For George Bush, the exercise of power has always been inseparable from the use of
smear, scandal, and the final sanctions of police-state methods against political rivals and
other branches of government. A classic example was the Koreagate scandal of 1976,
unleashed with the help of Bush's long-time retainer, Don Gregg. It will be recalled that
Koregate included the toppling of Democratic Speaker of the House Carl Albert of
Oklahoma, who quietly retired from the House at the end of 1976. That was in the year
when Bush had returned from Beijing to Langley. Was it merely coincidence that in the
first year of Bush's tenure in the White House not just the Democratic Speaker of the
House, but also the House Majority Whip, were driven from office?
The campaign against Speaker of the House Jim Wright was spearheaded by Georgia
Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich, a typical "wedge issue" ideologue of the GOP's
Southern Strategy. During 1987-88, Gingrich had been bad-mouthing Wright as the
"Mussolini of the House." Gingrich's campaign against Wright could never have
succeeded without systematic support from the news media, who regularly trumpeted his
charges and lent him a wholly undeserved importance. Gingrich's pretext was a story
about the financing of a small book in which Wright had collected some of his old
speeches, which Gingrich claimed had been sold to lobbyists in such a way as to
constitute an unreported gift in violation of the House rules. One of Gingrich's first steps
when he launched the assault on Wright during 1988 was to send letters to Bush and to
Assistant Attorey General William Weld, whose family investment bank, White Weld,
had purchased Uncle Herbie Walker's G.H. Walker & Co. brokerage when Bush's
favorite uncle was ready to retire. Gingrich wrote: "May I suggest, the next time the news
media asks about corruption in the White House, you ask them about corruption in the
Speaker's office." A similar letter went out from the "Conservative Campaign Fund" to
all GOP House candidates with the message: "We write to encourage you to
make...House Speaker Jim Wright a major issue in your campaign." Bush placed himself
in the vanguard of this campaign.
When Bush, in the midst of his presidential campaign, was asked by reporters about the
investigation of Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese (no friend of Bush) concerning
his dealings with the Wedtech Corporation, he replied: "You talk about Ed Meese. How
about talking about what Common Cause raised against the Speaker the other day? Are
they going to go for an independent counsel so the nation will have this full
investigation? Why don't people call out for that? I will right now. I think they ought to."
[fn 14] Reagan followed Bush's lead in calling for Wright to be investigated.
According to published accounts, Wright was deeply offended by Bush's role in the
assault that was being organized against him, since the two shared the background of
being Texas Congressmen and had often had dealings together. At a dinner held by
Italian Ambassador Rinaldo Petrignani, Wright went out of his way to avoid meeting
Bush, and had his wife feign illness as an excuse to leave very early. Bush in those days
frequented the House gymnasium to play racketball with his old crony, Mississippi
Democrat Sonny Montgomery. Bush attended the annual dinner of the House gymnasium
and here crossed paths with Wright.