son Jack liked a mayor, Pete Wilson of San Diego, and two Governors...
...completely unacceptable. Said a Reagan associate: "If either of them had been chosen, we would have unleashed our troops." Ford also talked about his list with nine top advisers over coffee and nightcaps in his hotel suite until shortly after 5 a.m. the night of his nomination. The nine: Griffin, Rockefeller, White House Chief of Staff Richard Cheney, Texas Senator John Tower, Campaign Pollster Robert Teeter, Campaign Strategist Stuart Spencer, Counsellor John Marsh, former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and Veteran G.O.P. Presidential Adviser Bryce Harlow. When the consultants adjourned, exhausted, they were still uncertain whether the President had made...
According to a White House official, Dole was Ford's "first expressed as well as final choice," though some advisers may have erroneously thought that their preferences were at the top of the list. For instance, Griffin apparently believed that Baker was Ford's choice. But the President wanted a more slashing, hard-driving campaigner than Baker. Ford also concluded that Dole had the most assets of all the possible choices, even though advisers pointed out that the poignant circumstances of Dole's first marriage and divorce might be as much of a liability as the drinking problem of Baker...