new friends and old enemies 275senator he was. He was a fiscal conservative, but his demeanor is very
moderate. He is very much his own man—witness the fact that he frus-
trated Reagan—but he’s also a mediator. I told somebody who didn’t
know him that when Slade first shows up at a meeting people are gonna
say, ‘Who’s the nerd?’ and think ‘He’s not going to be much of a player.’
But in the end, he will greatly impact and affect the result.”
While Gorton can do a dead-on impression of a straight-from-Central
Casting Southern senator, he found Lott, drawl and all, to be as astute as
he was charming. “He’s an easy guy to like and someone who was going
places. As our friendship deepened and he steadily moved up, Trent made
me the only non-elected member of leadership because he trusted me
and my judgment. I was probably the only one in those meetings not
mentally measuring the drapes for a move into the leader’s office.”
Across the aisle were two upwardly mobile freshmen Gorton came to
know and admire: Joe Lieberman of Connecticut—more conservative by
far than Lowell Weicker, the Republican he ousted—and former Ne-
braska governor Bob Kerrey, a free spirit who had seen real combat, re-
ceiving the Medal of Honor for his exploits as a Navy SEAL team leader in
Vietnam.
Gorton and Mike McGavick, his new chief of staff, hit on an idea for a
group they dubbed the S- 214 Society. It took its name from an office just
off the Senate floor. A group of hand-picked back-benchers, the society
met every other week when the Senate was in session. They kicked around
ideas; developed strategies; shared their frustrations. Besides the serious
stuff, they had fun. S- 214 helped Gorton establish his reputation with
younger senators who lacked his legislative experience. Connie Mack of
Florida was one of the quick learners he admired. It also created a group
of friends and supporters that bridged Gorton’s admirers from the first
term and those who had not known him well.BrocK adams greeted gorton’s return to the Senate with a show of
collegiality but their interactions were invariably awkward. Together with
Norm Dicks, they found common cause on earthquake preparedness, dou-
ble-hulled oil tankers and reauthorization of the Magnuson Fisheries Act of
1976, a crucial issue for the stakeholders in the North Pacific fishery.^1
On the signature issue of their 1986 battle for the Senate, Adams still
strongly opposed the Gorton-Morrison proposal to convert an unfinished
WPPSS plant to produce tritium. Even though Boeing was a major sub-
contractor, Adams also opposed a Bush Administration plan, endorsed by
Gorton, to build 75 B-2 stealth bombers at a cost of $65 billion. However,4p.Slade Gorton.indd 275 8/1/11 4:07 PM