substantively in these areas. George is great at PR but he is not as good in substantive matters. This
opinion can be confirmed by individuals who held key positions at the National Committee." Evansalso argued that Bush should have put greater distance between the GOP and Nixon sooner than he
did. [fn 10]
So Nelson's networks were not going to take the Bush strong-arm approach lying down. Bush's
most obvious vulnerability was his close relationship to Nixon, plus the fact that he had been up tohis neck in Watergate. It was lawful that Bush's ties to one of Nixon's slush funds came back to
haunt him. This was the "Townhouse" fund again, the one managed by Jack A. Gleason and
California attorney Herbert W. Kalmbach, Nixon's personal lawyer, who had gained quite some
personal notoriety during the Watergate years. These two had both pleaded guilty earlier in 1974 to
running an illegal campaign fun-raising operation, with none of the required reports ever filed.
By August 19, the even of Ford's expected announcement, the Washington Post reported that
unnamed White House sources were telling Newsweek magazine that Bush's vice presidential bid
"had slipped badly because of alleged irregularities in the financing of his 1970 Senate race in
Texas." Newsweek quoted White House sources that "there was potential embarrassment in reportsthat the Nixon White House had funneled about $100,000 from a secret fund called the 'Townhouse (^)
Operation' into Bush's losing Senate campaign against Democrat Lloyd Bentsen four years ago."
Newsweek also added that $40,000 of this money may not have been properly reported under the
election laws. Bush was unavailable for comment that day, and retainers James Bayless and C. Fred
Chambers scrambled to deliver plausible denials, but the issue would not go away.
Bush's special treatment during the 1970 campaign was a subject of acute resentment, especially
among senate Republicans Ford needed to keep on board. Back in 1970, Senator Mark Hatfield of
Oregon had demanded to know why John Tower had given Bush nearly twice as much money as
any other Senate Republican. Senator Tower had tried to deny favoritism, but Hatfield and EdwardBrooke of Massachusetts had not been placated. Now there was the threat that if Bush had to go
through lengthy confirmation hearings in the Congress, the entire Townhouse affair might be
dredged up once again. According to some accounts, there were as many as 18 Republican senators
who had gotten money from Townhouse, but whose names had not been divulged. [fn 11] Any
attempt to force Bush through aperhaps others, mightily antagonizing those who had figured they were getting off ws vice president might lead to the fingering of these senators, andith a whole
coat. Ripping off the scabs of Watergate wounds in this way conflicted withe Ford's "healing time"
strategy, which was designed to put an hermetic lid on the festering mass of Watergate. Bush was
too dangerous to Ford. Bush could not be chosen..
Because he was so redolent of Nixonian sleaze, Bush's maximum exertions for the vice presidency
were a failure. Ford announced his choice of Nelson Rockefeller on August 20, 1974. It was
nevertheless astounding that Bush had come so close. He was defeated for the moment, but he had
established a claim on the office of the vice presidency that he would not relinquish. Despite his
hollow, arrogant ambition and total incompetence for the office, he would automnatically beconsidered for the vice presidency in 1976 and then again in 1980. For George Bush was an
aristocrat of senatorial rank, although denied the senate, and his conduct betrayed the conviction
that he was owed not just a place at the public trough, but the accolade of national political office.
Return to the Table of ContNOTES: ents
- Washington Post, August 16, 1974.
- Washington Post, August 9, 1974.