166 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
to 35 percent at the beginning of 1983. Yet the president’s Norman Rock-
well optimism never waned. He had the role of a lifetime. Promising to
prime the pump by slashing taxes, Reagan also wanted to cut federal pro-
grams and boost military spending to combat communism. Gorton only
years later came to see him as an exemplar of big picture greatness.^7
Howard Baker led the Republicans’ first Senate majority in 27 years.
Democrats still held the House, 244-191, with Tip O’Neill, a master of the
legislative minuet, hunkered down as speaker.
“ttees McoM i ARe the heARt of Congress, where much of the work is
done, policy formulated, reputations made, power wielded.”^8 Fortunately
for Gorton, the Senate Republicans were democratic—the most demo-
cratic, in fact, of the four caucuses in Congress. In the other three, leader-
ship weighed applications and decided who got what. Senate Republicans
chose committee members in a set of rounds, like the National Football
League draft in reverse, with the senior member picking first. Freshmen
who had served in the House got to choose in the order of their seniority.
The next rung was former governors, who ranked below even the most
junior former House members. When it was Gorton’s turn to pick, it was
down to alphabetical order. That made him fourth of the 10 GOP fresh-
men with no prior experience.
Gorton had boned up on the committees, asking Jackson and other old
hands for advice. Having secured spots on Commerce, Science & Trans-
portation and Environment & Public Works, he was pleased with his good
fortune.
The 53-member caucus
had a festive dinner before the
third round. Gorton button-
holed Domenici: “Pete, this
was a fascinating day. It looks
to me like there might be a
Budget Committee seat avail-
able when they get to me in
the third round. Would you
advise that I take it?” Do-
menici was impressed. “I
watched you today,” the sena-
tor from New Mexico said.
“Today you made two good
picks for your state. Tomor-
Gorton and Domenici: Deficit hawks.
Gorton Family Album