pronounced himself willing to defray the entire cost. Thus it came to pass that a bilateral
Bush-Reagan debate was scheduled for February 23 at a gymanasium in Nashua.
For many, this evening would provide the epiphany of George Bush, a moment when his
personal essence was made manifest.
Bush propaganda has always tried to portray the Nashua Teleghraph debate as some kind
of ambush planned by Reagan's diabolical campaign manager, John Sears. Established
facts include that the Nashua Telegraph owner, blueblood J. Herman Pouliot, and
Telegraph editor John Breen, were both close personal friends of former Governor Hugh
Gregg, who was Bush's campaign director in the state. Bush had met with Breen before
the debate. Perhaps it was Bush who was trying to set some kind of a trap for Reagan.
On the night of February 23, the gymanasium was packed with more than 2400 people.
Bush's crony Rep. Barber Conable (or "Barbarian Cannibal," later Bush's man at the
World Bank) was there with a group of Congressmen for Bush. Then the excluded GOP
candidates, John Anderson, Howard Baker, Bob Dole, and Phil Crane all arrived and
asked to meet with Reagan and Bush to discuss opening the debate up to them as well.
(Connally, also a candidate, was in South Carolina.) Reagan agreed to meet with them
and went backstage into a small office with the other caandidates. He expressed a general
willingness to let them join in. But Bush refused to talk to the other candidates, and sat on
the stage waiting impatiently for the debate to begin. John Sears told Peter Teeley that
Sears wanted to talk to Bush about the debate format. "It doesn't work that way," hissed
the liberal Teeley, who sent James Baker to talk with Sears. Sears said it was time to have
an open debate. Baker passed the buck to the Nashua Telegraph.
From the room behind the stage where the candidates were meeting, the Reagan people
sent US Senator Gordon Humphrey out to urge Bush to come and confer with the rest of
them. "If you don't come now," said Humprhey to Bush, "you're doing a disservice to
party unity." Bush whined in reply: "Don't tell me about unifying the Republican Party!
I've done more for this party than you'll ever do! I've worked too hard for this and they're
not going to take it away from me!" In the back room, there was a proposal that Reagan,
Baker, Dole, Anderson, and Crane should go on stage together and announce that Reagan
would refuse to debate unless the others were included.
"Everyone seemed quite irritated with Bush, whom they viewed as acting like a spoiled
child," wrote an aide to Anderson later. [fn 22] Bush refused to even ackowledge the
presence of Dole, who had helped him get started as GOP chairman; of Anderson and
Crane, former House colleagues; and of Howard Baker, who had helped him get
confirmed at the CIA. George kept telling anybody who came close that he was sticking
with the original rules.
The audience was cheering for the four excluded candidates, demanding that they be
allowed to speak. Publisher Pouliot addressed the crowd. "This is getting to sound more
like a boxing match. In the rear are four other candidates who have not been invited by
the Nashua Telegraph," said Pouliot. He was roundly booed. "Get them chairs," cried a