Word: pentagon
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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More than a week later, Bush still had not filled the top Pentagon job. Aides to both the President-elect and the former Senator said Bush was postponing a decision until someone with strong management credentials could be found to serve as Tower's deputy. But as reports circulated that Tower had been a paid consultant for several weapons makers and had a reputation for drinking, the drawn-out negotiations became embarrassing. "This thing is beginning to stink," admitted a Bush aide. Nearly all the signals indicated that Bush would eventually stand by his fellow Texan. Nevertheless, the hesitation revealed...
...wait-'em- out negotiating style. Moreover, he wanted the Defense job when few others did. He campaigned for Bush, rushed to Dan Quayle's defense after the Republican Convention, and joined New Hampshire Governor John Sununu's Dukakis-bashing brigade. Tutored by several former aides who now hold top Pentagon, White House and budget-making jobs, Tower wowed Bush during their Nov. 17 meeting and several days later made a similar impression on Sununu, soon to be White House chief of staff, and Secretary of State-designate James Baker...
...that he was on retainer to five defense contractors and rumors about his past womanizing and drinking. Conservatives complained that Bush was letting their man twist slowly in the wind. But the President-elect insisted that "nothing is going to shake my view" that Tower should go to the Pentagon. Bush's vice-presidential chief of staff, Craig Fuller, was even more unequivocal: "I know of absolutely no information that has come to us privately or through the press that would in any way disqualify Senator Tower...
...survived his difficult passage, Tower would face the most complicated task in the next Administration. Eight years after Reagan expanded the military budget 50%, persistent budget deficits would force Tower to shrink Pentagon accounts by one-fourth of what was planned in fatter times. That means eliminating Navy ships, Army divisions and Air Force fighter aircraft envisioned by Caspar Weinberger in the flush years of the early 1980s -- nearly $200 billion in weapons and research programs over the next four years. Said former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara last week: "The DOD is as close to bankrupt...
Tower insisted through aides last week that he was ready to jettison unnecessary weapons and reform Pentagon procurement, but only if Congress would quit meddling with hundreds of weapons and research projects each year. Yet unless Bush can find someone willing to serve as deputy, Tower may never get a chance to put his good intentions to work...